While staying in La Paz, I decided to make a few trips to different areas of southern Baja California Sur. One such trip was a morning ride and swim at Balandra Beach or Playa Balandra. I also wanted to check out the Baja Ferry Terminal, which was nearby.
Balandra Beach
The beach is located on the Eastern side of the peninsula but faces west, as the southern tip comes up, Playa Balandra is approximately a 40-minute drive from La Paz via México 11. It is a gorgeous beach and lagoon; there was only one small problem, small insects just basically swarmed me, it was incredible how many of these things were out there, and although I had insect repellant, they decided that they liked it and kept at me. It was painful taking photos with these little creatures everywhere.
The drive there was gorgeous, I hardly had anyone else on the road for most of the trip, and the beach was empty (except for the mini flies). There was a trailer there that I presume would open during the day for snacks and refreshments. Balandra beach is like a postcard from a travel magazine, gorgeous white sand, turquoise water. I also took my AirDog auto-follow drone out for a spin and got some nice footage arriving at the beach. The drone would prove to cause more trouble than it was worth in weight and luggage space as the trip went on, but it worked fine here.
I took my gear off and had a quick little swim, the water was amazing, although not very deep and I had read about an issue sting rays, but didn’t see any. I could see myself returning here and just relax for a day, maybe take a kayak ride or paddleboarding across the water and discover the various inlets and cliffs
Hello,
Awesome website! I am planning a trip with my son down the California Baja starting in Phoenix traveling down to Cabo then back up to La Paz and taking the ferry across to the mainland. I’m hoping you can share a route that you’d recommend and include places you think we should stop at and spend the night. I have a brother in San Felipe so we plan to spend the first evening at his place then taking off the next morning. Also, I just glanced at your travel item list but did not see any information regarding Mexico Motorcycle insurance?
Kind regards,
Joe
702-465-0656
Hi Joe
Thank you for your lovely comments. The way I rode most of my trip was just each day setting a destination to travel to and then working out fun ways to get there. It is a much better way to travel. In Baja, you are fairly limited for major destinations (unless you have dirt bikes) and will inevitably have some off-roading, but the roads are pretty cool.
Some Hints:
Register at Border: When you cross the border, make sure you stop at the very first point where there are cars stopped (it is easy to go straight past this point) to avoid pain later
Maps: Always have maps downloaded locally (google maps or your tracking device) beforehand. Use a mobile service like T-Mobile in SUA so you can get cell access to everywhere in Mexico (limited to 3G in many areas, but its access free)
Federales: These guys will stop you multiple times, slow down at these checkpoints, turn the engine off and take helmets off as courtesy) make sure you have your documents at the ready throughout Baja. They were all very friendly and efficient.
Eat – eat at roadside food stops throughout most towns, food is amazing and cheap. No need to haggle prices (give em $1 or $2 tips)
Ohh, probably Baja Bound for Insurance: Reasonable Price – Just get basics