Los Barriles was definitely one of our favorite stops on our Baja tour. It’s a small town with a generally older population, and a welcoming atmosphere. Kite surfing is popular here, so many people come for the entire winter and set up shop to play in the water, as winters are on the windy side. 

Where we stayed

We stayed at Martin Verdugos Beach Resort, which is a combination of motel-like rooms and RV spots. There is a pool, a beachfront palapa bar, bathhouses and laundry onsite. Our favorite thing about staying here was the location. You can walk right down to the beach or also into town!

We emailed the park several months in advance to secure a spot for ourselves and two of our friends. I highly recommend getting an advance reservation, as there were no other available spots in the park. We paid $200 a week for our full hookup spot. The main person at the office spoke great english, so it was easy to reserve our stay and extend once we arrived.

About the town

One unique things about Los Barriles is that the main method of transportation around town is ATVs! You’ll see them all throughout the little town as well as on the beach. Everyone drives on the beach here! The roads aren’t big, but we made do with our big truck. The town has a neighborhood feel, and we enjoyed getting to meet people from the US as well as Canada who lived there. 

We saw less Mexicans in Los Barriles than in any other Baja town we visited.  Because of this, prices aren’t your typical Mexico prices. Restaurants can be closer to American prices, but groceries are especially closer to American prices and sometimes more.

What we did

Some of the things we enjoyed doing during our stay were paddleboarding on the less windy days when the kite surfers weren’t out, playing at the beach with friends and visiting Cabo Pulmo National Park. 

In Town

There is a Saturday market in town that is really fun to visit. Vendors sell fruits and veggies, baked goods, coffee, jewelry, clothing, artwork, and lots more! We really enjoyed walking from the RV park.

One organization we didn’t learn about until the end of our two weeks in Los Barriles was Cortez Rescue & Outreach. There are SO many stray dogs in Baja, and this organization helps find homes for them. We found out you can even foster a dog for one night if you want! They said it can change a dog’s life even to be in a foster home for a short amount of time. Next time we hope to foster a dog when we visit!

A US family who was living in Los Barriles and followed us in Instagram reached out to see if we wanted to meet up. We did, and ended up joining them on a moon rise paddle! We got to see manta rays leaping out of the water and the bright moon rise above the ocean after the sun had set. Paddling out on our paddle boards was so much fun in the bright moonlight! It was a special experience with new and old friends, as The Smiths joined us too!

Cabo Pulmo National Park

Cabo Pulmo National Park was about an hour away, and the trek out included a long bumpy dirt road. However, once we arrived, we were captivated by it’s beautiful! The beach was stunning and the underwater reef we got to see when we snorkeled was incredible.

We hiked and explored the area with our friends @haagbrigade and @sojourning_smiths and stumbled upon a massive yard of round boulders all piled on each other! I have no idea how it happened, but it was really fun climbing over them. 

Cañón de la Zorro

Cañón de la Zorro is an easy day trip and well worth enjoying an entire afternoon there (check out the Instagram Reel). It’s located in the cute little town of Santiago, which was about a 45 min drive from Los Barriles. There is an ecological center with lots of plants and animals to check out, and then a hike down to the canyon, which is about 2.10 miles round trip and pretty steep at times.

We saw some fish and snakes in the water but that didn’t keep us from playing all day! There was a hot spring at the top of the waterfall, so when we stood under the waterfall it was warm! Overall most of the water was cool and refreshing though.

We jumped, swam, and had a great time there. Admission was $8 per person. We highly recommend this day trip if you’re in southern Baja!

The Beaches

The beaches in and around Los Barriles are beautiful and great for snorkeling and paddle boarding (on a calm day). The previously mentioned Cabo Pulmo definitely worth a visit. About 35 minutes north of town is Playa Palo Blanquito which is another great snorkeling and paddle board spot. The beaches in Los Barriles are huge. Tons of sand and room for games, frisbee, etc. Watching the kite surfers is a lot of fun!

Where we ate

The National Park truly is out in the middle of nowhere, so at the end of the day when we got hungry we decided to try out one of the local restaurants in the town, called El Caballero. We were all blown away by the tiny place and how delicious the food and drink were. It may have been my favorite meal in all of Baja! They served high quality chicken, steak and seafood. Our whole group of 13 left satisfied and even gave our thanks to the chef before we left. 

Another favorite restaurant we visited that was just outside Los Barriles was in nearby Buenavista at Hotel Buena Vista Beach Resort. They serve a high end Taco Tuesday each week, and while the food, service and atmosphere is high end, the prices are not! We went back for St. Patricks Day, and I had an amazing meal of birria in a baked potato. It was incredible. 

We went on a double date one night with our buddies, the Smiths, and ate at a laid back, backyard-type of restaurant called Taquiera Lily’s. Even though It’s highly rated and everyone else enjoyed their meal, I didn’t love my food. Apparently most people do though, based on online reviews! Lazy Dayz and Smokey’s are the two local bars most people hang out at. We went to Lazy Dayz twice and loved the laid back beach vibe. It’s right on the sand and a great family atmosphere with yard games. We never made it to Smokeys but will next time!

We did order pizza to go at Tio Pablos one evening. It was decent pizza if you need a pizza fix, but it was nothing special (they tend to go very light on tomato sauce so made sure to order extra sauce if that’s important to you). Right across the street from Tio Pablos was a small Churro and dessert stand. Amazing churros! They are mostly open in the evenings though so it’s hard to catch them when they are open. 

Summary

Los Barriles is a special place, and definitely one we want to return to. Overall it’s not as authentic as most of the other cities we visited, die to the large amounts of retirees and expats who are there, but we still really enjoyed it!