Practical Information for visiting Baja California Peninsula

Coverage for mobile networks is good in the towns and along the populated coasts from Telcel, which has by far the best reach here, with AT&T Mexico usable in the north.

The central desert has long dead zones — stretches of Highway 1 with no signal for an hour or more — and the whale lagoons and Sierra de San Francisco have none at all. This matters for breakdowns.

Local SIMs are cheap; Telcel is the sensible choice for anyone leaving the resort corridor.

Wi-Fi is standard in hotels and cafes in the towns and absent at the desert camps, several of which are deliberately off-grid with solar power and generator hours.

Download offline maps and tell someone your route before driving the central section.

Baja California Sur, the southern state, has among the lower crime rates in Mexico and is generally very safe for visitors. The northern state is more complicated.

• Tijuana and the northern border cities have high rates of cartel-related homicide, almost entirely between groups rather than affecting visitors, but check current advice. Do not buy drugs, do not go looking for nightlife in unfamiliar districts, and stick to the main areas.
• Driving Highway 1 at night is the most likely thing to hurt you: cattle on the road, no shoulders, no lighting.
• Flash floods in arroyos after rain, which can cut the highway without warning.
• Heat and dehydration in the desert; carry far more water than you expect to need.
• The sea: strong currents and heavy shorebreak on the Pacific side, where drownings occur at Cabo’s Divorce Beach and elsewhere.
• Hurricanes from June to November.

Private hospitals in the Los Cabos corridor, the state capital and Tijuana are good and used to foreign patients; the desert towns have clinics only, and a serious case means a long drive or an air ambulance. Insurance covering evacuation is genuinely worth having here given the distances.

Vaccinations: routine cover plus hepatitis A and typhoid. There is no malaria in Baja.

Dehydration and heat are the realistic risks, particularly for anyone walking in the desert or spending a day on a boat.

Diving: recompression chambers are in the Los Cabos area and at the state capital. Cabo Pulmo and Espiritu Santo are a long way from either, so dive conservatively.

Marine hazards: stingrays in the shallows on the Gulf side — shuffle your feet — and jellyfish seasonally.

Water: drink bottled or purified, which is standard everywhere.

Whale watching rules are law, not guidance. Permitted boats only, fixed numbers, no touching unless the whale initiates, no engines in gear near animals. Operators take this seriously and so should you.

Do not remove anything from the desert or the shore — cactus, shells, fossils and archaeological material are all protected, and the boojum in particular is legally protected and grows a few centimetres a year.

The rock art requires a permit and a licensed guide; touching the paintings is prohibited and damages them irreversibly.

Military and National Guard checkpoints are routine on Highway 1. Stop, be polite, answer questions, and expect a look in the vehicle. They are unremarkable.

Tipping: ten to fifteen per cent in restaurants, and a tip for boat crews and guides is expected.

Drugs carry serious penalties and connect directly to the violence in the north.

Emergency number: 911 nationwide. The Angeles Verdes green-angel highway patrol assists motorists free of charge on 078, and on Highway 1 they are the realistic first call for a breakdown.

Medical. Private hospitals in Los Cabos, the state capital and Tijuana are the ones to head for. From the central desert, the nearest is hours away, which is the main argument for not driving at night.

Breakdowns: carry water, a spare tyre that is actually inflated, and fuel margin. Coverage for mobile networks is absent across long stretches.

Diving: chambers are at the southern end of the peninsula; know where the nearest is before diving Cabo Pulmo.

Hurricanes: follow civil protection instructions; the Cabos airport closes early and the corridor is evacuated in a serious storm.

US and Canadian consulates operate in Tijuana and Los Cabos.