You have just landed at Los Cabos or La Paz, bound for Todos Santos — the last stretch up Highway 19 is part of the trip, as the road threads desert and palm oasis to the Pacific art town. This guide covers the timed airport bus and the private transfers, where to sleep from a desert design resort to a courtyard budget base, a first fish taco, the Balandra and Cerritos day trips, and the surf, sun and digital entry record that decide what the oasis really costs.
You just landed in Todos Santos. The landing actually happened at Los Cabos (SJD), about 80 km south — the move is the Eco Baja Tours bus for about MX$510 when its afternoon departures line up, a private transfer from about US$185 when they do not, with an eSIM keeping you connected from arrivals, pesos in your pocket for tacos and colectivos, and the Balandra and Cerritos days worth booking ahead through GetYourGuide.
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Find your arrival stop, hotel, and first meal. Stays, sights, and landmarks in Todos Santos — live hotel prices plus the key places from this guide.
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Todos Santos sits on Highway 19 on the Pacific side of the peninsula, an oasis of mango and palm between desert and surf. Decide your ride before you land — the cheap bus is timed, not constant.
An Airalo eSIM loads a Mexico plan in minutes, so Eco Baja times, maps and ride messages work from the kerb. Compare Saily and Yesim for a longer Mexico trip.
Walk past the timeshare desks inside SJD arrivals — anyone offering a free ride to Todos Santos is selling a presentation.
If your flight lands in the bus window, and keep the ticket for the return.
Because Todos Santos cash machines run dry on holiday weekends.
AirHelp checks whether the airline owes you compensation.
Journey times are approximate and refer to the listed stop — not necessarily your hotel. Allow extra time for waiting, walking, and connections.
In a hurry? Private transfer from SJD is the fastest option listed, at about 1 hr 20 min.
Watching the budget? Rental car from SJD is the cheapest option listed, at From about US$40 a day plus tolls.
Heavy bags, a group, or a late arrival? Private transfer from SJD takes you door to door — From about US$185 per vehicle, about 1 hr 20 min.
Direct Eco Baja Tours bus from outside SJD arrivals to the town bus stop; only a few departures a day, roughly early to late afternoon, so a late landing breaks this plan
Taxi or bus from LAP into La Paz, then the Eco Baja Tours bus south on Highway 19; the natural string when pairing Todos Santos with a La Paz stay
Pre-booked cars and vans meet you in SJD arrivals and run Highway 19 direct to your door; SJD Taxi quotes US$185 for a minivan and US$195 for a Suburban
Highway 1D toll road to Cabo San Lucas, then Highway 19 north; a car also solves Cerritos, Punta Lobos and the dirt roads west of town
Todos Santos has no airport and no train. SJD, about 80 km south, takes most flights; LAP, about 75 km north-east, is smaller and pairs naturally with a La Paz stay. Both arrivals finish on Highway 19.
In town, the centre is flat and walkable — plaza, mission and galleries inside 15 minutes. The beaches are not: Playa Cerritos is about 9 km south, Punta Lobos about 4 km west, and neither walk is shaded. Local buses and colectivos run the highway to Pescadero and Cerritos; a taxi from the plaza to Cerritos runs about MX$350. A car earns its keep here.
Prefer to be met? A Kiwitaxi transfer or a Welcome Pickups driver puts a name board in arrivals at a fixed price. Driving yourself, price the pickup on AutoEurope first, then read the driving notes under Safety before you commit.
Start at the plaza on Calle Centenario: the mission church of Nuestra Señora del Pilar, the Teatro Manuel Márquez de León and the Casa de la Cultura around one slow square. Go early, when the light is on the brick and the coffee is on.
Walk Benito Juárez to the Hotel California — the pink-fronted landmark at Juárez and Morelos. Look, take the photo, then keep walking: the Eagles story is a legend the hotel itself has litigated, and the best of the street is the galleries beyond it.
Browse the gallery blocks on Centenario and Juárez — Todos Santos lives on art, from Baja desert landscapes to the February open-studio weekend when painters work with their doors open.
End the day at La Poza, the freshwater lagoon about 3 km west of the plaza: herons in the reeds, the surf audible behind the dunes, and sunset over the Pacific. Swim in the ocean here only with local advice — the shore break is heavy.
Book the water and desert days before you arrive, because the small groups fill first — browse the Todos Santos listings on GetYourGuide for the day trips, and compare Klook when stacking tickets.
An adults-only desert resort south of town at La Mesa, KM 59 on the highway: suites scattered through cactus and farmland, an Ojo de Agua spa, a half-moon pool and experience-led days from surf to farm tours. Book it for Baja as a landscape, not a beachfront.
A historic-centre hotel on the corner of Legaspi and Topete, two blocks from the plaza: 14 rooms, a rooftop Sky Lounge over the oasis, El Mirador restaurant and the El Faro beach club about 5 km away with a shuttle. Book it for town life plus a serviced beach day.
A small, friendly base on Calle Álvaro Obregón in the centre, a few blocks from the plaza: simple rooms around a courtyard pool, a palapa restaurant and honest rates that leave money for tacos and boards. Book it for the best-value bed in walking distance of everything.
Stay in the centre for galleries, restaurants and no car — the blocks around the plaza and along Juárez and Legaspi. Stay toward Las Tunas and La Cachora, west of town, for space, gardens and the lagoon, and drive in for dinner. Stay at Cerritos for surf outside the door and a 15-minute drive to every meal.
Confirm whether the quoted total includes Mexico's 16 percent VAT and the Baja California Sur lodging tax, and ask beach-area properties how the dirt road to them handles rain before you arrive.
Eat Baja on day one: fish tacos and chocolate clams, mango in season, and produce from the oasis farms that ring the town. Three first stops:
Map → Chef Javier Plascencia's garden restaurant on Los Naranjos, closed Tuesdays: wood-fired and Baja-Mediterranean plates built on the day's farm pick, from aguachile to paella. Book for dinner.
Map → The garden kitchen out in El Pescadero, about 10 km south: wood-fired pizza, garden salads and fish of the day eaten between the beds it grew in. Go at lunch and surf Cerritos after.
Map → The centre's old-guard Mexican table at Hidalgo 131, in a garden courtyard: molcajete, arrachera and chiles rellenos at prices the plaza's trendier rooms no longer charge. Walk in early.
Know before you sit down: the propina is not included — 10 to 15 percent in cash is standard, and many kitchens close one weekday, most often Tuesday. For cooking classes and food tours, browse the Todos Santos listings on GetYourGuide and book ahead.
Todos Santos is the Pacific base for the south of the peninsula: Balandra's mushroom rock, Cerritos surf and the camels and tequila of the Cabo road.
A 12-hour run from Los Cabos: two hours at Balandra's shallow turquoise bay, Coromuel Beach, lunch and the Malecón in La Paz, then an hour in Todos Santos before the drive back. Rated 4.2/5 from 94 reviews, from about US$98. Check availability →
An 8-hour day from La Paz: breakfast at La Garita, the mission, plaza and Hotel California on foot, the Todos Santos oasis, then the sand at Cerritos for a Pacific sunset. Rated 5/5 from 3 reviews, from about US$102. Check availability →
A 6-hour day from Cabo San Lucas with pickup: the historic centre and Hotel California with a guide, a pearl-farm jewelry stop, hand-loom weavers in Pescadero, camels at Tierra Sagrada ranch, a Mexican buffet and a tequila and mezcal tasting. From about US$119. Check availability →
Drivers get one more: the Sierra de la Laguna trailheads east of town, where the desert rises into pine forest — go with a local guide, start at dawn and carry every drop of water.
November to May is the season: days of 24 to 28°C, dry air, winter surf at Cerritos and grey whales off the Pacific coast from about December to March. June to August turns hot, 32°C and climbing, with the sea at its warmest. September brings the rain, the humidity and the closures — several restaurants and hotels shut for the month.
Budget in pesos. A budget day — Casa Tota, the Eco Baja bus, tacos and a colectivo to Cerritos: about MX$1,400. Mid-range — a boutique room, a rental car day and garden-restaurant dinners: about MX$3,200. A splurge day at Paradero with a private transfer passes MX$9,000 without trying.
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Pack for desert sun, cool Pacific evenings and a swimmable-but-cold ocean — this is the full list:
Add the Todos Santos extras: a rashguard or spring wetsuit for winter surf (the Pacific sits near 19 to 22°C), sandals that survive dirt roads, and a warm layer — January nights drop toward 12°C once the sun goes.
! Check visa requirements before you fly
Spanish runs Todos Santos outside the hotels. A greeting before a question is local etiquette — open with buenos días, and keep por favor and gracias in rotation.
Four phrases do most of the work:
Sort your entry paperwork before you book anything non-refundable. Most visitors from the US, Canada, the UK and the EU need no visa for tourism up to 180 days, with a passport valid for the whole stay — but 180 is the maximum, not a promise: the immigration officer at SJD or LAP stamps the days you actually get.
There is no paper FMM on the plane any more. Air arrivals get a digital FMM record: download it from the INM portal after arrival, screenshot it and keep it with your passport photo — hotels and officials can ask for it. The MX$983 fee (2026) is already inside your airfare; any website charging you again for the form is charging for a free record.
Cerritos is the swimmable surf beach, with lessons and lifeguarded stretches in season; Punta Lobos, La Cachora and La Poza have heavy shore break, rip currents and no lifeguards. Swim where the surf schools are, and never turn your back on the sets.
It is a good, straight highway with two traps: livestock on the tarmac after dark and long, dazzling sunsets straight ahead. Slow down at dusk, skip the night run back from Cerritos, and let faster traffic pass rather than racing the single carriageway.
Violent crime against visitors is rare; the risks are the ordinary ones — a bag left on a beach towel, a car left unlocked at a trailhead, an ATM used alone at midnight. Use the bank machines on Juárez in daylight and keep valuables at the hotel.
Winter is gentle, but summer sun at latitude 23 burns fast and the desert trails have no water: carry two litres per person, hike at dawn, drink purified water only and ease into raw seafood at stands your hotel names. Dial 911 for emergencies; the nearest full hospital is in La Paz and Cabo San Lucas, about an hour each way.
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The AmericasThe things travellers ask in the first 48 hours: the airport that is in Los Cabos, the timed bus and the digital entry record.
Transfers checked against Eco Baja Tours listings via Wanderu and 12go and SJD transfer operators, October 2026; entry rules against INM guidance.
Fly to Los Cabos International (SJD), about 80 km south. The Eco Baja Tours airport bus runs direct to Todos Santos in about 1 hr 40 min for about MX$510, but only a few times a day in the afternoon. A pre-booked private transfer costs from about US$185 per vehicle and takes about 1 hr 20 min.
No. Los Cabos (SJD) is the main gateway, about 80 km south; La Paz (LAP), about 75 km north-east, is smaller and works well paired with a La Paz stay. Both arrivals finish with the Highway 19 drive.
November to May: dry days of 24 to 28°C, winter surf at Cerritos and grey whales offshore from about December to March. September is hot, wet and quiet, with some hotels and restaurants closed.
At Playa Cerritos, about 9 km south — the surf beach with schools, rentals and lifeguarded stretches in season. Punta Lobos and La Poza have heavy shore break and no lifeguards; watch the sunset there instead.
No, not for air arrivals. The paper form is gone: you get a passport stamp and a digital FMM record, downloadable from the INM portal. The MX$983 fee is already in your airfare, and the officer decides your days, up to 180.
For the centre, no — plaza, mission and galleries sit inside 15 flat minutes. For the beaches, yes: Cerritos is 9 km south and the lagoon and Punta Lobos are dirt-road drives west, so a car or taxis fill the gaps.
Fares change — the operators and the INM pages always win.
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One email with your Todos Santos PDF (guide version: Oct 2026). Fare changes and new guides after that. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Transfers against Eco Baja Tours schedules and Wanderu and 12go listings for the SJD airport bus (about MX$510, roughly 1 hr 40 min, four buses a day in the afternoon window) and SJD Taxi and Cabo Transportation private-transfer rates (from about US$185 per vehicle). Hotels confirmed as real properties at their printed addresses against Expedia's Todos Santos listings and the properties' own sites; Expedia property pages were not opened with matching IDs in this session, so hotel URLs await the pre-publish confirmation pass. GetYourGuide products opened and read this session: the La Paz, Balandra and Todos Santos excursion (t657882), the Guided Hike and Sunset at Playa Cerritos (t1088186) and the Todos Santos tour with camel ranch, tequila and lunch (t454227); hub todos-santos-l962 opened. Entry rules against INM guidance as of October 2026: digital FMM record on air arrival, MX$983 fee included in airfare, up to 180 days at the officer's discretion. Photo credits as in the guide data. Last verified October 2026.
Affiliate disclosure: hotel names, transfers, experiences, and products linked in this guide may earn After You Land a commission at no extra cost to you. Prices and times were checked in Oct 2026 and change often — confirm before you book.