This Baja Town Is Fit for Walking

It’s a great place to watch the sun disappear.

Baja is booking up for the viewing of the total eclipse, coming July 11. Scientists and “I-watched-the-eclipse� T-shirt makers predict that Baja will be the very best place to witness the full eclipse of the sun.

One of the places expected to draw lots of eclipse watchers is Loreto, a sleepy town in south-central Baja, about 200 miles north of La Paz. This farming and fishing town of 5,000 people is also a great place to watch the sun disappear in the more conventional manner--that is to say, setting over the jagged peaks of the Sierra de la Giganta.

Maybe an even better bet in Loreto is to watch the sun appear --rising dramatically over the Gulf of California.

Loreto was the trail head for Father Junipero Serra, who arrived here in 1769 and trekked northward to establish a long string of missions in both Baja and Alta California. The town was the first permanent European settlement in the Californias, and served as the capital until it was destroyed by a hurricane in 1829. The capital was then moved to La Paz.

The Spanish chose Loreto as a mission site and capital because of the protection from stormy weather offered by Isla de Carmen, offshore to the east, and the tall mountains inland to the west. Except for the occasional hurricane, this choice proved to be a good one.

This safe-port-in-a-storm thinking is still shared by today’s fishermen, and was no doubt a big reason why the Mexican government decided to construct a major tourist resort called Nopolo a few miles outside of town.

That was a decade ago. Fortunately, for lovers of the Loreto of old, Loreto as a resort town has not come very far very fast.

A Stouffer El Presidente Hotel was built on Nopolo Bay, and there’s a golf course in the making. But for the most part, Nopolo is still nowhere. And Loreto itself has more pelicans than people, and has yet to get a single stoplight.

Two four-letter words sum up the pleasures of Loreto: fish and walk . Fishermen say this part of Baja offers some of the best fishing in the world, and there are many boats available for charter.

Fish fans who just want to look, not hook, can enjoy the great snorkeling and diving on the offshore reefs and off nearby Isla del Carmen and Isla Coronado.

For those who walk, Loreto is really three walking destinations in one: the town and its waterfront, Nopolo Bay and Coronado Island.

Wander the mud and cobblestone streets of Loreto to Mission Nuestra Senora de Loreto, oldest mission in Baja.

The inscription above the front door reads: “Head and Mother of the Missions of Lower and Upper California.� Next to the church is a small museum set up by the National Institute of History and Anthropology. Several rooms full of exhibits interpret the restoration of the mission and the history of Baja. Well worth a visit, even if you can’t read the Spanish-only explanations.

Loreto’s milelong waterfront is also a pleasant stroll. You can watch the locals fish or catch your own dinner at one of the pretty good seafood restaurants along Calle de la Playa.

Beach walkers will head for Nopolo Bay and a two-mile round-trip saunter along the Gulf of California. A handsome beach is backed by high peaks of volcanic origin--the aptly-named Sierra de la Giganta. You follow a crescent of sand from the Stouffer El Presidente Hotel to a rocky point.

Baja’s beaches are a good place to try out those synthetic rubber/�miracle fabric� beach shoes, which are sold under a number of trade-marked names.

They got mixed reviews from our foursome. The shoes offer protection from shoreline hazards, but their novelty wears off in proportion to the distance traveled. Personally, I prefer using an already-trashed pair of running shoes for this kind of beach-walking.

Should you walk the shore, be sure to take along fins, mask and snorkel. At the end of the beach is a rocky point and a favorite skin-diving location.

After your walk and a swim in the Sea of Cortez, you may want to sprawl under Old Sol. That’s beach-hiking, Baja-style.

Coronado Island, a few miles offshore, also offers that same walk-snorkel-sun experience, but on a place that’s even more pristine than the peninsula. Some fisherman’s shacks are about all the “civilization� to be found on the island. You’ll have to charter a boat for the day (about $120) to take you there.

Coronado Island is something of a microcosm of old Baja. You feel what the Spanish explorers must have felt--that’s its both an alluring and a forbidding place. The fine white beaches and peaceful bays are alluring, but the towering rock cliffs that guard the island and harsh brush- and cactus-covered interior look forbidding.

Cactus and beach shoes don’t mix, that’s for sure. Baja’s population is concentrated in the extreme north and extreme south. That may change . . . and probably sooner rather than later. But for now, in the lonely middle of the peninsula, there are still places such as Loreto to walk, to fish and to enjoy the natural beauty of the desert.

Where: Loreto, south-central Baja. Distance: 2 miles along the bay, 2 on the island. Terrain: Desert bordered by tranquil beaches. Highlights: Sun worshiping, snorkeling. Degree of Difficulty: Easy. For more information: Aero California (800-258-3311)has direct flights to Loreto. For various air/ lodging packages, check with your travel agent.