Curator’s statement
How much time do you need in Todos Santos? Honestly, as much as you can spare. If you surf, you could lose weeks rotating between Cerritos, San Pedrito, and La Pastora and never once feel like you were wasting time. If you don't, there's a village worth half a day of wandering, one marquee hike, whale watching, and, if the timing is right, the quiet joy of releasing sea turtles back into the Pacific. But the biggest draw here isn't what’s on the itinerary. It's the pace. The light. The feeling that the rest of the world is operating on a frequency you no longer need to tune into. The hotels match that energy. Michelin-Keyed properties sit down dirt roads. Few have more than seven rooms. This is small-scale luxury, done with intention and authenticity, and it is as perfect for a couple with no agenda as it is for a group ready to take over an entire property. An hour north of Cabo, Todos Santos is where you come to remember what not feeling stressed feels like.
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Where to stay in Todos Santos
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Things to do in Todos Santos
Catch some waves and some dinner with sunset at Cerritos Beach
Punta Lobos hike
Three to four miles round-trip, moderate effort, dramatic payoff. The trail winds to a pebble beach past historic cannery ruins and a sea lion colony with Pacific views that justify every step. The beach at the end is rough and swimmable only if you mean it—advanced swimmers only. The real move is timing it for sunrise or sunset, then hiking back under the stars. It's hard to get lost.
Cerritos Beach
One of the only genuinely swimmable Pacific beaches in the area, with consistent beginner-friendly surf, powdery sand, and 340-plus days of sunshine. Private land until about 20 years ago, it's now a relaxed community of surfers and sun worshippers with a few casual spots to eat. Perfect for sunset; just know the road out gets tricky in the dark.
Historical town tour
Two hours with a good local guide is worth every minute. Todos Santos has lived several lives. A Jesuit mission founded in 1733, a thriving sugarcane hub in the 19th century, and now a bohemian artist enclave that somehow held onto its soul through all of it. Hit the Misión Nuestra Señora del Pilar, learn how the sugar industry shaped the architecture. Drive by the famous Hotel California; it's a tourist trap.
Playa Tortugas
Releasing a baby sea turtle into the Pacific is on every Mexico bucket list, and this is one of the best places to do it. Not a swimming beach, but a magnificent sunset one. Also, and this is undersold: somewhere between these beaches and where you can park your car, there is a jungle. In the desert. The roads to get there are treacherous.
Whale watching
Between December and April, humpback and gray whales migrate through these waters in numbers that make shore-watching genuinely viable. Boat trips out of Todos Santos run on smaller vessels than you'd find in Cabo.
Gallery hopping & shopping
Put the guide down. The town is small enough that you'll cover it naturally, and the best version of this afternoon is the one where you wander into a gallery, end up in a conversation, and leave an hour later knowing something you didn't before.
Places to eat & drink in Todos Santos
As an East Coaster, I never love the pizza in Mexico. Except for here, at Coyote Canyon.
Jazamango
Chef Javier Plascencia's open-air garden restaurant sits just outside the town center. Easy to find, worth the short drive. Order the chocolata clams without deliberating. On Sundays, the lamb barbacoa is the only decision you need to make.
Oystera
A converted 19th-century sugar mill in the heart of town that you really can't miss and shouldn't. Michelin-listed, run by Sonoran chef Poncho Cadena, it's the kind of place that earns a proper occasion. Start with the Baja oysters and the fried oysters with habanero aïoli, order a mezcal cocktail, and take your time in the patio garden out back.
Los Adobes de Todos Santos
A local lunch institution in the center of town, run by Miguel, who is also the cook. The chiles rellenos are, in my opinion, the best in Baja. Stuffed with mashed potato, a quietly beloved taco filling around here, served over refried beans and topped with mole.
Coyote Canyon at El Perdido
About 15 minutes south on the highway in El Pescadero, and worth every one of them. Live fire kitchen out of an Airstream, wood-burning pizza oven, open desert sky above you. Order the pork chop. Order the pizza. Order the strawberry margarita and settle in.
PanVero at Desierto Azul
A takeout window on the road into Las Tunas, easy to spot on the way to the beach. Chef and entrepreneur Nilú Feregrino built this around a simple idea: that anyone, regardless of food intolerance, should be able to show up and eat without negotiating the menu. Everything is 100% gluten- and dairy-free—focaccia, muffins, fresh-made plant milks, elixirs, organic espresso.
More about where to stay in Todos Santos
El Perdido
Fifteen minutes south of town in El Pescadero, down a highway you'll second-guess until you don't. Seven private villas built from natural wood, clay, and stone. The line between hotel and habitat is intentionally blurred, and after a day here you stop noticing where one ends and the other begins. Each villa has a full kitchen, a hammock deck, and an outdoor soaking tub. The cactus garden pool looks like it was art-directed. There's an observatory tower built for sunset watching, a sunken Jacuzzi beneath it, and a chapel on the grounds that gives the whole place a quietly spiritual feeling. Food is à la carte and chef-prepared, and the margaritas are not optional. Perfect for couples, but the fully self-contained villas and open communal spaces make it a natural for retreats and full buyouts. This is a place people come to disappear for a week. They don't want to leave. Neither did we.
Wama Boutique Hotel
Six rooms across three separate buildings in a calming Baja Brutalist design that manages to feel warm rather than austere. Steps from the beach, with a beautiful central pool that's easy to keep an eye on. This one is ideal for families with kids. Private tubs, a rooftop terrace, a shared barbecue, and owners who live on site and seem to know everyone in town. Best for families or small groups who want privacy without isolation.
Casa Blanco Madera
Three rooms in a low-lying whitewashed building surrounded by desert gardens, run by a Mexican couple who fell in love with the region on a road trip through Baja and never left. Every room is modern and mostly white with pale wood furnishings, a real king bed, a walk-in rain shower, a kitchenette, and a private staircase up to a rooftop terrace with Pacific views. No pool, but the beach is a short walk and the gardens are beautiful enough that you won't miss it. The owner is a chef. His kitchen was still under construction when I visited, but once complete it will be the centerpiece of this place. Adults only, LGBTQ+ owned and operated.
Desierto Azul
For travelers with dietary needs who refuse to compromise on beauty. Four solar-powered rooms tucked into the landscape in Las Tunas, between the desert and the ocean, where every detail has been thought through. Organic linens, reef-safe bath products, mineral-filtered water, natural wine at the bar. Co-owner Nilú Feregrino is a certified Culinary Nutrition Expert who runs plant-based cooking classes on site, and her PanVero bakery, gluten- and dairy-free, is open to the public every morning on the road into Las Tunas.
Need to know
When to go
The sweet spot is November through April. The weather is dry, warm, and clear, whale watching is at its peak between December and April, and turtle releases happen through the fall season. Summer is hot, humid, and buggy enough to reconsider. If you're sensitive to mosquitoes, avoid July through September.
Getting around
A rental car is not optional. Todos Santos and the surrounding area rewards exploration, and you will not see the best of it without your own wheels. That said, some of the roads out to the beaches and trailheads are unpaved, potholed, and not especially forgiving. A standard car will handle most of it, but rental agencies have been known to charge for scuffed tires.
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