Baja North to South by Motorcycle <>

Mexico | Oct 2025 |

Baja was my point of entry to Latin America on my Canada-to-South America ride. Here are details of my ride down the peninsula and details on stays along the way.

Duration & Distances

7 days / 6 stops / 24 hrs riding / 1600 km

Route & Rides

Here's the route and segments. You can view a dynamic Google Map below these posts

Ride 1: Tijuana to Ensenada

I started this ride at Fallbrook, CA, about 90 minutes north of San Diego. It was a fast and easy crossing (look for a separate post on this topic). In Tijuana, I followed the Via Internacional road along the border to the coast, and then the 1D highway down the coast The border wall is worth seeing from the Mexico side, an imposing sight, more than I expected it to be. On this route, I quickly had an issue: I forgot to change money/go to the ATM at the border, and was then unknowingly riding on a toll road. When I got to the first toll booth, I had no cash and needed to turn around and ride back to find an ATM - not part of my plan at all in Tijuana! At the Playa (beach) area of town, I found an ATM, got cash and headed back to the tool booth. It was clear sailing from there, along a nice coast, arrived in Ensenada 90 minutes later. This was visit, and I a bit shocked how dead things were (sorry, bad use words; how about "uneventful") - everything in the touristy area of town was closed, no one around (ok, it was a Tuesday, but I kind of expected some border town party scene). It was here that I had my first exposure to gas prices in Mexico; at first I thought it was 24 pesos a gallon (ok), then learned it's 24 per litre (not ok) - basically the same price for gas as in Canada, much more than I expected (same thing for accommodation, oh ya - and food). The highlight of my stay was my first serving of Baja's famous fish tacos - superb. I stayed one night and departed early the next day, continuing south down the Pacific side of Baja (rather than riding east to San Felipe on the Sea of Cortez side).

Ride: 115 km / 1.5 hours

Stay: Capital O Hotel Rose ***

R2: Ensenada to El Rosario

Most of the long ride out of Ensenada and south was average at best: lots of traffic, no major sights. I rode 4 hours or so to El Rosario, where the route heads inland. The last hour of the ride became really nice, kind of what I expected in Baja: open road, no traffic, dry desert scenes, twisty road. When I arrived, a friendly local (whom I instinctively and pathetically thought was trying to scam me) suggested I check out Baja Cactus hotel. It was decent and fair-priced at 750 pesos. Next to the hotel is Mama Espinoza Restaurante, a legendary place in town with a long association with the Baja 1000 and adventure riders. Next day I had breakfast there and hit the road for what I knew was going to be a great day of riding.

Ride: 245 km / 5 hours

Stay: Baja Cactus / 750 pesos / ****

R3: El Rosario to Guerrero Negro

This ride featured some of the most stunning scenery I saw in Baja, especially the spectacular Valle de Los Cirios, an other-worldly landscape of round boulders, cactus and sand. No wonder it's nominated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This area is popular with enduro riders, and I tested some trails along the way. The thermostat hit 39 °C through here. While the ride there was great, the stay at Guerrero Negro was nothing special. It's a famous whale breeding area and caters largely to whale-watching tourists. I did a walk-in to a non-descript old hotel, booked a room, was the only guest there. Again, the price was far too high for what was on offer (especially compared to what I am used to in SE Asia). Anywho...

Ride: 361 km / 5 hours

Stay: ? / 600 pesons / **

R4: Nuevo Guerro to Mulege (Playa Santispac)

From the Pacific to the Sea of Cortez, west to east. The ride was great, up and over the peninsula, little traffic, great desert scenes, baking hot. The first town I passed through was Santa Rosalita, an epic mining ghost-town, that just has to be a scene in many a zombie apocalypse film. From there, it was a great ride along the stunning calm coast to Mulege. After Mulege, the highway winds down a hill into an epic beach-palapa scene at Playa Santispac. I stopped there, set up camp for 200 pesos (this was the only camping I did in Mexico). Overall, it was not a great night: it started out too windy and hot, then continued to be baking hot, with a massive swarm of flies in the morning.

Ride: 303 km / 5 hours

Stay: Playa Santispac camping / 200 pesos / **

R5: Mulege (Playa Santispac) to Loretto

A short 2-hour blast. Coming out of Playa Santilac, the road continues down the coast with some supreme views of idylic beaches, many with campers. The road heads back inland for the last 90 minutes or so to Loretto. I booked a studio apartment, 5 minutes from the historic center of town. I forget to check it if had parking when I booked - and it didn't, so I had a pretty stressful night getting up to check my bike out the door on the street (and yes, it was there in the morning). Loretto exceeded expectations; I could have easily stayed a day or two longer. It's a nice small historic town, and it seems to have a bit of an expat scene (I met some at Vic's Bar, watching MLB playoff games). One major highlight was dinner and then breakfast the next day, didn't get the name of the place, and it's not on Google, but Iit is next to Le Terraza Sushi - highly recommended, check it out if you are in Loretto!

Ride: 115 km / 2 hours

Stay: Depto Soske / 995 pesos / ***

R6: Lorreto to La Paz

This 5-hour ride was more of the same scenes and road, starting out with great coastal views and then back inland, a windy start, then mostly straight road. I had a good 2-day in La Paz, booked an AirBnB I highly recommend. Ate dinner at Claro Fish Jr both nights, prawn burrito. I also managed to get new tires, same day service, at Moto Llantas La Paz. I highly recommend this shop, and Danny speaks perfect English. Side note: this was my second visit to La Paz, first time was 1986, when I departed on a sailboat heading north. After nearly 40 years, I was surprised how little it had changed, though the legendary Los Arcos hotel, a major watering hole in my 1986 visit, was now abandoned, sadly. On my first trip, (supposedly) Willie Nelson had just departed the hotel bar when I first walked in, according to a Texan father and son who claimed to the owners of Antoines in Austin, fugitives from US authorities who motored an old cruiser down the Pacific, hit a whale and sunk the boat. Another interesting regular was a former DEA agent who had his leg blown off by a cartel car bomb. Honeslty, it was seemed fun in La Paz in 1986 than 2025.

Ferry: La Paz to Mazatlan