Santa Rosalía

Santa Rosalía is a magnificent town far in the north Baja California Sur and thus something like midway up the Baja Peninsula on the edge of the ever-inviting Sea of Tranquility. The population is just over 14,000. As a small town, it dates just from the end of the 19th century. At that time, a French firm began mining copper from the surrounding hills and one can still pick up a whiff of French influence here and there in the town's look and feel, the architecture and certainly in its baked goods! The town takes it's name from the historic convent 100 kms to the south in the town of Mulegé. 

People come to Santa Rosalía to stroll the seashore and to take in the majesty of the sea here. It's a windswept place of emotional heights, and deeply felt contentment. The famous Historical Museum of Santa Rosalía is here, but just as many visitors go in for a visit to the Municipal Palace and Archives. The Hotel Francés still welcomes guests and the Mahatma Gandhi Library serves readers from all over the area. The library is an important landmark too.

The Santa Bárbara Church is the main parish church for most of the area. It serves as a backdrop for just about everything happening in the town center. The Mining History Museum, El Boelo, invites strollers from just off the seashore. The local food scene is dominated by shrimp and fish, and the "pan de El Boelo" is not to be missed.

Santa Rosalía is not likely to grow to anything like the major attractions one finds in Los Cabos or even La Paz, but regular visitors come back for the quiet seashore and pace of life. It's a remarkable and gentle place to visit and many international visitors come, even every year, for just those aspects of this peaceful and inviting coast.

Most guests are going to arrive to Santa Rosalía from points much further south on the peninsula. At this point, the only flights arriving to the airport in Loreto are routed through Tijuana, and Loreto itself is nearly three hours to the south. The trip from Cabo San Lucas takes just shy of 12 hours. Autobuses ABC and Aguila both make the trip and it leaves plenty of time to contemplate the great scale and size of the state.