Loreto: The Secret of the Baja

Teal waters, leaping dolphins, breaching whales, a dramatic Dothraki terrain, and all with a Spanish flavor — why, it’s Cabo San Lucas.  Not exactly … in twenty, thirty years maybe! For those looking for a Mexican getaway but loathing the thought of a McMexico experience, Loreto beckons with minimum fuss, minimum muss, and minimum Americanization.

And minimum price-gouging. Walk down the main drag of Avenida Juan María de Salvatierra and you see the first buds of mass tourism — ceramic stores selling shot glasses, the frequent use of English and the American dollar, a “margarita and massage” establishment — but the crowds and sticker-shock are refreshingly absent. Ironically, Loreto, now a laid-back fishing town, should have tourist-ified long ago. Established on the shores of the Sea of Cortez in 1679, it’s had the most opportunity as the oldest European settlement in Baja California, yet today remains astoundingly genuine and budget-friendly.

The center of town revolves around the Misión de Nuestra Señora de Loreto Conchó, the Jesuit church built to save the native Guayacura people (by “save,” we mean “genocide”). But being founded as, and having stayed, a small outpost means historic Loreto can be done in a day. The real allure is in front of town, as well as behind: Loreto is a go-to for outdoorsy types. With island-spangled waters stretching out before the town and the razor-like crags of the Sierra de la Giganta jutting up from behind, Loreto’s dearth of prefabrication means visitors should get up, go out, and get into a landscape only nature could have wrought.

Water Water Everywhere…

When Jacques Cousteau hailed the Sea of Cortez as “the world’s aquarium,” it was more than just spin. A geological curiosity formed as Baja California grinds northward up the North American coast, what is a particularly long bay supports an extraordinary menagerie, from dazzling corals to fish the color of fire, on top of the rhapsody of blues created by water and sky. Sea dogs have their pick depending on the season: whales breach, turtles glide, and sea lions weave through the water as if they were made of it. The Cortez is so chock-full of game fish that sport-fishers have competitions in May, July, and September. FYI, the dorado and yellow-tail are the local prize catches.

It is the enclosed nature of the Sea of Cortez that makes everything so easy; that water is FLAT. Even as budding naturalists and wannabe anglers zip to deeper waters, kayakers and paddle boarders are free to meander miles up and down the shallows to pristine islets and rocky cliffs with nary a wave in sight and only pelicans and frigate birds for company or the occasional scolding (considering the awesome silence, you will welcome the noise). Some of those islets and cliffs have a sacred history; “apophenia” is the human tendency to find relatable patterns in random data, and the Guayacura had a field day with it on the crags of Isla Danzante, whose jagged sides seemingly form a multitude of faces. We will never know the gods of the Guayacura, but we do know that they came to Danzante and its eerie stones to dance in their honor.

Not far away rises the much larger Isla Coronado. An extinct volcano, its coves explode with sea life of every hue while sea lions bask in secluded coves (warning: they are very skittish). A favorite of scuba divers and snorkelers, Coronado’s calm waters offer no resistance, and first-timers will have an easy go. Between the two is a smattering of rocks and sea stacks oh-so photogenically piercing the Big Blue.

… Nor Any Drop to Drink

And where the waters leave off, a landscape ripped up from ancient seabeds picks up with a vengeance. Loreto and most of the eastern coast of Baja California falls within the narrow San Filipe Desert. Walled off from the cooling influence of the Pacific by the Gigantas, it’s where already-parched Baja California Sur gets even more so. But as the adage says, life finds a way. The San Filipe is surprisingly verdant, if in an everything-has-a-thorn sort of way.

It is also surprisingly busy. The Loreto 300 and 400 are two classic desert off-road races, and the landscape does not make either a cakewalk. For those wanting a little more peace and quiet, the hotels lining the coast take full advantage of the open spaces to create the perfect golfer’s paradise. In particular are the greens of the seaside Villa del Palmar, the luxury resort cum power address of Loreto, whose course is “challenging intermediate.” Hemmed in by a spur of the mountains, the Palmar was also quick to tap its dramatic locale for hikers. The up-down-up-down trails, so quiet you can hear the cry of a hawk a mile away, are by no means easy (and under a desert sun to boot), but they lead to views so fantastical even a charleyhorse couldn’t spoil them.

Tick-Tock

Thanks to the addition of an international airport, Loreto is already “discovered;” it was the setting for The Bachelor in 2005, and the outside world has trickled in at a greater flow each year. But right now, the LEDs are still dim, the food still ardently local, and the town still feels like it’s in a foreign country. Get there before the tourists do.