Todos Santos is a small town located in Baja California Sur, which is the far West coast of Mexico. Similar to the deserts of the Southwest United States, Baja California Sur is hot, dry, and filled with cacti. But, Baja California Sur is at the end of a peninsula, making water easily accessible from pretty much anywhere. This attracts many surfers and beach lovers since there are spectacular waves all throughout the coast.

Until just a few years ago, the only road leading into Todos Santos was dirt, making it a difficult place to reach. Even within the town today there are only a few main paved roads, and the rest is dirt. The rustic nature of the area has kept people away in the past and continues to weed out any tourists that aren’t ready to fully commit to the simple culture of the town. The one main tourist attraction of the town is the famous Hotel California, which is the hotel the Eagles based their song on. Other than that, the town is fairly isolated with just the local stores and restaurants to keep you entertained.

Depending on where in the town you stay, it can be easy to become isolated from other people. For instance, I stayed in a house just 10 minutes outside of town, but just that short distance can make you feel far away from any sort of community. If you enjoy relaxing by yourself or with your family, I recommend staying in a house or small hotel outside of Todos Santos. This way, you can be alone as much as you would like but also have the opportunity to drive into the town of Todos Santos in a short amount of time. If you would rather be constantly surrounded by activities, a hotel directly in town would be the best option. Downtown Todos Santos has several hotel options to choose from, and from any of those hotels you could walk directly onto the sidewalk in the center of town. Lastly, if you want an option that lies somewhere between isolated and right in the center of things, the Hotel San Cristobal is the perfect place to stay. While this hotel is about 20 minutes outside of town, there are lots of activities to do at the hotel. The hotel has a pool, bar, restaurant, and hosts lots of parties. In addition, local fisherman take off from the public beach in front of the hotel, making it easy to arrange a boat trip with one of the locals. Unfortunately, none of the beaches in Todos Santos are swimmable due to the intense waves, so if you feel the need to swim make sure to book a place that has a pool.

The majority of the restaurants in Todos Santos serve classic, authentic Mexican cuisine. While this is nice for a few days, it can get boring pretty quickly. My personal favorite restaurant in the Todos Santos area is Hierbabuena. Hierbabuena is a beautiful outdoor restaurant that is located right in the middle of a garden. The garden grows many different types of flowers, but also grows the vegetables that they serve in the restaurant. Hierbabuena serves healthy foods that are a nice contrast to the many surrounding Mexican restaurants and has lots of vegetables that can’t be found at most of the other restaurants in Todos Santos. Hierbabuena also serves many interesting drinks — both alcoholic and nonalcoholic — that utilize the flowers grown in their own garden. Overall, Hierbabuena is a great option for light but filling food for when you get tired of classic Mexican meals.

Altogether, Todos Santos is a cute, small town that is a great place to spend quality relaxation time in. There are lots of small restaurants in town, and tons of unique stores to shop at. The one thing to consider before planning a vacation there is that there aren’t many activities to do, which can be good if you just want to relax, or bad if you get bored doing the same things every day. In addition, if you’re looking for a place to swim in the ocean, this is not the place for you. But, even with the downfalls of Todos Santos, it’s still an excellent place to spend a warm vacation.