Baja California Sur · Todos Santos
A Pueblo Mágico of galleries and palm groves, surf at Los Cerritos, pangas at Punta Lobos and some of the best farm-to-table tables in Baja.
Photo: Playa La Cachora listing
Founded in 1947 by a Chinese immigrant, Mr. Wong, and opened in 1950, the arcaded hotel in the historic centre is the photograph everyone takes home. The hotel itself says the Eagles song was not written about it. Nobody minds.
Explore Guaycura, in the historic centreThe town was founded in 1733 around the mission of Santa Rosa de las Palmas; the church on the plaza today is Nuestra Señora del Pilar. Sugar cane made the town prosperous in the 19th century — by 1850 there were eight mills — and the palm groves and orchards still run from the streets down toward the sea. Mexico added Todos Santos to its Pueblos Mágicos in 2006.
The painter Charles Stewart arrived from Taos in the mid-1980s and the art colony grew around him; galleries and studios now fill the blocks around the plaza. January brings the Tropic of Cancer concert series that grew out of Peter Buck’s Todos Santos Music Festival, the Festival del Arte fills the first week of February, the film festival comes in late November and GastroVino in early December.
Where to eat in town
The beach at the end of the palm groves, a few minutes from the plaza. Walk it at sunset; do not swim it. In season, from December into March, the Tortugueros Las Playitas camp releases turtle hatchlings at dusk on its stretch of beach, free and open to anyone who shows up; check their schedule first.
Explore La CachoraKnow your coast Nine beaches, north to south · about 40 km
A long, stony Pacific beach where the surfers head when the swell is up. Open sea; not for swimming.
Explore La Pastora
The beach at the end of the palm groves, for walks and sunsets rather than swimming.
Explore La Cachora
A freshwater lagoon behind the dunes, with palms, reeds and birdlife. Look; do not swim.
Explore La Poza
Where the pangas come in through the surf. A working beach with a headland and old ruins.
Explore Punta Lobos
A palm oasis behind a sheltered-looking cove. Scenic, with strong Pacific water.
Explore Las Palmas
A cobblestone point break that surfers know well. Watch from the sand.
Explore San Pedrito
A wide, quiet beach under a headland at the edge of the farm fields.
Explore El Pescadero
Year-round surf, lessons and rentals, and a cantina on the sand. Enter only within your ability.
Explore Los Cerritos
Open dunes and empty sand off Highway 19. A stop for the view, not the water.
Explore Km 87Surfers: La Pastora and San Pedrito are point breaks for experienced riders on the winter north-west swells; Los Cerritos works most of the year and is where the lessons happen. Summer south swells are smaller and better for learning.
Punta Lobos is a working beach: the local fishing pangas ride the surf back onto the sand and unload their catch. Come for that, the headland and the ruins of the old cannery, and stay out of the water.
Explore Punta LobosThe one beach most people come to surf, with lessons, rentals and a cantina on the sand.
See the beach
Ten minutes from the plaza on foot or by car. Walk it at sunset.
See the beachA palm grove, a lagoon and a small cove. Scenic, not for swimming.
See the beachCobblestones and a point break south of town. For surfers who know it.
See the beachThis is the open Pacific: rip currents and shore break on nearly every beach. Los Cerritos is where most people go into the water; everywhere else, walk, watch the pangas and stay for the sunset. Follow the posted flags and any lifeguard on duty.
Compare all 59 beachesGardens · live fire · oysters
Todos Santos and El Pescadero grow poblano peppers, basil, green beans and herbs, and the kitchens here cook a few steps from the beds. Five tables in these two towns hold recognitions in the 2026 MICHELIN Guide.
Jazamango is Javier Plascencia’s open-air kitchen on the edge of town, cooking over live fire from its own huerta. In El Pescadero, Cocina de Campo by Agricole serves lunch inside a 37-acre farm and holds a Bib Gourmand, Hierbabuena seats you under a palapa past the vegetable beds, and Botánica cooks from the organic garden at Kimpton Mas Olas.
The Guide’s Recommended tables are Benno on the beach at Hotel San Cristóbal, Tenoch by Paradero in the La Mesa valley, DŪM in a palm grove downtown and Oystera in a restored sugar mill. Add 1890 at the Todos Santos Boutique Hotel for a polished dinner in town and Barracuda Cantina for tacos on the sand at Los Cerritos. Reserve ahead and check each listing for days and hours.
All Todos Santos tablesWhere to stay
One historic hotel in the centre, and four hotels whose restaurants are reason enough to make the trip. Each card opens the table that goes with the stay.
A 19th-century brick building a walk from the galleries, with a rooftop and its own beach club on the coast.
View the hotel
A design resort in the farming valley of La Mesa. Tenoch, its MICHELIN-recognised restaurant, takes outside guests by reservation.
See Tenoch
A Bunkhouse hotel on the sand at Punta Lobos. Benno, its MICHELIN-listed table, faces the pool and the Pacific.
See Benno
The resort that grew out of Rancho Pescadero, built around a working garden. Botánica cooks from it over live fire.
See Botánica
A landmark hotel in the historic centre. 1890, its restaurant, runs from courtyard breakfast to wood-grilled dinner.
See 1890Fifteen minutes south
Below Todos Santos the highway runs past fields of peppers, basil, beans and herbs to the coast where the surfers go. The Pacific side’s best-known surf-and-swim beach is here, and so are two of its best lunches.
Lunch inside a 37-acre working farm: tacos, wood-oven pizzas and salads picked that morning.
See the place
Walk through the vegetable beds to an open-air palapa. Unfussy, seasonal, since 2013.
See the placeThe surf beach of the Pacific side, with lessons, rentals and a long afternoon on the sand.
See the place
Fish tacos, ceviche and margaritas with your feet in the sand at Los Cerritos.
See the place
Dinner among cardón cactus in the resort’s organic garden.
See the placeA cobblestone point that surfers know. For watching, not swimming.
See the placeKeep exploring
Four guides that go deeper into what this side of the cape does best.
All 59 Los Cabos beaches, compared by how the sea behaves. The Pacific side is mostly for looking.
Compare the beaches
Todos Santos and El Pescadero hold several of the Guide’s recognitions in Baja California Sur.
See the MICHELIN selection
Every hotel in the What’s in Cabo directory, from Todos Santos to the Corridor.
Browse the hotels
Transfers, shuttles and private drivers that cover Todos Santos and El Pescadero.
Plan the rideMake it your day
Leave Cabo early and take Highway 19 north. Start at the surf beach, eat on a farm, and give the town the afternoon and the evening.
Lessons run in the morning at the one Pacific beach built for going in. Check the flags, then walk the sand before the sun gets high.
Explore Los CerritosCocina de Campo or Hierbabuena: tacos, wood-oven pizzas and whatever came out of the beds that morning, under shade in the garden.
Explore Cocina de CampoWalk the blocks around the plaza, catch the pangas landing at Punta Lobos in the early afternoon, watch the sunset at La Cachora and end at Jazamango, Benno or Tenoch. Book the ride back, or stay over.
Explore JazamangoBase yourself in the historic centre and spread the beaches out: La Pastora and La Cachora to the north, Punta Lobos and Las Palmas in the middle, San Pedrito and Los Cerritos to the south. From December to April watch the water for whale spouts, and in the same months ask Tortugueros Las Playitas about that evening’s hatchling release. La Paz and Balandra are 80 kilometres further north on the same highway.
The places behind the day
Every beach, table, stay and ride on this page, with its own profile. Search by name or area to bring your day together.
Year-round surf, lessons, rentals and a cantina on the sand.
Pangas through the surf, a headland and old ruins. No swimming.
Walks and sunsets at the end of the palm groves.
A freshwater lagoon behind the dunes; birds, palms, no swimming.
A long, stony surf beach. Open Pacific.
Las Palmas: a palm grove and a small cove. Scenic.
Cobblestones and a wave surfers know well.
Wide, quiet sand under a headland below the farms.
Dunes and empty sand off Highway 19.
Javier Plascencia’s open-air garden kitchen.
Modern Mexican with Japanese touches, from the resort’s farm.
Baja-Mediterranean on the beach.
The restaurant of a 37-acre farm.
Farm-to-table under a palapa, since 2013.
Live-fire dinners among the cactus.
European technique, Baja produce, a jade-tiled kitchen.
Fish tacos and margaritas at the surf beach.
Mexican oysters in a restored sugar mill.
A 19th-century building near the galleries, with a beach club.
Airport transfers, private and shuttle.
Shared shuttle and private vehicles across the region.
Private shuttle, chauffeur and group transport.
Private drivers for day trips and groups.
Try another name, a different category, or start again.
Looking further afield? Explore the full Los Cabos directory.
A little planning goes a long way
A good day on the Pacific side starts with a few practical details.
Plan the rideFederal Highway 19 runs about 85 km from Cabo San Lucas to Todos Santos, roughly an hour, and continues 80 km north to La Paz. Rent a car or book one of the transfer companies in the directory, fill the tank, and decide before lunch whether you are driving back or staying the night.
Rip currents and shore break are the rule on the Todos Santos beaches; most are for walking, sunsets and watching the pangas. Los Cerritos is the beach where people go in and where lessons run. Read the flags, listen to any lifeguard, and never judge the water by how calm it looks.
Local hosts put the Pacific side several degrees cooler than Cabo San Lucas, and evenings on the coast can turn breezy even in spring. Water, sun protection and shade matter as much as anywhere in Baja; shade on the beaches is scarce.
Whales pass from December to April and hatchling releases run from December into March. January has the Tropic of Cancer concert series, early February the Festival del Arte, late November the film festival and early December GastroVino. Summer is hot and quiet, and several kitchens change their days; check each listing before you drive.
From the Pacific side, as people see it
10 photographs shared from the town and its coast on Instagram.
Tap any one to see the full frame and the account behind it.
Good to know
About an hour by car on Federal Highway 19. Visit Los Cabos puts the scenic road at 85 kilometres and roughly 50 minutes from Cabo San Lucas; La Paz is another 80 kilometres north on the same highway. Rent a car or book a transfer, and plan the return before dark.
Most of them are open Pacific with rip currents and shore break, so treat them as places to walk, watch the pangas and see the sunset. Los Cerritos, in El Pescadero, is the beach where most people go into the water and where surf lessons run; even there, follow the flags and any lifeguard on duty and stay within your ability.
The hotel itself says no. It was founded in 1947 by a Chinese immigrant, Mr. Wong, opened in 1950 and was restored from 2001 by John and Debbie Stewart; its history page states the song was not inspired by it. It is still the most photographed façade in town.
Gray and humpback whales pass this coast between December and April; the official whale-watching season in the protected areas of Los Cabos runs from 15 December to 30 April. Tortugueros Las Playitas releases hatchlings at sunset most evenings from December into March at its beach camp, free and open to the public. Check their current schedule before you go.
The farm town about fifteen minutes south of Todos Santos on Highway 19. It has the surf beach at Los Cerritos, the point at San Pedrito, working farms such as Agricole and the gardens of Hierbabuena, and the Kimpton Mas Olas resort. Most day trips combine both towns.
In the 2026 selection for Baja California Sur, Benno at Hotel San Cristóbal, Tenoch by Paradero, DŪM and Oystera are Recommended, and Cocina de Campo by Agricole in El Pescadero holds a Bib Gourmand. Reserve ahead and check each listing for days and hours.
For getting there and for the beaches, yes: it is a road trip, by rental car or with one of the transfer companies in the directory below. In town, the plaza, the galleries, Hotel California and the hotels of the historic centre are an easy walk from one another.
Destination facts on this page come from: Secretaría de Turismo — Pueblos Mágicos: Todos Santos (2006, the 1733 mission, the sugar era, the Festival del Arte); Visit Los Cabos — Todos Santos (distance and drive time); Visit Los Cabos — MICHELIN Guide restaurants in Los Cabos and Baja California Sur (2026 selection); Gobierno de Baja California Sur — la Guía MICHELIN 2026 (Bib Gourmand for Cocina de Campo by Agricole); Hotel California, Todos Santos — history (1947, 1950, 2001, the Eagles); Tortugueros Las Playitas — hatchling releases; Diario Oficial de la Federación — aviso de temporada de observación de ballenas 2025–2026; TodosSantos.cc — whales off Todos Santos; Journal del Pacifico — Mario’s guide to surfing the Cape; Tropic of Cancer Concert Series (January), successor to the Todos Santos Music Festival; GastroVino Baja Food & Wine Festival (December); Festival Internacional de Cine de Todos Santos (November); Mexico News Daily — farm-to-table in Baja California Sur (what Todos Santos and El Pescadero grow); Baja Traveler — Charles Stewart, from Taos to Todos Santos; Todos Santos destination guide (Punta Lobos); Visit Cerritos Beach — location in El Pescadero; Calycanto Casitas — Todos Santos weather. Distances are Visit Los Cabos figures; festival dates move each year, so confirm the current edition. Confirm access, reservations and conditions directly with the place you plan to visit.
Photographs of beaches, restaurants and the hotel come from each place’s own profile on What’s in Cabo (image credits: Los Cerritos Beach, Playa Punta Lobos, Playa La Cachora, Playa La Poza, Playa La Pastora, San Pedro Beach, San Pedrito Beach, Playa El Pescadero, Playa Km 87, Jazamango, Tenoch by Paradero, Benno at Hotel San Cristóbal, Cocina de Campo by Agricole, Hierbabuena, Botánica at Kimpton Mas Olas, 1890 at Todos Santos Boutique Hotel, Barracuda Cantina, Oystera, Guaycura Boutique Hotel & Spa, Transcabo, Cabo Transfers, All Ways Cabo, Browns Private Services). The Hotel California photograph is by Sharon Hahn Darlin, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. The social wall shows Instagram posts from the accounts credited on each tile; each opens the original post.
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