San Ignacio (Baja California)

San Ignacio is a town of 670 people (2010) in Baja California. It has a beautiful old mission, and is the gateway to San Ignacio Lagoon, the winter time sanctuary of the Pacific gray whale.

Understand
The village grew at the site of the Cochimí settlement of Kadakaamán and the Jesuit Mission San Ignacio founded in 1728 by Juan Bautista Luyando.

At San Ignacio, Baja California's arid Central Desert terrain gives way to a large grove of lush green date palms. A large spring-fed pond and small river on the outskirts of town feeds into the central plaza and village next to the 18th-century Jesuit mission.

Get in
San Ignacio is 77 km west of Santa Rosalía toward Guerrero Negro on the Mexican Federal Highway 1.

It is 866 km (567 miles) from the San Diego, California/Tijuana border crossing. Highway 1 is a well-maintained, four-lane, toll highway from Tijuana to Ensenada. South of Ensenada, Highway 1 becomes a narrow (but relatively well-maintained) two-lane highway. Pemex gas stations are now located in every major town through which Highway 1 travels on the way to San Ignacio. Driving only during daylight hours is recommended, due to livestock that frequently cross the road at night, and decreased visibility of the narrow and winding roads through the mountain sides.

The nearest airports are to the north at Guerrero Negro Airport in Guerrero Negro, or to the south at Loreto International Airport  in Loreto.

Do
Perfect place to stay before heading out to see the whales.

Go next

 * El Vizcaíno Biosphere Reserve