Things to Do in Todos Santos, Mexico: History and Seasons

The list of things to do in Todos Santos, Mexico is shorter on big attractions and longer on texture than most beach towns, which is exactly why it is worth the drive from Cabo San Lucas or La Paz. If you have a free day or two and are wondering how to spend them on the Pacific side of the peninsula, this guide walks through what the town actually offers: its mission and plaza, a surprisingly dramatic history, the coast and mountains around it, food rooted in local farms, the arts, the best months to go and a realistic sample day.

One quick clarification before we start. There are other places called Todos Santos in Mexico, including a pair of surf islands off Ensenada in the state of Baja California and a farming town in Puebla. Everything covered here belongs to the town in Baja California Sur, the state at the southern end of the peninsula. If you are planning a wider trip around the region, our Baja California Sur destination hub is a good place to get your bearings.

Where Todos Santos is and how it fits a trip

Todos Santos is a small coastal town of a little over 7,000 people, according to the 2020 census, set in the foothills of the Sierra de la Laguna mountains on the Pacific coast of the Baja California peninsula. It sits right at the Tropic of Cancer, the line of latitude marking the northern limit of where the sun can appear directly overhead. Administratively it belongs to the municipality of La Paz, where it is the second-largest town.

Its position is the main thing that shapes planning. The town is about an hour’s drive north of Cabo San Lucas on Highway 19, and about an hour’s drive southwest of La Paz. That puts it roughly in the middle, so you can visit from either city, or slot it in as a stop on a drive between the two.

Here is how the main ways of working the town into a trip compare:

Approach	Who it suits	Trade-offs
Day trip from Cabo San Lucas	Travelers based in Los Cabos who want a change of pace from marina life	Two hours of driving in total; evenings in town are usually cut short
Day trip from La Paz	Visitors staying on the Sea of Cortez side who want to see the Pacific coast	Same driving time; the sea and light feel very different from La Paz’s bay
Stop on a Cabo to La Paz drive	Road trippers covering the southern peninsula	Easy to rush; works best with an early start
One or more nights in town	Anyone interested in the arts, surfing or slow mornings	Fewer amenities than the big resort areas, which is part of the appeal

If you are weighing Todos Santos against the busier towns to the south, our guide to things to do in Los Cabos, sorted by area helps you compare the two sides of the region.

Things to do in Todos Santos, Mexico around the plaza and mission

Most visits begin in the historic center, where several of the town’s highlights sit within a short walk of each other. Start at the main plaza, a small town square that works as the town’s living room. Sit for a while before setting off; it is the easiest way to read the pace of the place.

Across the street, to the southwest of the plaza, stands the town’s mission church. A mission was founded here in 1723 by the Jesuit priest Jaime Bravo under the name Misión Santa Rosa de las Palmas, and the following year it was renamed Nuestra Señora del Pilar de La Paz. Inside is a statue of the Virgin of Pilar, which is the focus of the town’s main festival each November. If you visit during that month, check locally for the festival program rather than relying on fixed dates, and remember that the church is an active place of worship, so dress and behave accordingly.

The Todos Santos Theater is another of the town’s recognizable buildings, and worth looking out for as you explore. Whether anything is on during your visit depends entirely on current programming, so treat it as a building to admire from the outside unless you have confirmed a performance.

The Hotel California question

Many visitors stop at the Hotel California in town because of its name. It helps to know the background before you go. The famous Eagles song does not refer to this hotel, or to any real hotel. In 2017 the band filed a trademark lawsuit against the hotel in a US federal court, and the case was settled in 2018. The hotel kept its name, dropped its effort to register a US trademark, and now denies any connection with the song or the band. For music fans it makes a quirky photo stop, as long as you go in knowing it is a namesake rather than a pilgrimage site.

Tracing the history of Todos Santos

One of the most rewarding ways to spend time here is simply learning the town’s story, because it explains so much of what you see. You will not need a museum ticket to appreciate it; you need context while you walk.

• Before the mission. The area was originally home to the Guaycura people, nomadic hunter-gatherers whose range stretched north to around present-day Loreto.
• The last battle of a war. The Skirmish of Todos Santos, fought near the town on March 30, 1848, was the final battle of the Mexican-American War.
• Sugarcane capital. After the missions were secularized in the 19th century, Todos Santos became the sugarcane capital of Baja, with eight sugar mills operating by the end of that century.
• The spring that disappeared. The town’s freshwater spring dried up in 1950. Only one mill was still working by then, and it closed in 1965.
• The revival. The spring came back in 1981, and Highway 19 was paved in the mid-1980s. The road brought visitors, and the farmland recovered.

Knowing this sequence changes how the town reads. The farms on its edges, the arts scene and the visitors all arrive in the story after 1981, which makes today’s Todos Santos a relatively young version of a very old place. It also explains why water is still a live issue here, which we return to below.

The coast, surfing and the mountain foothills

Todos Santos is known for surfing, and the Pacific is never far away. For many travelers the coast is the headline of the trip, whether you surf, want to learn, or simply want to watch the swell roll in. Because the town faces the open Pacific rather than the calmer Sea of Cortez that borders La Paz, the ocean here has a different character from what you may have seen elsewhere in the region.

Our advice for planning around the water is practical rather than prescriptive:

1. Ask locally on the day. Ocean conditions on an exposed coast change with swell and season. Local surf instructors, rental shops and your accommodation are the best source of current information on where and when to get in the water.
2. Match the beach to the activity. A good spot for watching surfers may not be a good spot for a swim, and the reverse is also true.
3. Time your visit to the light. On a west-facing coast, late afternoon is the classic time to be near the shore.

Inland, the town sits in the foothills of the Sierra de la Laguna. Even if you are not planning a serious hike, the backdrop of mountains rising behind farmland and town is part of what makes the setting distinctive. A short drive or walk on the edge of town gives you a sense of how the landscape shifts from coast to foothill.

Food, farms and the arts in Todos Santos

Eating well is one of the simple pleasures of a visit, because the revived farmland around town now produces vegetables, chilies, avocados, papayas and mangoes, and the local economy also relies on fishing and ranching. That mix is a useful lens: look for dishes built on local produce and the day’s fish, and ask what is in season. You do not need a reservation list to enjoy food here; curiosity about where ingredients come from goes a long way.

The town has a reputation for the arts, which shows in its galleries, shops and creative community. Rather than chasing a checklist, give yourself an unscheduled hour to wander the center and step into whatever catches your eye. If you want to know which places are listed with us, our venue directory is a good starting point.

Live music and events

For music lovers, some of the best evenings happen after dark, but they are also the hardest to predict. Concerts, performances and gatherings come and go with the season and the organizers who run them. Hyvibe lists third-party music, culture, food, wellness and outdoor events across the region with details on who organizes them, and we do not run these events ourselves. Before your trip, check the current events listings for what is actually scheduled; this article will not promise that any particular event is running when you arrive.

If your evenings will be spent back in Los Cabos instead, our guides to nightlife in Los Cabos and music festivals in Cabo San Lucas cover the bigger scene to the south.

Best time to visit Todos Santos

When you go shapes how comfortable a day of walking and beach time will feel, and the climate is one reason the town draws visitors. Long-term weather records (averages for 1991 to 2020) show a pleasantly steady first half of the year and a hot, wetter late summer. This table summarizes the pattern:

Months	Average daily high	Average daily low	Rain
January to May	About 25°C (77°F)	About 11 to 13°C (52 to 55°F)	Very little; April averages none
June	About 27°C (80°F)	About 16°C (60°F)	Very little
July to October	30 to 32°C (86 to 90°F)	About 20 to 22°C (67 to 72°F)	Most of the year’s rain, concentrated in August and September
November	About 29°C (84°F)	About 16°C (60°F)	Light
December	About 26°C (79°F)	About 12°C (54°F)	Light

The whole year averages only around 210 mm (about 8 inches) of rain, and September alone accounts for nearly half of it. In practice that means:

• December to May is the mildest stretch and suits walking the town in the middle of the day. The cool nights are noticeable, so pack a layer.
• November is still warm, closer to the hot season than to winter, but it brings the main festival tied to the Virgin of Pilar.
• July to October is the hottest stretch. Plan outdoor time for early morning and late afternoon, and expect the chance of rain in late summer.

Seasonality matters for the other towns too. If you are building a longer itinerary, our article on Los Cabos things to do by town and season pairs well with this one.

A sample day and common mistakes to avoid

To turn all of this into an actual plan, here is a worked example for a visitor driving up from Cabo San Lucas for the day in the cooler months.

Worked example: one unhurried day

1. Morning: leave Cabo San Lucas early and take Highway 19 north, about an hour of driving. Arrive while the plaza is quiet.
2. Mid-morning: sit in the plaza, then cross to the mission. Spend some time inside if it is open to visitors, keeping in mind it is an active church.
3. Late morning: walk the historic center, look out for the theater, and stop at the Hotel California if the music history appeals to you.
4. Lunch: eat somewhere that uses local produce or fish, and ask what is in season.
5. Afternoon: browse galleries and shops, then head toward the coast as the light softens. If you surf or want a lesson, arrange it locally with someone who can advise on the day’s conditions.
6. Evening: check the events page before you leave home; if something listed fits your timing, stay for it. Otherwise drive back after sunset, or better still, stay the night.

Coming from La Paz instead, the timing is nearly identical. From San Jose del Cabo, add the drive across to Cabo San Lucas first; our guide to things to do in San Jose del Cabo covers that town’s own art, farm and estuary options.

Mistakes people make

• Treating it like a resort town. The appeal of Todos Santos is its small scale. Visitors who arrive expecting a strip of beach clubs and large attractions tend to leave early and miss the point.
• Confusing it with another Todos Santos. The well-known big-wave islands of the same name lie off Ensenada, far to the north in a different state. Double-check maps and bookings.
• Assuming the Hotel California is the song’s hotel. It is not, and the hotel itself says so.
• Planning midday activity in late summer. From July to October, highs regularly reach 30 to 32°C. Shift outdoor plans to the edges of the day.
• Expecting an event without checking. Performances and gatherings are seasonal and organized by third parties. Confirm current listings rather than relying on an old blog post, this one included.
• Ignoring local infrastructure strain. The town’s only water source is an aquifer facing over-extraction, and its power line from La Paz runs over capacity, which can cause outages. As a visitor, keep showers short, keep devices charged, and pack a small flashlight if you are staying overnight.

Planning your visit to Todos Santos

Put together, the most rewarding things to do in Todos Santos, Mexico are the ones that reward slowing down: an hour in the plaza, the 1723 mission, the story of the sugar mills and the spring that returned, the Pacific coast, food grown on the surrounding farms, and an evening of music if the calendar lines up. A day trip gives you a taste; a night or two lets the town’s rhythm settle in.

When you are ready to fill in the details, look through our venues for places listed in the area and the events listings for anything scheduled during your dates. For more ideas across the region, the Hyvibe journal collects our planning guides for Baja California Sur in one place.