La Paz Travel Forum

I will be in La Paz from March 25 through the 31st. I will be staying at the El Angel Azul bed and breakfast. My questions are thus:
1. Will I need to rent an automobile?
2. Where are the best places to snorkel?
3. Where are the best places to dive?
4. Are there any memorable restaurants or bars I should not miss?
Any information you can provide would be greatly appreciated.
Enofile

A car is good to have in La Paz, especially with the interests you mention. The waterfront in town...though pretty and a GREAT place to walk or jog or skate...is not for swimming. Driving out past the ferry terminal to isolated beaches...or better yet south the La Ventana area...is worth it.
In fact, down by Frailes and Cabo Pulmo is the only coral reef in the baja. Beaches around La Paz tend to be waveless and just plain sand bottoms. Beautiful, but not the scenary many divers want. But go....
Best bet for tank-free diving would be to take a trip out to the Islands...Espiritu Sancto and Partida. Day excursions by motorboat to the uninhabited islands ususally feature kayaking . lunch, sea lions, etc. VERY worth it.
I do a lot of diving, but not SCUBA diving, which I take you to mean in question 3. There is one world famous site for scuba there....the Seamount or Bahio where people ride on the oddly tame manta rays.
Your best bet for dining, in my book, is to have breakfast at the Perla, watching the people walk by. There are lots of places right on the sand of the waterfront. If La Fogata is still there, do for the ultimate in taco. El Campanario on the waterfront has a bell tower and is a fun place.
The best thing about eating in La Paz is ice cream. Every block sells it...a place down by the waterfront has a jillion flavors. Try chongos
Don't miss the museum in the main square...interesting murals...legends in Spanish. And out back...a whale skeleton you can walk around in.
La Paz is a lay back. No big tourism scene, just a unique desert city on the bay. I'd say kick back along the waterfront, party there at night.

My answer to whether you need a car is yes. On the other hand, I get a car wherever I travel. I see it as just another expense. Without a car you can catch cabs which aren't too difficult. With a car you can follow your nose and go places where and when you want.

I usually rent a VW beetle, just because it reminds me of my youth.

Driving at night out of town is not impossible (I do it all the time, and the locals certainly do it.) On the other hand, you take your life in your hands. The main problem is "los ganados", the cattle that wander free on the range. I haven't hit one, nor do I want to.

Another problem is only if you drive north out of La Paz. The federales have a check point about 10 miles north of town that during the day they pretty much wave you through, but at night they can be pretty abrupt and thorough in their search for "drogas". There is no guarantee that any one of them will speak any English, so a little facility in Spanish will help. There are no such facilities south of town.

Oh, in regards to your other questions:

I don't snorkel or drink in particular, so I can't help much there, but life is not complete without a fish taco from Hermanos Gonzales (see my La Paz page for further desciption). It is just a little trailer behind a department store by the malecon.

Most any of the roadside taco stands are very cheap and really good. The ritual is that they take fried meat and put in on a tortilla. You are on your own from there. At the tables are caddies with all the condiments known to hombres and dios, tomatoes, chilis, raw onions, salsas both green and red, and more. Mix and match, use your imagination, don't be shy. You can eat every meal from a taquiera and not feel like you missed anything. I am sure there are other nice places to eat, you just won't go there. The combination of cheap, good and predictable is irresistable.

In the mercados are mom&pop stands that do a pretty good job too. Those are more towards the beans-and-rice ilk, a bit more formal, just traditional mexican stuff like chiles rellenos and omelets and frijoles. This is also a meal well spent. The only other places I can think of are either at the big hotels (not worth it because heaven is so cheap a few steps out the door), and the pizza and similar restaurants near downtown. (I have eaten twice at the sushi bar near the zocalo; the fish really is fresh but it just seemed too Mexican to be Japanese. I can't explain why it felt that way. Maybe it was that taco stand calling my name.)

As far as alcohol is concerned, there is a bar for sailors and expats just up the malecon from Los Arcos, the landmark hotel right downtown. I forget the name, but it's pretty obvious. That's where you go if you have an itch to watch CNN and talk to someone in English. On the other hand, you could be like the locals, buy a "ballena" (whale) of Pacifico Clara (a giant-sized bottle), sit on a plastic chair in a dusty driveway with all your amigos and party hearty.

Oh yeah, check this out http://www.bajacamp.it/snorkeling_in_baja_california.htm

And this
http://igougo.com/planning/journal.asp?JournalID=1019