Why we came back to Loreto Bay, Mexico

How did we end up spending 8 weeks in Loreto Bay, Mexico?  Well, as we were contemplating our fall travels, the Schengen limits and moving around Europe, staying longer than 90 days became a little more work than we felt like doing.  We are committed to flying out of Lisbon on February 17 for Africa so we were working backwards from that date.  On a whim Blair said ‘why don’t we go back to Loreto Bay’ and it turned out to be a great option, especially since we were in Calgary for the summer and going straight south seemed pretty easy.  But it wasn’t that easy!  It took 3 flights in one day to get from Calgary, Canada to Loreto, Baja, Mexico but I must give kudos to Alaska Airlines for an incredibly efficient journey.  Their flights left on time, we had just over an hour layover in Seattle and then again in Los Angeles, and to top things off…our luggage arrived with us!!!  We don’t usually take more than one flight a day in case of missed connections and lost luggage, but this time we had no choice and could not be happier how it worked out.  When we returned to Calgary in November, WestJet had started their non-stop service from Loreto direct to Calgary.  It’s a much easier trip home!

Here is a link to a brief history and description of the community of Loreto Bay to give you an idea why we enjoy it here and why it’s a popular destination for Canadians and Americans.

During the winter of 2021/22 when covid was still impacting long term travel we spent 4 months in Loreto Bay.  We approached one of our landlords from that time asking if we could rent her home again.  She responded that it was available and happy to have us back.  We rented a gorgeous 2 bedroom, 3 bathroom casa.  The main level has a lovely courtyard, one bedroom, 2 bathrooms, laundry machines, the living room and kitchen, the second level has an outdoor kitchen/barbeque, a large patio and the master bedroom, the third level viewing tower has a table a chairs to enjoy our morning coffee.

Our landlord supplies paddleboards which is a bonus because we love to paddle around the bay and down the coast.  The sea was calm until the November winds arrived and we were fortunate to get out on the boards many a day, paddling 72 km (45 miles) during our time here.

 

One of the biggest selling features for us coming back to Loreto Bay is the stunning 25m lap pool just around the corner from our casa.  I love to swim and this pool is hard to beat for a good workout, and it’s free!!  I swam 70 km (44 miles) during our 8 weeks here, that’s a lot of laps in a 25m pool 😲

Another perk is the improved gym located in the new Aventuras Hotel.  When we were here 3 years ago the gym was small and quite warm but now that it has moved into the hotel, the air conditioning is good and there is more equipment.  Unlimited access for one month cost 700 pesos (USD $35.60) each which we think is not a bad price.

We arrived in Loreto Bay before busy season so there were only two restaurants open within walking distance when we arrived, but during October all the other restaurants in the community opened one by one expanding our dining choices.  The restaurant we frequented quite often during the first couple of weeks was Ocotillo, new since we were last here.  It’s located in the Aventuras Hotel and it’s a fairly upscale restaurant with incredible food.  The fresh seafood and amazing salads were a delight for our taste buds, and it was the perfect place to celebrate our 32nd wedding anniversary 💕

One of our favorite restaurants in Loreto is Orlando’s and we had to wait until October 10 for them to re-open.  The owner bought a new piece of land just one block away from his original location and built a gorgeous new restaurant.  While the location is new, the food is just as delicious as it was 3 years ago.  I crave their coconut shrimp!!!!

Because we have been to Loreto before and there is not a lot new around town we did not spend any time sightseeing.  A visit to the Mission of Our Lady of Loreto, a walk around the town square and along the beach was pretty much all we got up to, besides grocery shopping.

 

In preparation for our African safari next year we purchased a new GoPro and Loreto Bay was a good time to learn about the new features and practice with the camera.  One thing I discovered that was intriguing is a pre-set time lapse video setting called Star Trails.  I experimented a few evenings to see what I ended up with and below are some pretty cool photographs of the star trails through the night sky.  From left to right the camera was facing South, West and North.  (click on any picture to make it larger)

During our time here in Loreto the comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS was passing close enough to Earth to be seen with the naked eye, and because it will not return for another 80,000 years we were pretty interested in this event.  I was not optimistic with the Sierra de la Giganta mountains directly west of our location, but we were lucky enough to spot the comet on more than one evening.  The pictures don’t really do it justice but you get the idea that this was a once in a lifetime event.

 

When we arrived in Loreto we rented a vehicle from Europcar through rentalcars.com for the first 6 days and drove into Loreto every day to stock the house with groceries, beer and wine.  We also used this time to go out for lunch or dinner at some of the many restaurants in town.  Besides Orlando’s our favorites are Los Olivos, Que Bar & Kitchen, Mezzaluna La Tabernita and Los Mandiles de Santa Lucia.  Typically we are busy enough in Loreto Bay with all our activities and cooking at home that a car would just sit there unused most of the time so we rented a car just once more during our 8 weeks to re-stock the house.  Our second car rental did not go well when we turned up at the Hertz desk at the airport to be told they did not have a car for us!  The rental agent apologized and talked to the person across the hall at MEX Car who said they had a car for us if we wanted, for the same price.  Since we were now stuck at the airport we did not have much choice.  The MEX car rental went fine but it was a nightmare getting our money back on the Hertz rental.  Eventually we stood in the Hertz office in town and made them call rentalcars.com to confirm that the rental should be cancelled because they did not provide us with a car and we were entitled to a full refund.  I can’t imagine how badly this would have gone if we had left Mexico already!  Fortunately, this was the only hiccup during our stay in Loreto.

We’ve enjoyed our unexpected return to Loreto Bay and may well end up here again one day.  There has been plenty of quiet time to work on our Portugal and Africa plans but also time to be active.  Between running (Blair, not me), paddleboarding, swimming (me, not Blair) and afternoons at the gym…we are feeling fit and healthy 😊💪🏼 and ready to hit the road.

Next up, 12 days in Calgary with family and friends and re-organizing our suitcases preparing for winter in Portugal and a safari in Africa next year…..