10 Things to Do in La Ventana Besides Kiting
La Ventana has great kiteboarding conditions, and offers some of the best mountain biking and nature adventures in Mexico. You may get a no-wind day while you are in town, or have your non-kiter friends and family visit you in La Ventana, so we have made a list of ten things you can do in La Ventana besides kiteboarding. Some of the things on the list require you to rally and make them happen, like making your own natural hot springs bath, while others are easy to pre-book with Playa Central or other outfitters, like a snorkel trip to Isla Cerralvo.
View of the Sierra de las Cacachilas, basically La Ventana’s backyard. Photo: Richard Baum.
Since Playa Central has a kite school, we like to keep a list of services and activities for our kiteboarding students when they are off the water. Since we offer these services and list of suggestions to our customers, we decided to make a blog post about it so that you can also make the most of your time in La Ventana. Here are the ten things you can do in La Ventana besides kiteboarding:
Hikes & Beach Walks
Definitely plan for walks and hikes. Morning walks on the beach during sunrise are a striking way to start your day. Hikes up the arroyos in search of tiny waterfalls are an easy one, just walk up any of the main arroyos and you will find clear paths to hike. Go hike up Punta Gorda, take some food and drink and eat your breakfast there. Take a jog through the cardón forest in South Beach. If you have a pair of trail shoes you definitely want to bring them down. This is also a great reason why dogs love this place, many leash-free places they can explore. Trail Fork is a great resource down here for trails in La Ventana.
Punta Gorda is a place where you can spend a few hours hiking, swimming, and building rock castles.
2. Mountain Biking
La Ventana has world-class mountain biking. There is a serious trail preservation NGO that has made it part of their mission to preserve wilderness for mountain biking and eco-tourism, something we all benefit from. There is also a local association called La VAMBA, and their efforts are to preserve and create new trails. If you are driving, definitely bring your mountain bike down. Otherwise there are places like Rancho Cacachilas (the NGO), Ventana Windsports, and Playa Central who offer guided tours and rentals.
Dani, on the left, guiding a Playa Central bike tour through the cardón forest to check out a view of Isla Cerralvo.
3. Stand Up Paddleboarding
Luca Payne on a Stand Up Paddleboard while his twin brother, Gabe, searches for treasures in the Sea of Cortez. Photo courtesy of High Tide Photography.
Stand Up Paddleboarding in the AM is a beautiful experience, plus it is a great core and arm workout. Mornings means glassy water in La Ventana (unless there is a serious El Norte), so it is the best time to go. If you are able to paddle during sunrise, it will be an unforgettable experience.You can also grab a snorkel or a fishing rod, and have fun off the SUP. With a handful of beachfront restaurants in La Ventana, SUPing to breakfast is a awesome too because you can order the side of pancakes and work it off before you get back home.
Jason hanging out with the pelicans on a calm morning in La Ventana, while SUPing the Sea of Cortez. Photo: Jason Sperling.
In case you would like to know how clear the water can get when the wind lets the bay settle down, check out Evelyn’s view from her SUP. Photo by Evelyn Versteeg Berry.
Most hotels have SUPs available for guests, and if you have rented a house you may find that it is included for you to use. If you need to rent a SUP while you are in La Ventana you can check with Casa Tara or Playa Central, who offer day-long rentals and you can SUP from their beaches without needing a car. You can also reserve your SUP in advance.
4. take a bath at the hot springs
Make your own natural bathtub at the Hot Springs Beach. Take your snacks, drinks, and make a day of it. Photo: Pro-Windsurf Ventana
When we say take a bath at the Hot Springs we really mean make your own natural bath tub, and take a bath in it. The Hot Springs beach is around ten miles north of town. There are certain areas along the shore where you can feel the warm water under your feet, that is where you will be doing the digging. There really should be a whole blog on how to make your own natural hot tub in La Ventana, but for now, here is a list of the things you will need: tarp, shovels, a bucket, and some friends to help out. Caveat: make sure you are careful, the water can get extremely hot so you need the bucket to bring colder ocean water into the tub.
An all stone hot tub (no tarp needed), next to the sea of Cortez. Photo courtesy of Ashley Burnside.
When you get to La Ventana you can ask around and get more tips on how to build the ultimate natural beach side hot tub. If you are lucky, you will arrive and find some that were made days before that you can use. Meanwhile, we will recommend taking the time to take a few essentials things: portable speaker, charged up phones, beach blanket, towels, snacks, drinks and a warm change of clothes. Happy bathing!
5. get a massage
In La Ventana it is very common to have a massage brought right to your door.
Spoil yourself with a massage. Your massage therapist can come to your house or hotel, that is a very common service in La Ventana. Some people like having a massage in the morning after yoga, or in the evening before bed (services go as late as a 7 PM start time). At-home massages are very satisfying because you can just crawl into bed and drift asleep after a great rub down. Massages are about $70 an hour and $100 for ninety minutes. If you are coming for lessons or kiting and plan on being sore (haha) you can pre-book a few massages a week, if you would like. E-mail Playa Central to book a massage.
6. Eat Local
Eat. There are a few local seafood restaurants, wood oven pizza places, some organic-vegetarian joints, tacos al pastor and street food. There is also a Farmer’s Market that you can go to and load up on organic veggies, local cheeses and honey, artesanal breads, smoked fish, tamales, and more yummy foods. Rancho Cacachilas, the NGO who is mentioned above, also has a sustainable farming initiative and you can try their local goat cheeses and sustainably harvested fruits and vegetables.
Playa Central’s famous wood oven pizza, with local cheese, fresh tomato sauce and ingredients.
This is Kathy’s bicycle basket after a visit to the Farmer’s Market. Photo: Kathy Singleton.
Definitely get your share of fresh fish while your are here. If you prefer to cook, check out the local fish market, La Perla, in El Sargento, or go fishing and cook your catch. We recommend being mindful about what sea food is and is not in season, and ordering accordingly. Another great tip is to bring your Tupperware and use it while you are here (even if it is to take to the fish market and get your fish there, skip the plastic). It really is a great way to cut down on your carbon footprint when you visit. Remember all of our waste is in a landfill in La Ventana, so refusing to generate waste while you order in, eat out, or go grocery shopping greatly helps our town’s waste issue. That said, buen provecho!
7. Visit Isla Cerralvo
The Cerralvo Island beaches, where you can anchor for a nice ceviche lunch. At Playa Central we organize a full day of snorkeling, drink and food, on the Island. Photo: Jessica Withington.
Visit Isla Cerralvo. You may have heard of the 2,400 ft high island right in front of La Ventana that creates a wind funnel in the La Ventana Bay. It is actually a great day trip to go with friends and family. Stop by and say hello to the sea lions, jump in the water further down and snorkel along the shore of Cerralvo. Anchor in and spend the day on a sandy virgin beach, which goes super great with ceviche, guacamole and cervezas. It is a full day of fun, and odds are that you will see dolphins, whales, or some other amazing creature jumping as you are in the boat. There are several outfitters in town to chose from, and most boats hold 8 people. Playa Central works with two outfitters for the island tour and we are happy to book your tour if you want to make plans in advance.
8. Get Your Yoga On
On average, there are about three to five different yoga classes to choose from a day in La Ventana.
This picture was taken before COVID, if you can’t tell. Photo by Yogalinakk
Yoga is a huge activity here. Yoga goes so well with kiteboarding, that it is fair to state that most people in La Ventana do some sort of yoga. There are also a lot of yoga instructors who spend time in La Ventana and have helped create a yoga culture. The most notorious yoga center is Casa Tara, with two different shalas and several types of yoga offerings, detox and meditation retreats, and workshops. Casa Verde offers a restorative morning yoga Monday, Wednesday and Fridays. Baja Joe’s also has a morning class three times a week that is more of a workout. Bottom line, if you like going to yoga classes there will be options for you and all are outdoor spaces. Here is our blog on outdoor yoga in La Ventana.
9. Snorkel Punta Gorda
Punta Gorda is a great place you can snorkel from the shore, no need to get into a boat!
Snorkel and hike Punta Gorda, take some food and drink, and just made a day out of it. You can find it on a map, just drive north until you cannot drive further, and go for a hike, then jump in the water and snorkel. There are beautiful parrot fish there, all sizes. Finish it off with a picnic by the sea. Sunrises are a great time to aim for to get there, and get to the summit to enjoy the sun as it comes up, once it is sunny the visibility in the water will be great before the wind comes up.
10. take a Day Trip
Surfer in Cerritos beach, with the iconic hacienda style hotel in the back. Great spot for all levels, and no reef, just sand and foam at the end of the ride.
The last thing is Day-Trips, and although that is not really something “to do in La Ventana,” it is definitely a cool thing about basing out of La Ventana. The bay is close to a lot of easy day trips. Head to La Paz to walk the malecon, check out Balandra, whale watch, get to know the city (40 min drive). Go to El Triunfo for breakfast and learn about the old French city (45 min drive), or heck, keep driving 40 more minutes and go check out Todos Santos and Cerritos, an awesome surf spot. Go to Los Barriles (1 hour from La Ventana) for lunch and stop by San Bartolo for fresh fruit on your way back. You can also do the ultimate day trip, and drive the 2 hours into Cabo Pulmo and go on the snorkel excursion of your life (recommended). E-mail us to see which outfitter we recommend for your Cabo Pulmo snorkel tour.
So there, now you have a few ideas of what you can do in La Ventana when you visit us, besides just kiteboarding. Special thanks to the La Ventana Kiteboarding Facebook community, who helped crowdsource the pictures used for this blog post. If you would like to share pictures from your La Ventana vacation for us to use as media content for our blogs and posts, we would appreciate the pictures and enjoy seeing what activities you do when you visit La Ventana. Enjoy your vacation in La Ventana and come say hey when you get to town. Now, go get some.