The ULTIMATE Baja California Sur Mexico Road Trip - La Paz, Cerritos, Balandra, Cabo Pulmo & MORE!

Today we're starting on our epic road trip through one of Mexico's most captivating destinations, Baja California Sur. Get ready for the ultimate road trip experience as we uncover its diverse geography ranging from stunning coastlines and picturesque beaches with crystal clear turquoise waters to desert landscapes and rugged mountain ranges. Baja California Sur is a state located in the western part of Mexico's Baja Peninsula. Baja is also known for its marine biodiversity including opportunities for whale watching, swimming with sea lions and exploring vibrant coral reefs. Last you saw us we were exploring the insane market culture in Mexico City and enjoying way too many delicious tacos. It's like stuffed to the brim. We flew into Cabo to meet up with Tommy's parents and to start our road trip. Mexico trip begins. We drove to our first stop Cerritos which is only 45 minutes from Cabo. Cerritos Beach has been a magnet for surfers drawn by its impressive waves and their presence has established a laid-back and undeveloped vibe. We arrived at the perfect time to enjoy a beautiful sunset on the beach. Beautiful for a sunset in Baja right? We couldn't pass through Cerritos and not stop at Cerritos Beach Dogs for a coffee and to support the awesome work that Eamon and Beck are doing there. We were in a bit of a hurry to get to our next stop at the small fishing town of San Carlos. San Carlos is a four and a half hour drive through desert land covered in cacti. The main attractions of Puerto San Carlos is its proximity to the gray whale calving and mating grounds which happen every January to March. We were there at the very end of the season so it was a priority to get there before the gray whales leave and migrate back to the Arctic. We checked into our hotel and headed out to get some food where we drank the biggest micheladas we have ever seen in our life. We ordered some micheladas to cool down and she brought a liter of michelada per person. We had no idea that they were going to be this huge and it came with this entire stick of tajin and chamoy. That's wild. This thing is wild. Okay I'm gonna give it a sip. Oh that is spicy. That's good. It's just huge. There wasn't much else to do in this small town so we geared up for an early morning adventure the next day. Today we're in for a super unique experience that can't be found anywhere else on earth. So every year the gray whales migrate south from the Arctic to raise their calves in the sheltered and warm waters off the coast of Baja. So we're here in San Carlos and we're about to go out. The gray whales are known to be super curious and so it makes this experience super unique because sometimes they swim up to the boat and maybe we can pet them. So that's super exciting and we're about to get out on the boat and go find some gray whales. We just spotted some sea lions. Their faces are just as cute as we remember right? Okay we just drove out 45 minutes and now we're just sitting. We're at the tail end of the season for whales so we're sitting here and waiting for the whales to come up and see if they're enough to come to the boat. He said usually it takes about seven or eight minutes. I was like well that's very specific. Oh wait I think we see a blow already too. Look at those whales. They're right there under the surface. They're huge. Look at them. Oh my god. You guys believe how big that is? We have a mama and a baby. Do you see that? Do you see that? So so far we've seen a mom and a baby that were around. They're here. They're still here. What do you think man? This is incredible. To get this close to those gray whales is something I never thought you'd be able to do. Amazing. Mom you having a good time? Oh it's been wonderful. It's amazing. So exciting. What do you think Sammy? The water is so calm and the sun is shining and it's the perfect day for this kind of activity. It all kind of lined up perfectly. Although I don't think the whales want to be pet but that's okay. We'll just keep watching them from a very close distance. This is wild. What a crazy experience. We just saw over a hundred dolphins that are feeding right here. Jumping all over the place. So hard to capture. They're so quick. Bunch of sea lions as well. A group of like seven of them peeked up and looked at us. And the whales. Such close encounters. An amazing experience. How awesome. So we may be at the end of the season for watching whales but there's activity going on all year round. He said in October and November you can book snorkeling tours here and you can go out and snorkel with marlin, orcas, whales, all kinds of sea life which is absolutely amazing. We're gonna have to come back. Yeah I was like wow I want to come back and see some of that. I mean a couple hours now and we're just watching and waiting and the whales come up and then they go away and then they come up again. It's just so much fun. I love it. That was his goodbye though. He left us with a big poop. All right after a great time whale watching and seeing all of the wildlife our captain is taking us to an island nearby to a restaurant that serves up fresh seafood. Oh thank you. All right time for some lunch. Wow so we came up to the beach and there's like these piles of bread things and we're like what are these? They're dead crawfish. It's just all crawfish skeletons. The whole beach is covered with them. Ah it feels good to be back on land again. I know. Nice and warm. I think we jinxed ourselves. We had the best smoothest water on the way out and then on the way back to this island it was just boom boom boom boom but feels good to be on land. I'm so ready for lunch. Wow that looks so good. Okay so we ordered a beautiful plate of seafood for lunch. We have shrimp, fish, and lobster and I think this plate was 550 pesos. I'm going in for the bite of lobster first. We got ours all in butter and garlic. That lobster looks so amazing and the verdict? It's delicious. I'm so excited. We had to get the lobster because they have all these lobster traps out front. We passed like over a hundred of them on the boat ride in. Yeah we kept passing like lobster trap after lobster trap so we're like you know what we just need to order it. So they also served us some homemade tortillas. They look delicious. I'm gonna go in for the halibut which is the fish we got. A white fish, super flaky, melts in your mouth. That is so delicious. I was most excited I was most excited about the lobster. I haven't got to try that yet. Sammy's hogging it for herself but the fish is outstanding. The last thing we got on our plate are the camarones, some shrimp. Seafood is so delicious. Tastes so fresh. Ready? Such an amazing lunch. Wow. Perfecto. After a great time in San Carlos we headed to La Paz. La Paz is the capital of Baja and it's known for its beautiful seafront with beaches, parks and lots of art. For dinner we came into a restaurant called Bismarck Cito. We ordered some shrimp, Tommy got the mackerel and we have some drinks and we're about to enjoy a lovely dinner. We finished the day enjoying another sunset while people watching before calling it a night. The main reason we came to La Paz was to visit Balandras beach and to see the whale sharks. We had sadly just missed the whale sharks which are usually there from October to May. The next day we got up super early to visit one of the most stunning beaches in the world. Welcome to the most beautiful beach here in Mexico. So today we're at Balandra beach. This is one of the most popular beaches here in Mexico and for good reason. This is so beautiful. It gets so busy. They only allow 450 people during the two time slots during the day. The time slots are 8 to 12 which is when we're here and also from 1 to 4. So we read if you have a car you have to get here super early because there's limited parking. We got here at 7 and the gates open at 8 but people were still driving in at 9. This is during the week though so weekends might get a little busier. It's very unique because you can actually walk across the bay. It's so shallow to all the different beaches. You got turquoise water here. We just finished a hike on top overlooking this entire bay. Today we're just relaxing here at the beach. I should do that more often with your back. We definitely need to use that as a pillow. A lot of cushion. What do you guys think of the beach? Yeah it's gorgeous. It is so pretty. Uniquely shallow. So to get to the famous mushroom rock you have to walk in some water that's about knee deep. The pelicans they have here are so huge. It's really nice because we're in the main bay of the land. It is here than I thought. You can get umbrellas on the beach. You can bring your own umbrella. There could be some vendors that are not open right now. It's just really really nice out here. We really enjoyed our time here. It is the perfect family beach. There are so many families enjoying the water so shallow and the tide goes out so fast. So many kids are building sand castles. Don't miss this spot if you guys are here in Baja. One of the most beautiful beaches I have ever been to. Our next stop was at the small town of Santiago located an hour north of San Jose del Clavo. We made it to the next little stop on our road trip. It's called Sol de Mayo. We're in the middle of the desert so it seems a bit weird that there's going to be water around us but we're on a short little hike to get on there right now. This lush desert oasis comes pretty much out of nowhere but it was so nice to stop and take a dip into the cool crystal clear water. We would say this is definitely worth a stop if you're driving by but we're not sure if we would go out of our way for it. Our last stop on this amazing road trip was in Cabo Pulmo National Park. Cabo Pulmo is a small little town that draws divers and snorkelers from all over the world. The reef in the park is one of just three living coral reefs on the west coast of North America. In 2005 it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is home to over 6,000 species of marine life including turtles, whales, dolphin, rays, sharks, and an incredible array of reef fish. We couldn't pass up the opportunity to do some snorkeling in the area. We hope you guys enjoyed this epic road trip through Baja California Sur and join us next week as we head to Europe and back to one of our favorite countries. See you then! Don't forget to like and subscribe!