Todos Santos is a town on the Pacific side, about an hour north of Cabo San Lucas by road. Punta Lobos is the working beach just south of it where the local pangas launch straight through the surf. Be clear about one thing up front. This is a drive, not a boat run from the Cabo San Lucas marina.
People see Todos Santos on a map, see that it is on the same coast, and assume you can get there on a fishing charter from Cabo San Lucas. You cannot, at least not in any sensible day. It is well north up the exposed Pacific coast, past Golden Gate Bank and then a long way further, with no shelter and no harbor at the other end.
The way people go to Todos Santos is by road on Highway 19, roughly an hour north from Cabo San Lucas, and that is the right way to do it. Indigo Adventures is based in El Pescadero, near Todos Santos, and what we run on this side is the 24 foot Punta Lobos panga, which launches off the beach at Punta Lobos rather than out of a marina.
Todos Santos is an old sugar town that emptied out and then filled back up with artists, surfers and people who wanted somewhere quieter than the cape. It is a designated Pueblo Magico, which is a Mexican government designation for towns kept for their character. The centre is a compact grid of brick and adobe buildings, galleries, small hotels and restaurants, with a mission church and a lot of shade.
It sits slightly inland on a freshwater spring, which is why there are palms and mango and avocado growing in what is otherwise desert. That water is the reason the town is where it is.
Punta Lobos is the fishermen's beach a short distance south of town. There is no jetty and no ramp. The pangas are launched off the sand straight into the Pacific shore break and they come back in the same way, running up onto the beach at speed with the crew jumping out to hold them.
Watching a panga come back in through the break at midday is worth the drive on its own. It is a working operation rather than a display. The fishermen bring in their catch, the buyers meet them on the sand, and pelicans and gulls work the scraps. There is a sea lion presence in the area, which is where the name comes from.
If you go, stand well clear of where boats are landing. The beach itself has a strong shore break and rip currents and it is not a swimming beach.
This stretch of Pacific coast is surf country. Cerritos, to the south of town, is the best known and the most beginner friendly of the local breaks, with schools and rentals operating there. San Pedrito and others up and down the coast are more serious water. Swell is generally biggest in the summer months from southern hemisphere systems, with winter bringing north swell.
The general rule on this coast holds. Unprotected Pacific beaches here often have heavy shore break and rips, and the safe swimming is in the sheltered bays on the Cortez side, not out here.
Gray whales migrate down this coast and the Pacific side of the peninsula is their route. Roughly December into April is the window. The famous gray whale lagoons are much further north up the peninsula, so what you get here is passing traffic rather than the lagoon experience, but it is real and it is visible from shore on good days.
A sensible Todos Santos day is a drive up in the morning, a few hours in town, lunch, a look at Punta Lobos when the boats come in, and back down the highway in the afternoon. Combine it with Cerritos if anyone in the group surfs.
Whether we arrange anything on that side, and in what form, is still being confirmed.
The short version of how a trip with Indigo Adventures works. Licences, deposits, boats and what happens to your catch. The full FAQ has the rest.
Read the full FAQ→Indigo Adventures is based in El Pescadero, on the Pacific side of Baja California Sur, a few minutes south of Todos Santos. Boats launch from three points: Punta Lobos beach in Todos Santos, San Jose del Cabo, and the Cabo San Lucas Marina. Which boat runs your trip decides where you meet us.
Custom fishing and spearfishing charters, freediving excursions, whale watching from mid December to April, and kayaking. Every trip is built around your group, your dates and the conditions rather than a fixed timetable, and almost every one goes out private.
Book online on the Book Now page, where availability is live and a 50 percent deposit holds the date. If you would rather we picked the trip, send an enquiry with who is coming, when you are here and what you want out of the day, and we will say which trip fits and which one does not.
No. Everyone fishing in Mexican waters needs a Mexican sportfishing licence, and each angler buys their own. We help you arrange it before the day so nobody is sorting paperwork on the dock. The same licence covers rod and spear.
Rarely. Almost every trip goes out as a private boat for you and your group. If a split makes sense for a small party we will say so when you enquire.
Three on the 24 foot Punta Lobos panga, up to four on La Ruca and La Morita, and up to six on Don Pancho and El Wahoo King. Whale watching numbers run a little higher because nobody is swinging a rod.
Yes. The catch goes home with you. Filleting at the dock, vacuum sealing and freezing are available, and most guests fly home with a cooler. Marlin are mostly released, with judgement on the day.
Yes, on fishing days. The crew rigs and handles the gear and hands you the rod when something eats. Guided spearfishing needs breath-hold experience and runs on a strict buddy system, which is the only legal way to spearfish in Mexico. Water, ice and snacks are normally aboard.
