Playa El Pescadero

Playa El Pescadero is the stretch of sand in front of the farming village of El Pescadero, at km 61 of Highway 19 a few kilometres past San Pedrito, running from the San Pedrito point down toward Cerritos. Officially this coast is listed as San Pedrito El Estero, and the surf atlases give Pescadero a break of its own: an exposed beach-and-reef setup that works at any time of year, best with a west-southwest groundswell and the wind offshore from the northeast, and rarely crowded.

The sea here is open and the swell is strong even in the calmest seasons, so the beach is for surfers, walkers and anglers rather than swimmers; even at neighboring Cerritos, the friendliest beach on this coast, the municipality tells non-swimmers and children to stay out because of the wave height. Watch for urchins, rips and rocks around the reef. Boats can be hired in the village for fishing, and whales pass close to shore in season.

El Pescadero itself is the reason to linger: farming introduced by Jesuit missionaries in 1724, sugar mills built by nineteenth-century settlers, and mangoes, melons and chiles still growing today, with restaurants built around the catch of the day and farm-to-table places such as Hortaliza Hierbabuena. A few palapas and bungalows sit right on the beach, and Cerritos, 2 km on, has the surf schools, rentals, chairs and vendors.

Sources: Go La Paz, El Pescadero · La Paz tourism office, El Estero · La Paz tourism office, Cerritos · Visit Los Cabos, Todos Santos · Surf-Forecast · México Desconocido · Baja Bound