The Peace – La Paz, Mexico is the capital of Baja California Sur, and is on the coast facing the Gulf of California. It is just about 100 miles north of Cabo San Lucas. It is a typical small Mexican town, upgraded with amenities for cruise ship passengers. It is a little startling when you dock, though, as docking for ships is in Pichilingue, some 13 miles north of La Paz. There is absolutely nothing in Pichilingue, so if you want to see La Paz at all, you are forced to buy a $12 RT bus ticket to get there. The good part for locals, we guess, is that it provides jobs for bus drivers, bus escorts, and ticket sellers whenever a ship is in port.
The main attraction in town is the 3+ mile long Malecon, an esplanade along the waterfront. It features 17 sculptures, small huts with chairs to enjoy the views, and kiosk businesses. Across the street from the Malecon are all the more fashionable restaurants and tourist shops. We had to walk several blocks to get to the town’s most famous building, the cathedral. Compared to others, it was not so grand or large or beautiful. What was unusual were the Stations of the Cross on the walls, with descriptions in English. Not being near to the US border, we can only guess that the English is intended for the tourists who visit.
Across the street from the cathedral is the Velasco Gardens and the 1910 Juarez Theater, the trinity of history in the town. Nothing else is very remarkable, other than views of the Gulf. We wanted to get a Baja Fish Taco while here, so we went into a restaurant opposite the Malecon, which had good ratings and looked to be “high-end.” We waited about 30 minutes and were served tacos that were cold, soggy, lifeless, and uninspired. Fast food fish tacos in California are several notches above these “authentic” ones. When we told our server that they were cold and soggy, we got a shrug and “sorry,” accompanied by the bill. We have learned our lesson! We think we discovered the reason they had good ratings online. We posted a negative review, and shortly thereafter, several ecstatic reviews suddenly showed up below ours.
🔹🔹 If you enjoyed reading our post, you can subscribe to our website to automatically receive every blog we publish. Just go to our “Contact” tab. In the gray box at the very bottom, it says – SUBSCRIBE TO BLOG VIA EMAIL. Just put in your email address, and we will appear in your Inbox! Also, right above it, there is a small form to send us a message, if you wish. (But please note, you cannot hit “Reply” on the post emailed to you to send us a message. You must use the Contact tab.)