Best Day Trips from Loreto Mexico

Loreto is a little laidback authentic town in Baja California Sur with tons of things to do around. It is blessed with Loreto Bay National Park (Parque Nacional Bahía de Loreto) as its front yard, and desert mountain ranges as its backyard. In the national park, no commercial fishing is permitted. All the boats out there are for personal use, island trips, diving, and sport fishing.

Fortunately, Loreto is still a hidden gem. You can take day trips from downtown Loreto and have the paradise all to yourselves for cheap. This is one type of destinations Sensational + Well recommends. Keep in mind that if you go, please respect the environment and the locals so  Loreto can stay a paradise. 

Here are the top five day trips from Loreto.

1. Isla Coronado

Isla Coronado is the most popular day trip destination from Loreto. Technically, it is still in the Loreto Bay National Park. In less than 30 minutes, you’ll be on uncrowded white sandy beaches and turquoise waters. On the way over, you’ll almost always see pods of dolphins. 

How to get there

1. Island tour for about $80 per person. Most people join an island tour. The guides speak better English. The tour companies will have more water gear available too such as snorkeling gear. Beverages and lunch are included. The tour usually departures at 9am and lasts about 5 hours. All tour companies or dive companies in Loreto offer Coronado Island tour. They are all about the same. 
2. Private panga boat for $100 to $120 total for the day (5+ hours). The panga can easily take 6 to 8 people. You can go earlier than the tours to have the island to yourselves if you wish. This is an incredibly relaxed and economical way to go to the island. Simply go to the marina (google map link). If local captains don’t approach you, you can ask and anyone will direct you to a captain that will take you out. You can reserve the same day, but it’s best to reserve at least a day ahead of time. Most of them will have WhatsApp to keep in touch with you. Beverages and lunch is usually included too. But most importantly, you can go wherever you want and do whatever you want, including fishing. 

Things to do around Isla Coronado

1. Be a beach bum and swim. The water is especially calm and warm in May, June, and Oct. You’ll have a nice time in the water too. The water is too warm in July and August, and too cold without a wetsuit from December to March. 
2. Walk around the island. From Playa Isla Coronado, there’s a little trail you can take to explore the island.
3. Snorkel with sea lions. On the back side of the island, there is a sea lion colony. 
4. Diving. You’ll have to go with a diving company.
5. Fishing. Come in different seasons for different fishes. 

2. Isla del Carmen

Isla Carmen is Sensational + Well’s favorite island in Parque Nacional Bahía de Loreto. There are lots of little beaches, coves and caves. If someone already occupies a beach, go to the next one. You’ll need many trips to explore them all. People used to live on Isla Carmen but not anymore. Salt mines are abandoned. Bighorn sheep hunt during hunting season is the last standing reason some stay for multiple days. 

How to get there

The island is large and long. The near side is about an hour boat ride from Marina Loreto. During winter months, the sea can be very choppy in the very afternoon. The captains will keep an eye on the wind condition to let you know which days the boat can go to Isla Carmen. You can go with a tour or hire a panga boat as you would for Isla Coronado (see guide above), it will just be more expensive for the distance.  With a tour, it’s possible to request kayaks or stand-up paddle boards for use. 

Things to do around Isla Carmen

1. Enjoy gorgeous sceneries. You might not want to leave. 
2. Hiking. Bring enough water. 
3. Find fossil shells. This island is a geologists’ favorite. 
4. Stand Up Paddle boarding. The view? Isla Carmen on one side, mainland mountains in the distance on the other side. 
5. Diving and snorkeling. You’ll have to go with a diving company for diving. Each guide has their secret spots. 
6. Fishing
7. Camping. Pay for a camping permit at the National Park Office at the Loreto Marina. Hire a captain to drop you off and schedule a pickup. Note that there is no cell signal on the island. 

Bahía Concepción

Many will say Bahía Concepción is the most beautiful place in the entire Baja California. White sand beaches, turquoise waters, little islands here and there, diverse landscapes and viewpoints. It’s like the Mediterranean Sea of Mexico.

The beaches are in a bay within a bay within a bay, so the water is calm and there is no current.  It is same to swim. Each beach has its own unique shape. 

How to get there

Driving is the best way to enjoy Bahia Concepcion. A 4 wheel drive would be even better. It takes an hour to two hours from downtown Loreto to get there, depending on how you drive. So plan for a long day trip from Loreto. Note that there is a police/military checkpoint about 15 minutes outside of Loreto. The scenery is beautiful along the way. Just be careful of animal crossing on the road especially at night. 

Which beach of Bahía Concepción is the best?

It depends on what you want. There are palapas (bare bone huts) at all of them for you to chill in the shade or camp overnight, but he palapas are first come first served. The popular ones like Playa Santispac charge 200 pesos a day/night if you stay for more than an hour. There is no one collecting fees even if the sign is up at the slower beaches during low season. 

Playa Santispac is the biggest, and there are more things to do. 

• Kayaks and SUPs: You’ll see kayaks and SUPs for rent. 
• Private boat rides: You can hire a panga boat and captain on the spot at Playa Santispac for 500 pesos per hour or more depending on the season and inflation. The captain will take you island hopping, relax on a remote beach, fishing or else – up to you.
• Hiking: There is a hiking trail all the way to the left of the beach. It leads to a 360 degree viewpoint of one bay on each side. 
• Mangroves: All the way to the right are mangroves. The water temperature changes. 
• Restaurants: There are a couple. We recommend Restaurants Bar Armandos. 
• Foraging: if you are good free diver and have keen eyes, you can forage clams and scallops

Playa Requeson is a must at low tide – the sand bar will let you walk to Isla Requeson. 

Playa El Burro is the party beach and the most crowded of all. People actually live there, and there is jet ski traffic. There are a couple restaurants too. 

Playa El Coyote, Playa Los Cocos, and Playa La Escondida are the smaller and quieter ones. That could make it a preferable choice if you want something more secluded. 

Pro tip for Bahía Concepción

1. Watch out for the boats and jet skis when you swim out from the beach. There have been unfortunate accidents.
2. You can buy fresh water to rinse off at Playa Santispac if you see a water truck comes by
3. Locals will swing by to sell ceviche. 
4. The palapas and where you park at some beaches can be very closed to the water. Watch out around high tide. 

Bahía Concepción island tour

El Burro Baja Tours

You can book with them via WhatsApp or email (click link above). The boat launches from Playa El Burro. They will take you around little islands, fishing, swimming, foraging lots of different clams and scallop including almeja chocolata, almeja reina, and callo de hatch. Then they will make sashimi or ceviche out of it for you to enjoy on the beach.

4. Mulegé 

Mulegé is tiny farming and fishing town about 20 minutes north of Bahía Concepción. Bahía Concepción is also considered part of the broader Mulegé area. The oasis town Mulegé is built around Río Mulegé that flows into the sea. It is very refreshing to see an oasis after hours of drive in the Baja California desert. The most popular destination is Misión Santa Rosalía de Mulegé (google map link). Just a few steps from the mission is the best viewpoint of the river, the palm trees, the valley, and the houses attaching to this oasis. 

Where to eat in Mulegé 

El Kaluly and Restaurant Olga’s for fish tacos and ceviche. The ceviche specialty you can get here is raw scallop (callo).

Tacos El Manuel for meat tacos

Mulege Brewing Company for beer, kombucha and fast wifi.

Cool Scoops de Mulegé offers very impressive homemade ice cream for such a remote town. They use special variety Mulegé Mangos grown right in Mulegé for their mango ice cream.

5. Misión San Francisco Javier de Viggé-Biaundó

For those who are interested in missions, this 18th century mission in San Javier is a nice day trip from Loreto. It is in the heart of the Sierra de la Giganta and about an hour drive from Loreto. A short walk from the mission is a 300+ year old olive tree. The village of San Javier used to be home to the Cochimí native Americans, but the population was significantly reduced by smallpox and measles that came with the mission. Although the Cochimí is extinct, some tour guides can show you some traces in the village while you stroll down the cobblestone streets.