Todos Santos & the Pacific South

The far-south van trip: an art-town base under the Sierra Laguna, point breaks and turtle releases, and the Pacific’s best sunset coast.
Trip vitals
Distance
1,015miles
Duration
14–21 days
Route shape
Point to point
Vehicle
Any 2WD
Season
Oct–May
Whales inshore Dec–Mar; avoid Sep chubasco season. Summer is hot and humid.
Surface mix
96% paved4% graded dirt0% 4×4
Longest fuel gap
200miles

Fill the tank before you leave the border. Top off any time you’re at half.

Start & end
San Ysidro (Tijuana) crossing → Todos Santos

MEX-5 the whole way. Return on the same highway.

Updated: Jul 28, 2026
Before you go
This trip requires Mexican auto insurance — U.S. policies don’t count south of the border.

At the bottom of the peninsula, where the desert finally gets water from the Sierra Laguna above it, Todos Santos sits in a palm oasis a mile from the Pacific — a 19th-century sugar town reborn as the south’s art capital, and the natural base for a van exploring the last coast before Cabo.

Members read the full route guide

The complete story, trip vitals verified by members who drove it, and the GPS file to take with you — every route in the library. $40 a year.

Join the club to keep reading

Already a member? Log in.

1015 mi · Point to point
Members only

The member map for this route

What's in the file
Track (San Ysidro → Todos Santos via Highway 1 and 19) + 12 marked points: 4 camps, 4 fuel, 2 checkpoints, border FMM stop, and the stops worth making

Members get this for every route in the library — a growing library of Baja trips — plus the camping, fuel, and checkpoint notes that go with them. The file loads straight into Gaia GPS, OnX Offroad, or a Garmin. $40 a year.

Already a member? Log in.
12 points
Camps · Fuel · Checkpoints

Before you go — read this

Baja changes. Roads wash out, camps close, a Pemex that was there in March can be dry in November. Everything on this page came from members who actually drove it, on the date stamped at the top — but conditions on the ground are yours to verify.

The GPX track is a planning aid, not a navigation authority. Don’t follow a line on a screen into terrain you can’t see. Carry paper backup, tell someone your plan, and turn around when the road tells you to.

Mexican auto insurance is required by law and your U.S. policy doesn’t cover you. If something goes wrong without it, the situation gets much worse very fast. Get a quote before you cross.

Search

What are you looking for?

Articles · guides · conditions reports · club news