Lonely Planet

October 2017 Lonely Planet Traveller 57``````NEXT MONTHGreat Escape: EASTERN ICELAND``````KEVIN E G PERRY rode a horse for the firsttime in San Quintín, but it bolted. Marcialcalled him a ‘real cowboy’ for not falling off.``````The minimum stay at Camp Cecil on EspírituSanto island is two nights (£210 pppn; cortezclub.com/camp-cecil). If you’d prefer to stay in La Paz,try Hotel Perla, a beachfront hotel with a pooland sun terrace (from £45; hotelperlabaja.com).The Cortez Club runs day tours of EspírituSanto (from £85 pp including lunch; cortezclub.com). Harker Board Co. has paddle board rentaland lessons (£7.50 per hour; harkerboardco.com).Essentialsstand up paddle board. The next day inLa Paz, on the long stretch of beach infront of the city’s Malecón, paddle boardinstructor Sergio García of Harker BoardCo. is giving enthusiastic lessons to theuninitiated. A former professionalbasketball player from Chihuahua, hemoved to La Paz seven years ago, drawn likemany others by the relaxed beach lifestyle.‘I first visited La Paz when I was 16,’he says, keeping a watchful eye on hisstudents out in the bay. ‘I knew it was abeautiful place, so I always thought I’d liketo come back and make my life here. It’s asmall town growing up quickly. You havea good quality of life here, better than inthe other states of Mexico. It’s a reallypeaceful place, tranquil and calm.’García learned to paddle board when hemoved here, and now the sport has takenover his life. ‘In my free time I paddle boardas well!’ he says with a laugh. ‘La Paz is aperfect place for stand up paddle boardingbecause you have warm water all the time.Sometimes there is wind and sometimesyou have waves, so it’s good for beginnersand for experts. Here, let me show you...’He tosses his board into the water andclambers in, then with long strokes paddlesswiftly out into the bay. Like life itself in thisplace where the desert meets the sea,he makes it look easy.GREAT ESCAPEBAJA CALIFORNIA