Get in
Loreto has a tiny airport (Loreto International Airport) with two hour connections with Los Angeles on Alaska Airlines. Aeroméxico also flies into Loreto from Hermosillo (an hour flight, itself 90 minutes from Phoenix) with weekend service to San Diego.
Delta is also starting a daily flight to Loreto from Los Angeles beginning December 2006, and Continental Airlines will begin twice-weekly flights from Intercontinental Airport in Houston on June 7, 2007.
Do
Fishing Loreto has long been regarded as one of the best places for fishing. Yellowtail, sailfish, marlin, wahoo, roosterfish, and dorado are abundant in the blue waters of the Sea of Cortez.
Eat
A buffet-style restaurant serves breakfast, lunch and themed dinners with a choice of both Mexican and international entrees. Relax either inside or outside on the terrace, enjoying the view across pools and gardens to the sea beyond.
Dine under the stars at the edge of the sea. Salvatierra is a gourmet restaurant grill, with variety of menus every night. Enjoy our fine Italian cuisine and Argentinean steaks to the soothing sound of the sea lapping the beach.
Drink
This is the place to meet new friends. Located on the top level of the resort, the stars serve as your ceiling and the dramatic combination of the desert, the mountains, and the blue sea offer competing views. Open daily.
Sleep
A 155-room resort, which sits on a secluded beach. Every room offers spectacular views of the Sea of Cortés. The resort’s heated pool invites year-round swimming and the gardens are ideal for celebrating all types of special events, including oceanfront weddings, family reunions, birthdays, anniversaries and more. Adjacent to the resort, you’ll find the Loreto Golf Club, an 18-hole par 72 golf course, and the Loreto Tennis Center.
:For other uses, see Loreto.
Loreto (or Conchó) was the first Spanish town on the Baja California Peninsula. It served as the capital of Las Californias from 1697 to 1777, and is the current seat of the municipality of Loreto in the Mexican state of Baja California Sur. The town of 10,283 people (2005 census) is located on the coast of the Sea of Cortés, about 350 km (220 miles) north of the state capital, La Paz.
The town was founded in 1697 by Jesuit missionaries. The Misión Nuestra Señora de Loreto was founded in the town in 1752. The town served as the capital of the province of Las Californias from its founding until the capital was moved to Monterey on February 3, 1777. The town then became the headquarters for the Lieutenant Governor of California Viejo (later the province of Baja California).
The town is now a tourist resort, catering mostly to U.S. travelers, with daily flights from the U.S. state of California arriving at Loreto International Airport. Many of the American Tourists enjoy fishing in "pangas" for "dorado" (Mahi-mahi or Dolphin Fish). Local restaurants will even prepare the daily catch of the tourists. Loreto has an excellent museum alongside the historic, but still active, parish. The Spanish Fathers found a steady spring of fresh water on this site. The town has an active sister city relationship with Hermosa Beach, California and Cerritos, California, USA.
Geography
Loreto is located on the West coast of the Baja California Peninsula, at 26º00'46" N 111º20'36" W. The town area is bordered to the East side by the Gulf of California, on the West by the Transpeninsular Highway and on the South side by the Arroyo Loreto, a dry creek bed that only fills with water after a heavy rainfall. The town is built on relatively flat land; the average elevation is above sea level. To the West of the town area is located the “La Giganta” Mountain Range (“Sierra de la Giganta”), which extends along the center of the state of Baja California Sur, parallel to the gulf coast.
As for the geology and topography of the Loreto region (from Bahía Concepción to Agua Verde), it’s described by Paul J. Umhoefer as coastal belt that “consists mainly of a narrow belt of ridges, valleys, and pediments adjacent to the escarpment, low- to moderate-elevation ranges transverse to the coast, and narrow coastal plains” (description made in his complete study about the geology of the Loreto region, publicated by the Geological Society of America Bulletin).
Climate
Loreto’s climate is hot and humid, with abundant sunshine (desertic with some rainfalls in summer). The medium temperature is . The temperatures are hot from June through October. These summer days have highs around and high humidity. According to the National Meteorological Service (Servicio Metereológico Nacional) Loreto's highest official temperature reading of was recorded on August 1965; the lowest temperature ever recorded was in January 1971. On spring season, the temperatures are moderate and template. Autumn and winter months are usually windy.
From January to March, winds blow from the NW (night hours) and the North (day hours), the rest of the year, the winds blow usually from the West. Loreto's yearly precipitation is low; averages about . The wettest months are August and September, when there are occasional short-lived rainfalls. One concern for Loreto is the Pacific hurricane season, which runs from June 1st to November 30th, and some times causes heavy rainfall and floods in the area. The last time the town area had a hit by a hurricane was in September 2nd and 3rd 2006, when the hurricane John hit the Baja California Peninsula.
Demographics
According to INEGI, there are 10,283 people, 2565 households, residing in the town. There are 2565 households, out of which 77.67% are male householders and 22.32% are female householders The population is young, and is spread out with 29.75% from 0 to 14 years of age, 19.19% from 15 to 24, and 6.42% who are 60 years of age or older. For every 100 females there are 102.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 100.5 males. The Municipality of Loreto (which includes Nopoló, Puerto Escondido, San Javier and the rest of the little villages from the coast and mountains) has a population of 11,839 people.(Source: INEGI. Conteo 2005)
Loreto has a small population and low immigration. As a result, the presence of large families is very characteristic and repetitive last names can be found frequently among the inhabitants (this phenomena is similar in other state localities). The two largest families are the “Davis”, which predominate in the east of the town, along the beach (in fact, there is a street in the area named after this last name, the “Calle Davis”) and the “Murillo”, which predominate in the South along the Arroyo Loreto, in the neighborhood known as “barrio del Muro” (named after the retaining wall built to hold flood waters from the creek). Other large families are the Amador, the Arce, the Cota, the Higuera, the Romero and the Villalejo.
Culture
There are seven buildings in Loreto, from the XVIII to the XX century, that are considered “historical monuments” by the federal government, the most important is the Mission of our Lady of Loreto, which is the start of "the royal road" (“el camino real”), an historic corridor that ends in Sonoma CA and follows the ancient route of the Spanish missions.
In the neighbor town of San Javier are five historical buildings, the most important is the Mission of Saint Francis Xavier (Misión de San Francisco Javier), which is considered the best preserved mission in the peninsula. Twenty kilometers North of Loreto there are ruins of the Mission of San Bruno, the first mission of Baja California, which was founded in 1683, but it would be abandoned two years later.
The Jesuit Missions Museum (“Museo de las Misions Jesuiticas”) is located beside the Mission of our Lady of Loreto. It has a collection of religious art, weapons and tools from the XVII and XVIII centuries that were used in the Spanish missions in Baja California.
In the La Giganta Mountain Range there are cave paintings in canyons and rock shelters. The nearest sites to Loreto are “Cuevas Pintas” (15 km to the west) and "La Pingüica" (60 km to the North). The cave paintings from the indigenous groups of Baja California are worldly famous and some of them have been added to UNESCO's list of world heritage sites.
Fishing
Loreto has a reputation as an excellent point for sport fishing. This is its main tourist attraction and the main source for jobs (therefore, Loreto’s economy is linked to fishing). It has two well-know fishing seasons: Summer, distinguished by the “dorado” and other species like marlin (black marlin, Atlantic blue marlin and striped marlin) and sailfish, ideal for the fly fishing techniques; Winter, distinguished by the “yellow tail” (jurel) and other species that usually are deep in the sea rocks. Additionally to the seasonal species, Loreto's waters are home of other species like snapper and seabass, which are found all year long. Thanks to this abundance, Loreto has been home of several IGFA records. The two “foundations” of the Loreto’s sport fishing are the “dorado” and the “yellow tail” (Seriola lalandi dorsalis). The dorado is the emblematic specie of Loreto, it likes the warm waters, and its season begins in late May, peaks from July to September, and comes to an end in November. Two important tournaments are celebrated within this season in July and September. The yellow tail is one of the strongest species; its season begins in November, peaks from March to April, and comes to an end in late May.
Recreation and tourist attractions
There are several beaches in the Loreto area:
Other activities are:
Education
The town has two public schools of superior studies:
High school students (10th to 12th grade) are served by two public schools:
Middle school students (7th to 9th grade) are served by two public schools:
Elementary school students (1st to 6th grade) are served by six public schools and one catholic private school. There are five kindergarten schools. The School Shelter Number 8 (Albergue Escolar Número 8 "General Venustiano Carranza") is a shelter for children from the mountains villages who attend school, away from their homes and families. It serves approximately sixty five students.
Events
http://www.fishinforthemission.com/
Government
The town of Loreto is the seat of the Municipality of Loreto, which is governed by a democratic elected City Council (Ayuntamiento), which is integrated by the Mayor or Municipal President (Presidente Municipal), the Syndic (Síndico) and six City Councilors (Regidores), for a period of 3 years with no right to reelection. The Mayor is a voting member of the council, the executor of the determinations of the City Council and the person directly in charge of the public municipal administration (in the Mexican cities governments don’t exist the City Manager figure). The Syndic is also a voting member, and is in charge of the legal representation of the council and municipal government, as well as watching the municipal patrimony and the supervision of the public servants conduct (similar to an US Inspector General). The City Councilors analyze the municipality policies and vote the determinations of the council.
In the communities, the Mayor is represented by seven sub-delegates (subdelegados), which are designated by the City Council; the seven sub-delegations are Agua Verde, San Javier , Ligüi, Colonia Zaragoza, San Nicolás, Tembabiche and San Juan. The current Mayor of Loreto is Rodolfo Davis Osuna, and he’ll remain in office until 2008.
Politics
According to the Federal Electoral Institute, as of July 2nd, 2006, the Municipality of Loreto had 8,084 registered voters (lista nominal). In Loreto there are three major political parties:
Loreto politics has two characteristics: a) High participation and b) Differentiated vote. Unlike the rest of the country, Baja California Sur State has a high political participation, and Loreto is the Municipality with the highest participation in the State. The local elections have the highest participation, above the participation in General Elections (Elecciones Federales) for President, Senators and House Representatives. On local elections the lowest participation was on 1993 with 48.2%; the highest was on 1996 with 83%. On the last General Election the participation was 62.42%.
The differentiated vote means that the citizens’ vote is for the candidate not the political party, choosing different candidates from diverse political affiliation at the same election. As an example of this differentiated vote are the 2005 State and local Election and the 2006 General Election. On February 6th 2005, the citizens of Loreto elected State Governor, Mayor and State Representative: the winning candidates were the PRI candidate Rodimiro Amaya (but he lost the rest of the State), the PAN candidate Rodolfo Davis (the current Mayor) and the PRD candidate Antonio Olachea (the current XII District State Representative), that means three different political parties won at the same election day, one for each office disputed. On July 2nd 2006, the citizens of Loreto elected President, Senators and Federal Representative: the winning candidates were the PAN candidate Felipe Calderón (the current President), and the PRD candidates Francisco Obregón and Juan Adolfo Orci Martínez (current Senator and Federal Representative). This phenomena began in 1993, that year the citizens of Loreto elected their first Municipal President (the Municipality was created in 1992) and, for the first time in local history, the PRI was defeated in an election (the PRI won the Governor election, but lost the Municipalities of La Paz, Comondú and Loreto, as well as the State Congress), since that year, each election has different winners, despite their political affiliation. Even though the PRD has won almost all the local elections across the State since 1999, the Loreto Municipality has been won by the PRI or the PAN, while the PRD has won the Governor’s election or the State Representative Election, thus a very differentiated vote.
Local Media
The town has one local radio station, XHLBS 92.5 FM “Estéreo Loreto”, that plays popular music and offers local news.
Trivia
Loreto was the setting for the 7th season finale of ABC reality TV show "The Bachelor”, aired May 16th 2005.
Further reading
References
External links
