Planning Your Time

Allow several days to explore La Paz [1] and surrounding beaches [2]—a week or more if you plan to fish [3], snorkel, dive [4], or kayak [5] around the islands just offshore.

If you’re coming to learn Spanish, local schools recommend a minimum stay of two weeks and up to a month if you can swing it. Travelers planning to take the ferry to Mazatlán should allow an extra day or two to arrange permits and reservations.

February is La Paz’s busiest month for tourists. But even then, hotel rooms are usually easy to find. One exception is when the Baja 1000 off-road race [6] comes to town in mid-November.

With the race finish just outside the city limits, every room, condo, and vacation rental books up months in advance. If you roll into La Paz without reservations, you’ll likely have to continue south to Los Barriles [7] to find a place to crash for the night.