Baja California Road Trip Week 4: People-watching and whale-spotting in Todos Santos

The start of week four and we had made it to Todos Santos, or “Todos Gringos” as our friends lovingly called it.  I’d heard rave reviews of this town for years and was excited to experience it for myself.  A public beach, a couple miles north of town, though populated with several other campers, ended up being our home for five beautiful days.  While this beach didn’t grab me at first sight, it grew on me and was hard to leave.

Every morning a couple dozen surfers would show up to spend a few hours catching waves.  While they were in the water their dogs would play on shore.  They were the happiest, most chill dogs running up and down the beach loving life while they waited for their human counterparts to return.  Never before have I seen dogs so excited as when they would spot their person coming in from the surf to join them back on land.  The morning vibes here were second to none, I felt completely surrounded by people who were loving life.

The evenings were just as good.  A few surfers would return for another ride, new campers would pull in and fill in the spots of those that had departed earlier in the day.  Local families would come watch the sunset or set up a picnic, our fellow campers would play frisbee or start a campfire.  All while the sun was setting in a magnificent fashion over the Pacific Ocean just a stones throw away. 

Amidst all the activity and people watching on the beach, the gray whales were putting on a show in the background.  I couldn’t tell you how many times I’d be having a conversation with someone and would be completely distracted by a breaching whale.  And when I say breaching whale, I’m talking about an entire whale out of the water IN THE AIR, the resulting splash lasting for several seconds.  I used to think this was an incredibly unusual thing that you’d have to be in exactly the right place at the right time to see.  Wrong.  It happened more times than I could count and was in-freaking-credible.

I never would have thought I would rave about camping on a popular beach surrounded by crowds of people but in Baja it feels different.  Nomads of all kinds gather here and it doesn’t matter how you got here, what your rig looks like, or the last time you showered or did laundry.  To travel throughout Baja, live on beaches, bask in the warm sun on a February day feels like a winning lottery ticket.  And I get the sense that the feeling is mutual among our fellow nomads.  We’re all out here soaking up our good fortune, not taking a single second of it for granted.  I’ll gladly share a beach with those people any day of the week.

At the end of the week we made our final push south to Los Cabos. While this wildly popular tourist destination didn’t offer much by way of camping, we decided to spend a night there just to say we did it…we drove to the southernmost point of the Baja California peninsula. Of course we took advantage and made a quick stop at Costco on our way through. We also scored a surprisingly good pizza at a restaurant in the Wal-Mart parking lot.

Our home for the night was an entertaining scene. Unable to find a single RV park, we parked in an arroyo between two large resorts that towered our campers on either side. It was still free however and on the edge of the Pacific, suiting us (and a few neighbors) just fine for an overnighter.

The next day we had breakfast at the expansive and impressive Flora Farms, a farm to table restaurant just outside of San Jose Del Cabo.

From Los Cabos we made our way North to Los Barriles where we would kick off the final 10 days of our trip!

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  • I am loving your Baja stories! Want to get our Four Wheel camper there for a visit in the future. I was curious what resources have been most helpful for traveling by camper in Baja? I noticed Campendium seems to have some coverage for Baja.

    • Thanks for following along on our Baja trip! Here are some resources that have been helpful for us:

      iOverlander App (tons of campsites w/ reviews, where the military checkpoints are, where you’ll find water, propane, etc.)
      Baja California Atlas
      forums.bajanomad.com

      I’m going to compile a guide and will post that on the website in the coming months so stay tuned for that!

  • The scenery and food look so awesome! What a different life style. You guys have the perfect set up! I loved all the dogs! Enjoy the rest of your trip!

    • We had to skip the East Cape and make our way back to the border. We’ll definitely be back and hopefully will be able to hit up some of the spots you’ve recommended!

  • Incredible!!!!!!!!!! Those dogos waiting sweetly for their owners to finish surfing, that is adorable! And the whales jumping fully out of the water. It all sounds like a warm slice of happiness. I loved seeing all your yummy finds at the produce stands too!

By michele

About

Hi!  We’re Mark & Michele, a couple of modern-day nomads perfecting the art of slow, perpetual travel.  Our tiny home on wheels and slow-paced travel style allows us maximum freedom at minimal expense.  This blog is where we share our travels as well as our insights in to this lifestyle that we absolutely love.  Thanks so much for being here.

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