Surrounded by the desert, mountains and sea, La Paz offers a unique landscape: an intense blue sky over the mountains covered by bushes, cacti, and flowers and a sea with crystal waters that vary from clear green in the shallow areas to deep blue depths, moving through every shade of turquoise.

Its clean, sandy beaches offer tourists and locals the best sites to rest and enjoy water activities in what Jacques Cousteau called “the world’s largest aquarium.” Its mountains and valleys afford ideal places to walk, explore, and camp and to marvel at the amazingly rich flora and fauna, characteristic of the desert and semi-desert zone. The historic sites exhibit a part of the rich ancestry of its people.

The magic of this location is due in part to its serene ambience. Because this tranquil environment inspires creativity, many artists call La Paz home. In the words of John Steinbeck: "Even the air in this place is miraculous and the perception of reality changes by the moment."

History and Geographic Location

México is located in the southern region of North América. It shares its borders with the United States to the north and Guatemala and Belize to the south. To the east, is the Atlantic Ocean and to the west the Pacific. In the northwest region of the country you find a long peninsula, a piece of land between the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of California, or Sea of Cortés. This is the Peninsula of Baja California, which, because of its great length, is divided into two states.

The peninsula of Baja California has been inhabited for more than 12,000 years, but little is known of these first settlers. Only cave paintings have been left as testimony of their existence. In the 16th century, the peninsula had only a few semi-nomadic tribes of fishermen and fruit and seed collectors, such as the Cochimi, the Guaycura and the the Pericu. Hernán Cortés, motivated by the fantastic stories like those of the Las Sergas de Esplandián, organized the first trip to these lands in 1533. He even directed the second expedition, arriving at the bay on May 3, 1535. He baptized the lands as the Bay of Santa Cruz; but after 2 years the camp was abandoned, mainly because the dry soil would not allow for cultivation.

Finally, in 1596, Sebastian Vizcaino disembarked in the bay, renaming it La Paz and established a permanent camp. The Spanish quickly discovered the richness of the pearls and exploited them almost to extinction. In 1720, the Mission of "Nuestra Señora del Pilar de La Paz Airapi" was founded and in 1974 the territory was changed into a state.