A pod of bottlenose dolphins welcomed us to the La Paz anchorage
The city of La Paz is the capital of the state of Baja California Sur and home to about 250,000 people. Located about an hour and a half from the tourist-vortex of Cabo San Lucas, Madrone’s crew was a little bit worried about finding a string of tequila bars catering to gringos.
We saw many ocean themed murals throughout the city
It turns out there was nothing to worry about. La Paz is in a beautiful setting, seems to be filled with friendly, welcoming people, and attracts mainly Mexican families on vacation.
The malecon during the day was pretty quiet- at night it was full of people enjoying the beautiful La Paz waterfront
The city is fronted by a three mile long malecon, or boardwalk. Quiet and nearly deserted under the blazing mid-day sun, the malecon comes alive after the sun goes down. Mexican families stroll along the seashore while the ever-present vendors sell tacos, tamales, and many other delicious-looking pieces of street food.
Sunset from the malecon
The people on foot dominate, but there are also folks buzzing by on bikes, skateboards, roller blades, and scooters. Like elsewhere in Mexico, there either are no rules, or nobody knows the rules, or everybody knows the rules but chooses to ignore them. And like elsewhere in Mexico, this doesn’t seem to cause any trouble at all – everyone is respectful of one another and exercises common sense.
Colorful dresses and traditional dancing at the city festival
Our time in La Paz coincided with a festival to celebrate the founding of the city. In the evening, the waterfront main street was closed and a large stage erected to allow for a traditional dance exhibition. Dance teams, each with their own outfits and their own style, from all over Mexico traveled to La Paz for the exhibition.
Our friend Jeff from S/V Adventurer came aboard Madrone and filmed for an upcoming episode of “My friend’s boat” on his YouTube channel
We only planned a quick stop in La Paz – top off the fuel, make a run to the grocery store, enjoy a dinner ashore. But we ended up staying for almost a week. La Paz is easy to enjoy and hard to leave!
