Baja California - La Paz, southern beaches.

Drove down the malecon and south out of La Paz to check out the beaches south of the city. Trip Advisor has all sorts of reviews but I decided to drive to the furthest and work my way back, doing my own assessments of them. The Sierra de la Laguna comes right to the coast here and its very rocky hills and a scattering of cacti. The road hugs the coast and the dents in, and sometimes mangled, guard rails are a little off-putting but the road is fine, really. Past a condo and golf course development (the greens are like a carpet that just stops at the desert, looks weird), past a couple of oil refineries and past the ferry terminal and then on into desert coastline.
The road ends at Playa Tecalote:

There was hardly anyone there but the restaurant owners were sweeping floors and setting tables so they must have been hoping for some people.

 

I walked the long, sandy beach with

 

the rocky foothills behind

 

and the view of Espiritu Santo Island in front

 

I spoke to a group of Canadian RVers (B.C. and Alberta) who had driven down in an organized caravan. They said the worst part was the amount of road construction in the Baja that left very narrow lanes and scary near misses with trucks. They said it often felt like they were "off roading" in their massive RVs.

 It was very windy at this beach so I decided to head back and stop at the ones I had passed on the way.

Playa Balandra wasn't far back. No restaurants here, just a van selling snacks.

It was completely sheltered from the wind and there were more people here. Every palapa was taken.

It was very shallow. I walked out into the middle of the bay and didn't get passed my knees. Great for kids but not for swimming (without a lot of walking). You could also rent kayaks but it would have been pretty rough out beyond that point.

I stopped at a mangrove swamp a little further along and watched a pair of Osprey fishing and an Egret sitting in a tree.

Also this Ibis poking in the mud flats.

Next beach was the small Playa Pichilingue, round the corner from the ferry docks. Again, I had it to myself. By now I was hungry. I could eat the cookies I had in my bag or splurge on lunch.......

Grilled fish.

I ate my meal in the shade and then took my wine into the sun. I paddled in the water, walked out on the little dock. Felt thoroughly relaxed.

I finished it off with coffee and flan. The total was 415 pesos (about $27 Canadian).

This Reddish Egret (yep, that's its name, I looked it up) was fishing at the beach

The web site I read stated that they are one of the most active of the heron family running, jumping, dancing when fishing and he certainly was.

Stopped at the grocery store and gas station and home by about 4.