Statsraad Lehmkuhl visits La Paz, November 24–26, 2025
La Paz lies on the Gulf of California and is the capital of the Mexican state of Baja California Sur. The city is located on the southeastern side of the Baja California Peninsula, which stretches almost from the U.S. border and 1,247 kilometers southward off the west coast of mainland Mexico.
Ended in horror
The city sits in a bay quite far south on the peninsula, and when the Spaniard Fortún Ximénez, as the first European, sailed into the area in early 1534, he believed the ship had anchored by an island.
The encounter with the local people ended in horror. The sailors raped, pillaged, and plundered, but were eventually overpowere. Ximénez and several of his crew were killed. The rest fled with the ship and were later imprisoned by Spanish authorities.
The Spaniards attempted to establish a colony in the bay in 1535, but after losing much of their supplies in a storm, they gave up and left shortly after.
Driven by tourism
The city of La Paz was not founded until 1720. Until 1803 it was governed by Franciscan monks and became part of Mexico after the country’s independence from Spain in 1821.
La Paz grew rapidly in the 2000s, driven primarily by tourism. Visitors come here for diving, snorkeling, hiking, and kayaking in beautiful natural surroundings. If you want to dive with whale sharks, this coastline is said to be the place to go.
Today, about 250,000 people live in La Paz, many of them newcomers working in hotels and restaurants, as well as in agriculture and fishing.
Dry and warm
The climate is dry and warm, with temperatures ranging between 17 and 30 degrees Celsius throughout the year, and summer highs reaching 34–36 degrees.
The city receives 186 mm of rain annually, most of it in heavy downpours during August and September. Between March and June, it is normally completely dry.
Normal maximum temperature in November: 29.8 °C
Normal rainfall in November: 6.2 mm