It’s a fair question.
Ahead, a sudden miracle of abundance.
A dense stand of emerald palms, a wide ribbon of golden sand, an expanse of cobalt sea.
The desert- bordering pool at Paradero Todos Santo.Credit: Jessica Sample
I pull off my shoes and step barefoot onto the sand.
It receives me with a pliant, cool density.
Where a pelican, that avian symbol of the Eucharist, looks on?
Credit: Jessica Sample
And I’ve been here less than 24 hours.
What it is, though, is blessed by the rarest thing in a parched world: water.
(Consider that Tulum gets around 48 inches and Puerto Vallarta nearly 60.)
The Pacific Ocean as glimpsed from a blufftop hike.
But here is the magic: The sandy soil draws the water inside the earth and stores it.
But what nature giveth, it can taketh away: In 1950 the aquifer dried up.
The last sugar mill closed in 1965, and that could have been the end of Todos Santos.
Paradero’s botanical gardens.
I came home with folk art and recommendations, sending friends and later returning with my school-age kids.
I felt lucky to have been in on the secret.
To have seen it when.
Locally caught shrimp prepared by chef Eduardo Ríos at Paradero Todos Santos.Credit: Jessica Sample
But then I heard about a concrete hotel on a farm with a view of the ocean.
I cannot stop taking photos and posting them to Instagram.
Outside our redoubt: farmland and its soft verdancy of tilled fields of peppers, herbs, and lettuces.
New culinary takes in a historic building at Oystera.Credit: Jessica Sample
In another direction, the glorious Baja desert, dun brown and dotted with cacti.
Beyond, a valley leading to the sea, which I glimpse in distant blue.
I ask myself, and now you know where I first got the idea.
Ana Rivas and her 400 mezcals—and counting—at México Gourmet.Credit: Jessica Sample
Let’s just say it’s hard to summon the energy to go out again.
But Sunday, it’s the perfect day for a reunion date with Todos Santos.
A lifting breeze rustles through the bougainvillea.
The lush environs of DŪM, one of a new crop of restaurants heralding the artsy town as more of a food destination than ever.
It feels beautifully the same decades later, even amid the excitement of everything new that brought me back.
A young woman is seated at a desk just within.
“I was here so long ago!”
Without missing a beat, she smiles.
“I’m so glad you returned!”
I step inside and take it all back in.
Baja bites and drinks to match at Barracuda Cantina.Credit: Jessica Sample
And it’s heavenly.
Get Here
Most major airlines offer direct service to San Jose del Cabo Airport (SJD).
From there, you might coordinate a private transfer with Paradero or rent a car.
The remarkably verdant landscape surrounding Paradero.Credit: Jessica Sample
(Don’t miss the coconut shrimp.)
Venture south to El Pescadero, whereHierbabuenaserves plant-forward plates in the middle of its own lush garden.
Keep caffeinated atTaller 17andDoce Cuarenta.
Old-school seafood tacos and eye-popping decor at Santo Chilote taqueria.
For the coolest souvenir tees, sweatshirts, bags, and mugs, hitDoce Cuarenta.
(Pick up a pound of their excellent coffee, too.)
Coffee and more in the artistic spaces of Doce Cuarenta.
Superb bohemian fashion at El Taller.
