San Ignacio is a palm oasis in the middle of the Baja desert – literally! You’ll know you’re there when you see thousands of green palm trees lining this sleepy little town.
About San Ignacio
San Ignacio is a small colonial town nestled in a date palm oasis. We arrived at the downtown plaza after driving 4.5 hours from Bahiá de Los Ángeles. This small area is surrounded by beautiful old buildings with pops of color. Immediately you can tell that there’s something different about San Ignacio in comparison to the other Baja towns we’ve seen.
What to Do in San Ignacio
Stroll Around the Plaza Square
When you arrive in the square, you’ll be mesmerized by the charm and beauty of San Ignacio. It’s a quiet, tiny village. There are a few restaurants, shops and taco stands that are fun to try. (Pro tip: look out for Jorge and his lit-up street cart once it gets dark. He offers pizza and elote!) Additionally, there are some small bakeries that offer date bread and pies.
Whale Watching
If you’re chasing the whales, then San Ignacio is a great place to stop and book a tour. (If you go to Guerrero Negro, feel free to pass through this small colonial town.)
Laguna de San Ignacio is a key destination for many – it’s a prime location for spotting gray whales during their winter migration. Every year, these incredible creatures travel more than 10,000 miles between their summer feeding grounds in the Arctic and the coastal lagoons of the southern Baja peninsula. When we decided to van life down Baja, we were excited to realize that our timing would sync up with the chance to see gray whales in the wild!
Laguna de San Ignacio is an hour and a half drive from the colonial town of San Ignacio, with the last 10 miles or so on washboard dirt roads. There are several places to camp and whale watch given the remote location, but we opted for one that came highly recommended: Ecoturismo Kuyimá.
Ecoturismo Kuyimá is a community-based organization started by Ejido Luis Echeverría Álvarez in 1990. His goal was to create the opportunity for ecotourism in the largest natural protected are in Latin America, El Vizcaíno Biosphere Reserve.
The biggest draw to the campground is obviously the whale watching tour! The cost is $55 dollars per person per trip, plus a tip for your captain. Children are usually half price.
Overall, Ecoturismo Kuyimá is well-organized and a beautiful spot to hang out and camp. All the staff there are super friendly, and especially good with kiddos. If you’re looking for a whale-watching tour while in Baja, this is the place to be!
Tour the Misión Nuestra Señor San Ignacio de Kadakaamán
When in San Ignacio, you cannot miss the local mission across from the plaza square. The Misión Nuestra Señor San Ignacio de Kadakaamán was founded in 1728 and was responsible for decimating the indigenous population of the Cochimí people. The church and grounds are beautiful, and one of the most well-known in all of Baja.
Where to Eat in San Ignacio
Loncheria La Mision de Kadakaaman
When I say that you must eat here – I’m not kidding. This was one of my all-time favorite meals in Baja. Simple, classic Mexican food at a small food stand in the square. Get the mixed plate with a little bit of everything – chile relleno, crispy taco, and an enchilada. The kindest people too!
If this spot is closed, go next door to Isabel’s. Also incredibly delicious, authentic Mexican dishes!
Edson Ice Cream Shop
Also known as Neveria Danya, look for the bright pink building in the square and you’ll have found some of the best ice cream in Baja! This spot also has delicious coffee and date results.
Mancú Coffee Store
A great little spot to grab a specialty coffee. We’ve heard the crepes are amazing too!
Restaurant Bar Victor’s
While nothing fancy, we appreciated the local flavor and kindness from this family-owned restaurant. Victor’s chile rellenos, shrimp cocktail and margaritas are worth the rave reviews!
Restaurante Mexicano Rancho Grande
This is a cute and charming little restaurant that offers delicious food, especially for breakfast. Although it’s a bit pricier than you’d expect for Baja, Rancho Grande still worth a stop. If you can, eat outdoors where you can people watch and enjoy the small town views.
Where to Camp in San Ignacio
Paraíso Misional
We discovered this super cute and spacious campground in 2023, and it’s safe to say that we’ll probably always come back! The owners are SO kind, and your campsite is surrounded by amazing date palms. Clean (and hot!) showers and restrooms. Plus, it’s a quick walk to the square or the river, which is a perk! $200 pesos/night.
Ecoturismo Kuyimá in Laguna de San Ignacio
If you plan on whale-watching, then you’ll book your camp stay at the same time as the tour. Please note that if you are not doing the tour, it’s not worth the trek to come out here to camp! It’s a terrible washboard, desolate dirt road out to this campground and will take a few hours.
Upon arrival, your host will greet you and let you know where to camp. We had already spoken to their staff at the San Ignacio downtown office, so he knew we were coming to camp in our van and do a whale watching tour the next day.
In addition to car camping spots, Ecoturismo Kuyimá offers comfortable tents set up for two with sleeping bags, cotton sheets, cots, and pillows, for rent, but you can also bring your own.
For being such a remote spot, the amenities are plentiful here. There’s a restaurant on site, where you can order breakfast, lunch, or dinner – or bring in your own meals. The restaurant is simple, offering basic meals, soda, wine, cocktails, or beer. There’s always free coffee from morning until night, as well as purified water and hot water for tea. Besides the restaurant, there’s a small gift shop on the property that has basic supplies, snacks, clothing, and other trinkets. While we didn’t get a chance to go visit, there’s an oyster farm nearby that provides a tour and a dozen oysters for $50 pesos! We ultimately ordered some from the restaurant.
The bathrooms are environmentally friendly, with bucket flush toilets. That basically means that after doing your business, there’s a bucket of water next to the toilet where you take a cup and scoop it into the toilet. Then you flush. The restrooms were always stocked with toilet paper, which is saying a lot – there have been many campgrounds in Baja where you must bring your own.
Ecoturismo Kuyimá also has bucket showers on site. This was a first for us! Right outside the showers, there is a hot water heater where you can fill up a bucket with hot or cold water. Then you carry the bucket into your shower stall, where there’s a small cup to use. It took a bit of coordination – especially since we didn’t want to run out of water! But since this is the way we could take showers outside of our van, we got the hang of it quickly.
It’s affordable to camp out at Ecoturismo Kuyimá — $8 U.S. dollars per person, per night. They do not charge for the kiddos. If you are camping with Ecoturismo Kuyimá’s gear, which includes a tent, sleeping bags, cots, cotton sheets and pillows, it’s $40 per tent for two people.
Have you ever traveled to someplace unexpected and were taken away by its beauty and charm?
