Art Colony with Surf and Desert

Todos has been rebuilt and mutated by an influx of Americans, many of whom remodel old homes or build new old homes. Its location right on the Tropic of Cancer (along with the healthy dry climate) has made it a New Age spot with all sorts of Yoga, Rolfing, Aura cleansing and meditation. It teems with art galleries (and local artists) and you can discuss their work at the Caffe Todos Santos. There are also great surfing beaches nearby, where it's cool to camp out. Throw in some eco-tours and adventure sports--and the original 'Hotel California'.

Quick Tips:

Best Way To Get Around:

You can get into town by bus from Cabo or La Paz, and walk around the downtown, but the beaches are out of town and require driving or hitching.

It's not the best hotel in town, or the cheapest, or the best deal. But it's the most famous, because it really is the namesake for the Eagles hit.
And it's not such a bad spot for the night at that. It's old, funky and rickety (in other words, very Baja). And has a pool. And a good breakfast place.
But mostly, it's a great place to have your picture taken in front of.

This place (an inn with only 4 rooms) is the sort of thing that brought people to Todos in the first place. A lovingly restored 19th century building (that seques into an art studio) it has become a lovely place to stay, with the characteristic heavy lintels and shutters of the Baja building style, the whitewashed walls, the dark wood furniture, that whole cool, serene, dry, perserved feeling of the traditional Mexican desert building.

Well run by great people. Call (of FAX) ahead, it's small and very desirable.

I guess you'd call it dining--it's a coffee house. But they have great deli sandwiches, pasteries and salads.

The Caffe (why the two 'f's' i never learned) is a sort of Todos community center as well as caffeine fix. It's right across from the best of the galleries and people just come by.

If you're really lucky the owner's twin daughters will be there--cute as bugs and so identical they talk in unison like Huey, Dewey and Louie.

If you don't think a bookstore is an attraction worth whooping over, then you haven't spent much time in Mexico--or can read Spanish. For most tourists, the access to English language books is like an oasis in the the desert--and the existance of a two-for-one swapping USED book exchange is a major rush. They sort of speicalized in Baja and Mexico, but the thing is they have English novels and such. The owners are turkeys, and the prices are high, but they deliver.

They are also a sort of unofficial tourist office for Todos Santos, and distribute a free map of town along with advice. The store is located in a sort of arcade at the corner of Hidalgo and Juarez--uphill from the park where the bus stops and a block east of the Caffe. There are nice shops and a 'sidewalk' cafe in the building as well.

Forget those art wimps and New Age loonies--beach bums have been coming to Todos to surf and camp long before you could get an espresso or Shiatsu massage there.

There are beaches walkable to from town (a couple of desert miles, though) but they are not the best for swimming due to extremely violent waves and undertows. Pretty and isolated places though, like La Posa (walk up Calle Topete until it turns into a path leading towards the sea) or Punta Lobos head out of town on Degollado past the old fish plant. This is a great sunning and partying beach, and there are often sea lions about. In the afternoon fishing skiffs put in and you can buy your dinner cheaper and fresher than at the markets or restaurants.

The more useful beaches are accessible off the highway. Swimming is best at Las Palmas and Los Cerritos, about 8 miles south on the highway, just past Gypsy's Bed and Breakfast. Las Palmas is a serene beach lined with (duh) palm trees for a look almost like the mainland (or Hawaii) not typical of Baja at all.

Los Cerritos is a pretty beach with good fishing, an RV pask ($4 US a night)and a nice right break for surfers.

Further south, at about Km 81 is a Plays Las Cabrillas, not so good for surfing but popular with campers. This is your best bet to find a bunch of rasta-locked kids doing a drum circle and running around bareass. Nearby Playa San Pedrito is the same way, skinny-dipping (not a very good idea in Mexico, by the way) and camping.

Further south, at Km 97 is a marked dirt road to Estero Migrino. This estuary has birds and wildlife and during the winter pumpos out a nice right break.

None of these places has water, so bring your own. In Todos Santos, by the way and like many towns in the Baja, the water comes from deep wells and is potable right out of the tap.

There might be pretension and parvenu about Todos Santos, but the art scene is legitmately excellent. U.S. artists have moved there, talented Mexicans have found the galleries lucrative. Something about the remote location and desert light brings out the best in painters--there is very little of the tired fakery you find in urban galleries. Much of this work is impactive encounter with Mexico, with the desert, with the human condition.
The Todos Santos Gallery on Legaspi and Topete is the flagship of the gallery scene. Owner Michael Cope does excellent work, but he is even better at selecting other artists to display. If you don't find something here that stops you in your tracks, there's something wrong with you.
At the Santa Fe Gallery (4 Centenario) you'll find excellent bronze and clay sculptures, and work that approaches folk craft.
The Casa Franco (Juarez and Morelos) is even craftier, with furniture and houseware items by fine artists from all over Mexico.
American painter Charles Studio has a gallery/studio/home in a lovely building at Centenario and Oregon. He opens during the mid day, or give him a call (5-02-65).
Othere galleries in the area include:
Galeria/Studio de N.E. Hayles
galeria logan
Galleria de Fidencio
Golden Cactus Gallery
In late January, Todos has its Festival de Artes, a two day arts blowout. And in February there is a tour of local historic homes, some of which could also be viewed as works of art.