Los Cerritos

Day 5–6:  Los Cerritos

We first encountered Los Cerritos while driving up the West Cape from Cabo San Lucas.  It's a slightly developed location with a few bungalows to rent and a boutique hotel on the hill, but it's not as populated by locals.  Los Cerritos is more of a small tourist destination given that its crescent shaped beach is protected by the rocky point.  Typically, swimming on the Pacific side of Baja is rather dangerous due to strong riptides.  But there are a few locations, such as Los Cerritos, where swimming on the Pacific side can be safe due to juts of land that naturally offer protection from the strong Pacific waters.

Lyle enjoyed the surf while I hung out on the beach on the first day.  I sat in the sun and watched as the waves rolled in from the wide open ocean, carving around the point and rolling up the beach.  I even made my first souvenir purchase from a beach vendor, a pair of long turquoise earrings inlayed in sterling silver.

We stay at Playa San Pedrito our first night in the area, but our second night we decided to give Los Cerritos a try.  After a day of exploring La Pastora just north of Todos Santos, walking around downtown, and grabbing some Tacos Chilakos carne asada for lunch, we headed back to Cerritos in the later afternoon so Lyle could get another surf session in.  It was late enough in the day that the breezes had died down, making beautiful wave conditions for surfing.  Lyle traded in his rental board for a different shape and got some surf in before we headed up the hill for a sunset shoot.

The hill was steep and rocky, with loose dirt along the footpath.  A road allowed us access halfway up but knowing we didn't have 4-wheel drive we parked and walked to the top.  The overlook was breathtaking, with sharp rocks at the base of the cliff and a wide view of the surrounding area.  Ocean to the west, the beach and hotel to the south, and mountains lining the horizon to the east.  We stayed until the sun completely sank below the horizon, and it was well worth the effort.

Los Cerritos RV park is a small dirt parking lot adjacent to the daily beach access lot.  Once the daily beach-goers vacated the area, it was peaceful and quiet.  Although we had a few trailers as neighbors, it actually felt rather secluded.  We would have one more day in the area before crossing the cape and exploring Cabo Pulmo.  It marked the halfway point of our trip and we were just starting to get a feel for what Baja had to offer!