Getting there & around

Getting there

Fly into Los Cabos (SJD). Los Cabos International Airport near San José del Cabo is the standard gateway, roughly an hour to an hour and 15 minutes by road from Todos Santos depending on how thick traffic is through Cabo San Lucas (approximate). There’s no airport at Todos Santos itself. La Paz has a smaller airport (LAP) that’s a similar distance to the north and sometimes cheaper on domestic routes, worth a look if you’re already inside Mexico.

Rent a car at the airport. This is the honest recommendation. Todos Santos and its beaches are spread across a dozen-plus kilometers of coast and highway, and a car turns the whole area from awkward to easy. Book ahead, and read the insurance terms carefully. Baja rental desks are known for a low online rate that balloons at the counter with mandatory Mexican liability coverage, so factor that in and expect the real daily cost to run well above the quoted headline (approximate).

Shuttle or private transfer. If you’d rather not drive, private transfers and shared shuttles run from SJD to Todos Santos. Given the distance it costs well above a normal city taxi, so budget accordingly and arrange it before you land rather than haggling at arrivals.

Bus. Autobuses Águila runs the peninsula route down Highway 19 and stops in Todos Santos, connecting La Paz (about an hour north) and Cabo San Lucas (about an hour south), with fares in the low hundreds of pesos (approximate). It’s cheap and reliable for reaching the town, but it leaves you without wheels for the beaches, which is the whole reason you came. There are also ADO-network and other coach services on the wider peninsula, but Águila is the practical local operator for this stretch.

Getting around

The historic center is small and flat, and you’ll cover it on foot in a few minutes. Everything beyond the downtown core needs a vehicle.

• To the beaches. Playa La Cachora, Punta Lobos and Playa Los Cerritos sit a 5 to 20 minute drive out, some of it down unpaved, potholed, dusty access roads (approximate). A regular sedan is usually fine if you crawl over the rough patches; a higher-clearance vehicle is more comfortable and less nerve-wracking on the La Cachora and Punta Lobos tracks.
• Taxis. Available but limited and not cheap for beach runs, and there’s no meter, so agree the fare before you get in. Fine for the occasional trip, frustrating as your only plan.
• Rideshare. Don’t count on consistent Uber or app coverage this far from Cabo. Coverage is patchy and thins out at night, so never assume you can summon a ride home from dinner.
• Bikes and walking. Downtown is genuinely walkable and pleasant on foot. A bike works for pottering around the center and nearby lanes, but the highway and the dirt beach roads aren’t a fun or safe ride.

Comfort and driving notes. Highway 19 is a good fast road but shared with trucks and long-haul buses, so keep your speed sensible. Avoid night driving on the rural and beach roads, when loose cattle, unlit vehicles and unseen potholes turn ordinary drives risky. The route is mostly straight and flat, so motion sickness isn’t a real issue here. Fill up on fuel in town or in Pescadero, since stations are sparse once you’re between destinations.