Delightful Departures: Loco for La Paz

As I, and my dive buddy, Chrissy, count down the days until we make our great escape to Mexico, I thought I would do a little research on a wonderful little town I visited for the first time over 20 years ago.

My last time to La Paz, I was a young, single lady looking for an exciting, inexpensive, short adventure. I had never heard of La Paz before and knew nothing about it but that it was a small town toward the southern tip of Baja. A friend and I had spotted this small ad in the travel section of the newspaper, saw it was something we could afford, and we were off.

What I found at the end of my brief 2 hour flight from Tijuana to La Paz was a warm, relaxed, friendly destination with that cozy small town, beachside village feel. Of course, these were the days before I discovered scuba diving, so I spent my days laying on the beach or snorkeling the turquoise waters just steps away from my hotel. In the evenings, my friend and I would grab a cab into town, set ourselves up at a cafe table with a view of the main drag, and watch the locals cruise in their cars up and down the strip. No wild nightlife, but some nice, relaxing good times.

Now, I am sure that the La Paz I was introduced to then has grown in the many years since I was there, but I hear it still has that small town magical feel to it that I remember so well and I am really looking forward to returning. This time, travelling as a couple of "old, married ladies" escaping their husbands for a week, Chrissy and I are looking forward to staying at Club Cantamar in the Pichilingue area about 10 miles north of town. I can't wait for our 5 days of diving in what promises to be a sea of abundant marine life. Of course, I do plan to take a ride into town at night, just to check out the goings-on there now and munch down on some delicious food. This time, however, being a little older and wiser, I thought I would like to delve a little deeper into learning about La Paz as I prepare to return to this memorable destination.

Do you know where La Paz gets its name? When Cortes landed in 1535, he named it Bahia Santa Cruz, but the name didn't stick. Then in 1683, a Spanish Jesuit priest by the name of Eusebio Kino dubbed it Nuestro Senora de la Paz (Our Lady of Peace). Far later in 1720, another Jesuit priest, Jaime Bravo, established a permanent mission here setting the name in stone. The mission church still stands on the main square on Revolucion. The name of the city was eventually shortened to just La Paz.

Another fun fact - Did you know La Paz is the capital of Baja California Sur? Despite its easy-going atmosphere, La Paz is an important port town. In fact, it is a principal port for the import of electronics from the Far East.

Final fun fact - Before an unknown disease killed off the oysters in its bay in the late 1930's, La Paz was known as the center of world pearl harvesting. In a short novel simply titled "The Pearl", by the infamous writer John Steinbeck, the legend of La Paz pearling was immortalized in the story of Kino, a desperately poor Mexican pearl diver who finds 'The Pearl of the World'.

[1] Baird, David & Lynne Bairstow, Frommer's 2000 Mexico, pp 664-674.
[2] http://golapaz.com/blog/2011/08/guess-what-literary-classic-is-set-in-la-paz-john-steinbecks-the-pearl/