La Paz, Mexico is a great destination year-round, offering the opportunity to get away from the cold and swim with sea lions, eat chocolate clams, and stroll a scenic boardwalk by the sea. However, we recommend planning your travel based on one of the following events in La Paz if you really want to partake in local festivities. With more than 20 years of experience in property management, Sea Side Reservations is happy to help you find a safe, clean, well-appointed condo, resort, or villa rental in La Paz that suits your needs.
La Paz is blessed with bountiful waters teeming with cabrilla, wahoo, tuna, marlin, dorado, snapper, rooster fish, barred pargo, triggerfish, pompano, palometa, and tough jack crevalle. Thirty pounds might be a small catch, but it’s common to see trophy fish coming out of these waters weighing in at 70-80 pounds! Whether you fish out of a love for seafood, the thrill of the chase, or just for fun out on the water, La Paz fishing is some of the finest you’ll find in Mexico.
The Annual Dorado Shootout at Van Wormer Resort in Los Barriles bills itself as the “largest fishing tournament in Southern Baja,” with an average turnout of 130 teams each year. The low $500/team entry fee and over $165,000 in prize money ensures the tournament’s continued popularity. The first place winner will take home a brand new pickup truck! Come to La Paz in mid-July to catch this fun tournament that has been going on for more than 13 years.
Forty teams and 162 anglers compete for Blue, Black, and Striped Marlin, as well as Sailfish, Spearfish, and Yellowfin Tuna. Some of the bigger Bisbee’s fishing tournament jackpots have totaled more than $1 million! Even the catch-and-release division receives cash prizes for their catches. The winners’ ceremony and cocktail party are huge local events. “I think all of Cabo came down because it was open to the public,” explained Ken Price, a winning angler from San Diego. “They did the checks, played the ‘We Are The Champions’ song, and we had the fireworks,” he said, adding that it was “a lot of fun.”
The Loreto Dorado International Fishing Tournament was first held July 1, 2016. Four hours from La Paz, the City of Loreto is a nice weekend excursion, especially if you are interested in winning up to $3,000 and a grand prize of a 4-night stay at Villa del Palmar at the Islands of Loreto, including a free round of golf with cart rental. If you love to golf, you won’t want to miss the resort’s Rees Jones designed championship course next to the Sea of Cortez.
La Paz has a long, storied history dating back to 1962, when the Elkin brother stuntmen of Hollywood, California agreed to test the durability of Honda’s new CL72 Scrambler by completing a timed run along the 950-mile stretch from Tijuana to La Paz. The challenging ride took just short of 40 hours to complete, despite gas shortages, heavy fog, and bumpy dirt roads. Soon after, Ed Pearlman created the National Off-Road Racing Association (NORRA) and the first Mexican 1000 race from Tijuana to La Paz in 1967. Subsequent races started in Ensenada or Mexicali, but all roads pointed to La Paz.
Scorpion Bay is a small fishing village six hours north of La Paz and east of Loreto. The area is known for its fantastic surfing conditions and for hosting one of the most exciting, high endurance off-road races in the world. November 2017 marks the 47th Annual Baja 1000, when over 120 teams will take on 1,130 miles of challenging desert terrain stretching from Ensenada to La Paz. San Juanico is a popular pit stop for teams, sponsors, volunteers, and crews of the Baja 1000 racers.
The Coyote 300 is a well-known, off-road race, with start and finish in the outskirts of La Paz. Over 160 riders travel from the magical town of Todos Santos through the neighboring towns of San Simon, El Cardonoso, El Baturi, El Carrizal, Los Inocentes, Conquista Agraria, El Chivato, Los Filos, and El Centenario. The party commences at El Tecolate Beach. Come join the masses in June to see why La Paz is referred to as the “world capital of off-road racing.”
Though Loreto is four hours from La Paz, the Loreto 400 is worth mentioning, as it’s one of the most popular races in all of Baja. The race began in the early 80s and travels “the Mission Course” — going from Loreto on the Sea of Cortez, up the Giganta Mountain Range to the Pacific Ocean side, and then back down to Loreto – trails once used by Franciscan, Jesuit, and Dominican monks. The race takes place in mid-September.
Festivals are a fantastic blend of culture, food, music, dance, art, costume, and tradition. Celebrations in La Paz are lively, spilling out into the streets and often culminating with rich fireworks displays. In this part of Mexico, festivals are seen as an important family bonding activity. They are also important drivers of tourism and builders of the local economies.
Carnaval, taking place six days before Ash Wednesday in February, is the largest celebration in La Paz. Mexican carnavals are celebrated in Ensenada and Loreto, but the international holiday is particularly popular in La Paz due to the festive parade with grandiose floats and colorful costumes traveling down the malecon. You’ll also find food booths, craft vendors, county fair rides, and nationally famous musical acts as part of the Carnaval festivities.
El Triunfo is located 28 miles south of La Paz, along the trans-peninsular highway toward Los Barriles. In June, Truinfo celebrates the Fiestas of the Pitahaya, a type of desert cactus fruit that tastes like a mix between kiwi and melon. Eventgoers are treated to regional foods by award-winning chefs, traditional horseback presentations, family crafts, live music, and dance.
The “Day of the Dead” is celebrated throughout Mexico on November 1st and 2nd, but La Paz is one of the best places to see the local tradition come to life. This huge family event is free to the public and includes displays of altars, Catrinas and Calaveras costume contests, children’s workshops, authentic regional cuisine, and live entertainment on stage. Teatro de La Ciudad has been called “thee place to be for Dia de los Muertes,” with its continuous stream of live performances and elaborate displays.
Need a place to stay in or near La Paz? Contact Sea Side Reservations to talk about resorts, condos, and villas that would match your needs and expectations. Our property managers ensure that your stay is beautiful and stress-free.
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