Diving in La Paz on the shores of the Sea of Cortez in Baja California Sur, Mexico we had amazing interaction with sea lions, saw a big school of mobula rays and lots of fish. We were diving in late December 2022. Water was getting cool at C21 and visibility dropping to less than 10 meters on some sites. But it was still some of the best diving. Highlights from our three days of diving are in the video below.
Diving from La Paz is in the National Park Espiritu Santo – a UNESCO World Natural Heritage site. It covers more than 900 islands and islets in the Sea of Cortez. We dove with Cortez Club – a large and very well organized operator located at the southern edge of La Paz at La Concha beach. The dive sites are an hour or more by boat depending on the site and conditions. Brining a spray jacket for the drive on the boat is a very good idea.
Not only diving is fantastic, but there are whale sharks in the area and we went for a snorkel with them. Bay of La Paz is a protected area for whale sharks. Whale sharks are in the area all year round with the highest concentrations between November and April. There are strict rules in place to ensure wellbeing of whale sharks. There is no diving with whale sharks but snorkeling is permitted. No flash photography. No touching whale sharks and staying at least 3 meters from them when under water. There are limits on how many boats can be in the area at the time (14), duration they can spend with the whale sharks (3 hours) and the number of people in the water with a whale shark at a time (5). As a result, snorkeling with whale sharks in La Paz is a really great experience and whale sharks are comfortable staying with well behaving snorkelers.
We stayed downtown in the city of La Paz. It was around Christmas time and atmosphere was wonderful with Christmas market around the main square and the Cathedral. La Paz is a popular place for Mexican locals to visit for holidays so the city was quite busy but definitely much quieter than Cabo San Lucas area. Malecon is very nice with a promenade along the shore and many restaurants. People walk along it for exercise in the morning and come to enjoy sunset. Food and especially seafood were phenomenal.
It seems that driving along Malecon is also a popular pastime. Residents in their cars, some decorated for holidays, some with loudspeakers with elaborate neon lights drive around, or rather inch slowly along Malecon starting at around sunset. Not most environmentally friendly, but somehow adding to the cheerful vibe of La Paz.
There are many beaches and coves along the shore of the Sea of Cortez around La Paz. There are day trips organized by travel operators to go to various beaches by boat, and some can be reached by car. We drove up to playa El Tecolote. A nice long white sand beach facing Isla Espiritu Santo. It was windy on the day we went but on a calmer day the place would have been perfect to spend time on the beach, swim and have some beers at one of the beach bars.
We also drove over to Todos Santos for a day to have a look at the Pacific coast side. Todos Santos is a very nice little town that has many art galleries and restaurants. We hear it gets very crowded during the holiday season as many escape Cabo San Lucas area for a quieter Todos Santos. We were there on the morning of Christmas day and with most places closed we did not quite get to experience it. The town did look very nice and inviting, perhaps for the next time. We drove up to Cachora beach and lagoon instead.
The beach with crashing Pacific ocean waves was stunning. We could see whales breeching in the distance. Lots of birds flying. Climbing up on the hill one gets a great view of the ocean coast and mountains and town in the distance.
We then drove up to El Mirador restaurant with a spectacular view of the sea from the top of the hill. The road to the restaurant was not paved but it was a good gravel road and we easily drove it in our small rental car. We enjoyed great food and watched whales breeching in the ocean and birds flying around.
La Paz diving, the town and its great food and vibe, and trips around were a great stop on our Baja California Sur trip before heading to Cabo Pulmo and then jumping on Socorro liveaboard.