Things to Do in Baja California Sur, Mexico: City Guides

Baja California Sur is a Mexican state on the southern half of the Baja California Peninsula, between the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of California. Mountains, deserts, coastal plains and a long shoreline give the region a varied character, while its Indigenous, colonial and culinary traditions make it worth exploring beyond its landscapes. This Baja California Sur travel guide introduces the region’s history, culture and towns. Neywo also offers free audio guides for three cities in Baja California Sur, with 23 narrated places in total and one walking tour.

What to see and do in Baja California Sur

Explore the region’s mountains, deserts and coasts

Baja California Sur is a long, narrow state shaped by water and tectonic activity. The peninsula separated from mainland Mexico about two million years ago, leaving the region between two bodies of water: the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of California.

Volcanic mountain ranges run roughly parallel to the coast. The Sierra de la Giganta is the main range, while the Sierra de la Laguna contains the state’s highest peak. On the Pacific side, wider plains are formed from marine limestone and other sedimentary rock. Inland, the landscape changes from the Central Desert to the higher country of La Serranía, where tree cover becomes more significant.

The desert vegetation responds to brief and irregular rain. This contrast between dry plains, higher wooded country and coastal landscapes is one of the defining features of Baja California Sur.

Learn about ancient settlement and Indigenous cultures

The region’s human history reaches far back beyond the modern state. Human remains found at the Babisuri Shelter on Isla Espíritu Santo have been dated to tens of thousands of years ago.

The story of Baja California Sur also includes the Cochimí, Guaycura and Pericú, three Indigenous cultures that remain part of the region’s history. Their presence provides an essential context for understanding the peninsula before European arrival and the changes that followed.

Trace the difficult beginning of European colonisation

European arrival brought conflict as well as exploration. In 1533, Fortún Ximénez is believed to have been the first Spaniard in the area. His crew collected pearls and abused local women, provoking a violent confrontation in which Ximénez was killed.

Spanish explorers initially believed the peninsula was an island. Hernán Cortés later made several unsuccessful attempts to establish a colony there. The name California eventually came to be used for the region, taken from a mythical island in a popular novel.

Baja California Sur became Mexico’s thirty-first and last state in 1974, after the federal government divided the peninsula into two territories. Its relatively recent statehood is part of a much longer story of ancient settlement, Indigenous continuity and colonial conflict.

Visit Cabo San Lucas

For a city-focused introduction to the southern end of the state, explore Cabo San Lucas. Neywo’s guide there includes 12 narrated places, including the Museum of Natural History in Cabo San Lucas, Misión Estero de las Palmas de San José del Cabo Añuití and Misión Santiago de Los Coras.

These sites connect the modern city with the natural and historical story of Baja California Sur. The Museum of Natural History offers a starting point for the region’s landscapes and past, while the missions reflect the history of Spanish settlement.

Discover Loreto and its missions

Loreto is one of the key towns to visit in Baja California Sur for anyone interested in the region’s mission history. Neywo’s guide covers six narrated places, including Misión de Nuestra Señora de Loreto Conchó, Misión San Bruno, Misión San Francisco Javier de Viggé-Biaundó and Misión San Juan Bautista Malibat.

Together, these missions show the importance of Loreto and its surrounding area in the history of Spanish colonisation. Their names also preserve the religious and geographic vocabulary of an earlier period in the peninsula’s history.

Spend time in Todos Santos

Todos Santos offers another way to encounter the cultural history of the state. Its Neywo guide includes five narrated places, among them Our Lady of Peace Cathedral, Misión Nuestra Señora de los Dolores del Sur Chillá and the Museo de Antropología e Historia.

The town is also connected to the wider regional story through its location in Baja California Sur. A visit here can complement time in Loreto and Cabo San Lucas by bringing together religious heritage, historical interpretation and the traditions of the southern peninsula.

Listen to local music and watch traditional dances

Music and dance remain important expressions of local identity. Traditional music is often performed by a trio made up of an accordion and two guitars. These groups are known as cochi, and their repertoire includes corridos, waltzes, polkas, mazurkas and norteño.

Festival clothing can include a semicircular red skirt decorated with local flora and a flowered blouse. Traditional dances include Las Pitahayas, El Conejo, La Yuca and El Tupé.

These forms are not separate from the region’s everyday character: they help explain how Baja California Sur expresses its history through performance and celebration.

Taste the food of the peninsula

The coastline strongly influences local cooking, with seafood at the centre of the cuisine. Manta rays are eaten in Baja California Sur, although they are seldom eaten elsewhere in Mexico. Oregano and damiana are common seasonings, and damiana also flavours a local liquor.

Traditional dishes include machaca and breaded, fried clams, generally served with flour tortillas. The result is a cuisine shaped by the sea and by ingredients associated with the peninsula’s distinctive landscape.

Explore Baja California Sur with Neywo

Download Neywo to explore Baja California Sur with a free audio guide covering three cities: Cabo San Lucas, Loreto and Todos Santos. Across the region, the guides include 23 narrated places in total and one walking tour. Narration is available in 11 languages.

The app tells the story of each place as you reach it, at your own pace, with no group and no schedule. Instead of following a fixed tour, you can explore independently and listen when you arrive at the next narrated stop.