Todos los Santos, Baja California Sur

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Todos Santos is a small coastal town at the foothills of the Sierra de la Laguna Mountains, on the Pacific coast side of the Baja California Peninsula, about an hour's drive north of Cabo San Lucas on Highway 19 and an hour's drive south from La Paz. The location of Todos Santos is 23°26′56″N, 110°13′32″W, very near the Tropic of Cancer at 23° 26' 22" N in the municipality of La Paz. The population was 4,078 at the census of 2005.

During the 19th century Todos Santos thrived as the Baja sugarcane capital, which is still evident by the ruins of sugar mills. Now the rich farmlands have been re-worked & the town prospers from an abundance of vegetable& chili farming, avocado, papaya & mango orchards, fishing & ranching.

The mission Nuestra Señora del Pilar de La Paz was founded by father Jaime Bravo in 1723. It is located across the street to the southwest from the small town plaza. This mission contains the statue of the Virgin of Pilar, which is the focus of Todos Santos main festival in October.

More recently, there has been a gradual increase in tourist activity and a boom in real estate development. Handicraft shops, owner-operated art galleries featuring landscape paintings of local scenes (some artists from Guadalajara and other parts of Mexico also exhibit works in Todos Santos,) upscale restaurants, boutique hotels and restored colonial buildings have contributed to the gentrification and redevelopment of the town.

There are many beautiful beaches within a 30 minute drive of Todos Santos. However, some of the area’s beaches, with rip tides, undertows, and fairly steep drop offs that are close to shore, are not considered safe for swimming. Playa Las Palmas and Playa Los Cerritos are great beaches for swimming and shell collecting, and Los Cerritos attracts surfers from around the world.

[edit] Big wave surfing

Todos los Santos has big wave surfing comparable to Mex Pipe in Mexico, Jaws (beach) in Hawaii, Mavericks and Cortes Bank, in California, and Dungeons Beach in South Africa. These waves are produced by seasonal storms in the north Pacific ocean, in the Bering Strait, and the Gulf of Alaska. This is the same phenomenon that produces wave action for California and Hawaii.^[1]

Todos los Santos, Baja California Sur, was named a "Pueblo Mágico" in 2006.