Todos Santos is a Pueblo Mágico on the Pacific coast of Baja California Sur, listed by Mexico’s Secretaría de Turismo, and the town sits 76.4 km north of Cabo San Lucas by the federal protected-area office’s count. That distance is why couples come here: the resort strip is an hour and more behind them, and what is in front of them is a small adobe-and-brick town, a desert of cardón cactus and an ocean beach with nothing built on it. A session here is usually a half-day trip from a Los Cabos hotel or the reason for a stay in town.
The coast faces west, which is the decisive fact for light. The sun goes down into the open Pacific rather than behind a headland, so the last hour runs long and clean, and the mountains of the Sierra de la Laguna stand behind the town on the other side. Mornings are softer and quieter on the beaches because the sun clears the hills late; evenings are when the beaches at La Cachora, Punta Lobos and Las Palmas earn the drive.
This is a surf coast, not a swimming one. The beaches south of town and Los Cerritos at El Pescadero are known for their waves, so sessions are planned on the sand with the water as a backdrop, and anybody who goes in follows the posted signage on the day. Fishermen still launch boats from Punta Lobos, which gives a working beach in the frame and asks for a little room around the launch.
Todos Santos is a delegación of the municipality of La Paz, and the paperwork follows that. La Paz’s permit for events on a beach or private property — weddings and XV años are named in it — costs MXN 1,374.52 without alcohol sales in 2026, asks for the delegate’s consent when the event is held in a delegación, needs a SEMARNAT or ZOFEMAT approval, and is half price in a rural zone. A couple and a photographer on the sand with no set-up is not an event; an arch and thirty chairs are.
The best hour at each, and what a professional session there needs in the way of a permit — with the issuing authority and the date it was last checked.
Centro Histórico de Todos Santos
The grid of streets around the plaza and the mission church, with galleries and restored adobe houses. It is the reason the town is a Pueblo Mágico, and the place a session starts before the drive to the beach.
Best time
Late afternoon, when the plaza and the brick façades go warm
Permit
Public streets of the Pueblo Mágico; an organised event inside the delegación needs the delegate’s consent under the La Paz event permit
The beach closest to town, reached past the dunes at the end of the street grid. It is open, wide and west-facing, and the sun goes straight into the sea in front of it.
Best time
The last hour before sunset
Permit
No published fee for a simple portrait session on a public beach; a beach event with a set-up costs MXN 1,374.52 without alcohol through the La Paz municipality
A working beach under a rocky point where fishermen launch their boats through the surf. The point and the cliff give the frame a shape that the long open beaches do not.
Best time
Afternoon, when the boats come in
Permit
No published fee for a simple portrait session on a public beach; a beach event with a set-up goes through the La Paz event permit and needs the delegate’s consent
A cove south of town backed by a grove of palms, the one place on this coast where green meets the sand. Reaching it means a dirt road and a short walk, so the session is planned with the drive in mind.
Best time
Golden hour, when the palms backlight
Permit
No published fee for a simple portrait session on a public beach; a set-up needs a SEMARNAT or ZOFEMAT approval under the La Paz event permit
The surf beach at El Pescadero, a short drive south of Todos Santos, with a headland at its northern end. It brings surfboards, beach cafés and a younger crowd into the frame.
Best time
Morning, before the surf lessons fill the beach
Permit
No published fee for a simple portrait session on a public beach; a beach event with a set-up follows the La Paz event permit, which is half price where the area counts as rural
The Eastern Pacific hurricane season runs from 15 May to 30 November, with a smaller peak in late August, and Todos Santos is on the exposed Pacific side of the peninsula, so late-summer dates carry a back-up day. Winter and spring are the dry, settled months and the busiest in town, when galleries, restaurants and boutique hotels fill and the Pacific swell is at its biggest. Humpback whales pass along the coast in winter, but the federal whale-watching notice sets its zones at Los Cabos, not here.
Photographs of Todos Santos
Licensed photographs of Todos Santos, credited on the photo credits page.
These come under the Todos Santos rate: a photographer travels out at no extra charge, and the session is priced exactly as it would be in Todos Santos itself.
Do you need a permit for a beach wedding in Todos Santos?
A beach wedding with a set-up in Todos Santos needs the La Paz municipality’s permit for events on a beach or private property, which costs MXN 1,374.52 without alcohol sales in 2026 and asks for the Todos Santos delegate’s consent and a SEMARNAT or ZOFEMAT approval. A couple and a photographer on the sand with no set-up is not an event under that permit.
How far is Todos Santos from Cabo San Lucas?
Todos Santos is 76.4 km north of Cabo San Lucas along the Pacific highway, by the count of the federal protected-area office at Cabo San Lucas. A Todos Santos session booked from a Los Cabos hotel is planned as a half-day trip, with the drive back after sunset added to the timeline.
Can you swim at the Todos Santos beaches during a photo session?
The beaches at Todos Santos and Los Cerritos face the open Pacific and are surf beaches rather than swimming coves, so a Todos Santos session is planned on the sand with the waves as a backdrop. Anybody who wants to go into the water follows the posted signage and the conditions on the day.
When is the best light for photos in Todos Santos?
Todos Santos faces west onto the open Pacific, so the best light is the last hour before sunset, when the sun drops straight into the sea with no headland in the way. The town runs on Mexico’s Pacific Zone, UTC−7 all year, the same clock as Los Cabos.
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