Driving from Los Cabos to Todos Santos: the Pacific Road, and When a Tour Is the Better Idea

The short answer: Todos Santos is the one drive from Los Cabos that justifies a hire car. It is about 77 km, roughly an hour, from Cabo San Lucas on Highway 19, which has no toll, and the town is a better afternoon than most of the guided options sell it as. Do it by day, in the dry season if you can, and with a plan for lunch. If lunch means wine, or you do not want to drive at all, book the full-day excursion to La Paz, Balandra and Todos Santos – 12 hours, €86.49, 4.2 stars from 101 reviews – or the Todos Santos tour with camel ranch, tequila and lunch, six hours, €106.02, 5.0 stars from 11 reviews.

See prices and dates for the La Paz, Balandra and Todos Santos excursion

The road

Highway 19 starts at Cabo San Lucas and is 131 km long in total, toll-free, running along the Pacific coast before it turns inland. On the way out of Cabo San Lucas it passes Playa Migriño, the dune beach where the quad and camel trips run, then El Pescadero, a farming village, and then Todos Santos. You do not need a map for the first hour; you need one for the turnings.

The time quoted for Todos Santos varies from about an hour to ninety minutes, depending on traffic and where in town you stop. Mobile coverage fluctuates along the way, so download an offline map before you leave the hotel.

Where to stop

Cerritos beach. The turn-off is around km 66, and it is a dirt road of a couple of kilometres down to the sand, about 45 minutes from Cabo San Lucas. It is known as a surf beach. Whether the water is safe to swim in on a given day is a question for the flags and the lifeguards, not for us: the Pacific side has currents and swell that the sheltered bays do not, and our guide to swimming in Los Cabos explains why.

Todos Santos. A Pueblo Mágico, with a historic centre, local crafts and the Hotel California, the landmark the guided Todos Santos tour lists as a free-time stop. Plan two to three hours: wandering, lunch, a look at the crafts. That is longer than the guided day trips give it – the excursion to La Paz allots one hour – and it is the argument for driving yourself.

Check availability for the Todos Santos tour with camel ranch, tequila and lunch

The rules of the road

Do not drive it after dark. The standard advice is cattle and other animals on or beside the road, hard to see at night. Leave Todos Santos with an hour of daylight to spare.

Hurricane season runs from June to the end of November, and August to October is the most active part of it. On the Pacific side the usual effect is heavy rain rather than a direct hit, and the thing to avoid is dry riverbeds, which turn into rivers quickly. If the forecast has a storm in it, move the trip. The most comfortable window for Todos Santos is late November to late April.

Check your cover before you go. The liability insurance required by Mexican law, the excess and the deposit are set out in our guide to car hire at Los Cabos airport; read it before you book, not at the desk.

When the tour is better

A tour is better in three cases. If lunch involves a drink: nobody in the car should be the designated driver for four hours of Pacific road. If you are going on to La Paz and Balandra, because the guided excursion includes the wristbands for Balandra, which are limited and sold by time slot – see La Paz, Balandra and Todos Santos in one day. And if you simply do not want to drive.

The cost of that choice is time: the excursion is twelve hours with an early pickup, and Todos Santos gets one of them.

See dates for the full-day excursion

Our recommendation

For a half day with time to look around: drive it yourself. Leave after breakfast, stop at Cerritos or not, eat in Todos Santos, and be back before dark. If you do not have a car for the week, one day’s hire is enough, and you can compare car hire for Los Cabos first.

For the whole peninsula in one go, without driving: the La Paz, Balandra and Todos Santos excursion. It is long and it is the only version where the Balandra wristband is already dealt with.

For Todos Santos alone, six hours, with lunch and a tequila tasting: the Todos Santos camel ranch tour – but it is rated on eleven reviews, so weigh it accordingly.

Skip it if your days are boats and beaches: the day trips page lists the other ways north.