HOW TO GET THERE

The city of La Paz is 771 km south of Guerrero Negro through the Transpeninsular Highway, by air to the La Paz International Airport and by sea by ferryboats from Mazatlán and Topolobampo.

ORIGIN

The bay of La Paz was discovered by Hernán Cortés on May 3, 1535, who named it Santa Cruz. Cortés tried to establish a settlement, but he finally left the place after many failures and misfortunes. Sebastián Vizcaíno, a Spanish navigator arrived in 1596 and changed the name to La Paz. He also failed in his colonizing attempt which lasted two weeks. The next attempt was made by the Admiral Isidro de Antondo y Antillón in 1683. The Jesuits Juan de Ugarte and Jaime Bravo founded the Mission of La Paz in 1720 and it was closed in 1749 due to lack of population. La Paz was abandoned until 1768 when the General Visitor José de Gálvez established a marine service corps. A permanent human settlement in 1811 led La Paz to become a capital in 1830. From then on La Paz underwent a succession of calamities: the northamerican war intervention in 1846, the Walker invasion in 1853, Zerman in 1855 and the French in 1865 just to mention the more outstanding. Finally, since the 16th century all sorts of adventurers were attracted to the rich pearl industry of La Paz which ended due to a disease that attacked the oysters in 1936.

DESCRIPTION

The Bay of La Paz is the largest of Baja California Sur. There is a small peninsula in its southern part named El Mogote. It forms the inlet where the city of La Paz is located. El Mogote is a shelter of great beauty that forms a cove with an average width of 1 km which is ideal for aquatic competitions. The Bay of La Paz has many beautiful and calm beaches, all of them of gentle slopes and white sands. The most remarkable are: El Coromuel, El Caimancito, El Tesoro and Pichilingue. It merits to point out Puerto Balandra, a small bay with a multitude of small beaches which are all as beautiful as the others. Many of them are only accesible by sea. The famous mushroom shaped rock rises from the longest beach. All of the beaches of El Tecolote, in front of Espiritu Santo Island, have "palapas" (shades) and rest rooms. Some of them also have restaurants and bars. All of these are accessible through the paved road to El Tecolote except El Coyote Beach which is also in front of Espiritu Santo Island.

ACTIVITIES

Aquatic sports: water ski, swimming, sailing, rowing. Diving, snorkeling. Jet ski competitions. Nauticopa (commercial aquatic racing competition). Regattas. Beach football and volleyball. Sports fishing tournaments. Rental of recreational beach equipment. Trips to the islands. Bay tours.

RECOMMENDATIONS

There are plenty of activities in the bay of La Paz as well as in the city. Ask for more information in your travel agency or hotel.