Loreto Mexico
Loreto Baja California

The small but soon to be booming town of Loreto Mexico lies on the Sea of Cortez side of the Baja California peninsula, 84 miles south of Mulegé and roughly 225 miles north of La Paz. The town sits just east of Mexico 1, and with the exception of a few one-way streets, is very easy to get around in by car.

In the 1700s, Loreto Baja California thrived as a political and religious capital. Its mission, founded in 1697, was the first in all of the California's.

More than two centuries later, in the 1950s, sport fishermen heard tales of the abundance of fish in the Sea of Cortez, and made Loreto Bay their private-plane getaway. By the early 1970s, when the Trans-peninsular Highway (Mexico 1) was complete, the Mexican department for tourism development (FONATUR) funded an international airport and a few small resort-style hotels in Loreto. Since then, development has slowed down and Loreto remains a quaint Mexican village.

This settlement of almost 10,000 inhabitants still has a traditional, small-town atmosphere. The first Friday of every month Loretanos gather for Noche Bohemia (Bohemian Nights) in the town plaza, where schoolchildren present folk dances and local musicians strum classic ballads. Even non-Spanish speakers will enjoy the music and community spirit. The music reverberates off the old stone walls of Missión Nuestra Señora De Loreto, which has stood for more than 300 years in the town center.

Loreto's warm sea temperatures and nutrient-rich waters attract game fish and the folks who chase them. Whereas  Loreto fishing is popular during the hot summer months, sea kayaking, diving, and pleasant weather draw tourists to Loreto throughout the year.

Recently the Mexican government formed Parque Nacional Bahia de Loreto, preserving the water, islands, and shoreline near Loreto bay.
 

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