Isla Espíritu Santo

Isla Espíritu Santo lies in the Gulf of California about 26 km north of La Paz, in the La Paz municipality. It covers roughly 81 square kilometers, rises to about 560 m, and is separated from its smaller neighbor, Isla Partida, by a narrow channel that can be waded at some tides. Nobody lives on it. The shoreline alternates between red and ochre volcanic cliffs and small coves of pale sand and clear, turquoise water, with a dry-desert interior of cardón cacti and thorny scrub.

People have used these islands for a very long time: shell fishhooks from the Covacha Babisuri rock shelter date to about 8,700 years ago, and the Pericú fished and gathered here. In the twentieth century the island was a target of tourism developers, and in the 1990s a conservation coalition led by Tim Means helped buy out the land from the ejido that held it and donated it to the nation. The island group is part of the Islas del Golfo de California protected area, was recognized as a biosphere reserve in the 1990s, and is part of the UNESCO World Heritage listing of the Gulf of California islands from 2005. In 2007 the surrounding waters became the Archipiélago de Espíritu Santo National Park, covering about 480 square kilometers. The island is the only known home of the Espíritu Santo antelope squirrel and a black jackrabbit.

Most visitors come on a day trip by motor boat from La Paz or Playa El Tecolote, stopping to swim and snorkel in a few coves and often adding the sea lion colony at Los Islotes, off the island's northern tip. The reefs hold parrotfish, angelfish and wrasse, and there are pelicans, boobies and frigatebirds on the rocks. Ensenada Grande, on the neighboring Isla Partida, is the cove many operators single out for its beach. For a longer visit there are multi-day sea-kayak trips that circle the island and camp on a different beach each night, and there are tent camps with basic facilities, one of which operates from November to April. Operators supply the boat, snorkel gear and often lunch.

There are no services on the island, so water, sun protection and everything you carry in have to come back out with you. The park is regulated by CONANP, which manages access with entry wristbands or passes, and the rules have been under review, so confirm them with your operator or CONANP before going. Winds in the Gulf pick up in winter and can cancel crossings; summers are very hot.