Last Updated on: 11th October 2023, 06:57 pm
Right in the center of the Baja Peninsula is one of the largest coastal dune sheets of North America. But despite it often appearing on lists of ‘Top Places to Visit in Baja,’ specific details on the Dunas de Soledad are hard to come by. In this guide, we’ll be covering everything you need to know about visiting these scenic coastal dunes from the town of Guerrero Negro.
For specific information on transport and accommodation nearby, be sure to check the end of the article.
Exploring the Dunas de Soledad
In total, the dune field of Dunas de Soledad spreads out to 40 square kilometers. While the dunes are just 10 km north of Guerrero Negro, knowing exactly where to park can be confusing.
In my case, I hired a local taxi driver (more below) who took us past the nearby military base and then down an unmarked dirt road.
He dropped me off just south of the dune field, and before beginning my explorations, I made sure to save the location on my phone.
Most people picture dunes as being in the middle of vast deserts, such as the various dune fields further north in California.
But the Dunas de Soledad are special for being right along the water – in this case the Laguna Manuela, which borders the Pacific Ocean.
While by no means the only example of coastal dunes, it still feels surreal to see such a vast dune field right along the sea. But how did these dunes form?
While I’m no geology expert, and information in layman’s terms is hard to come by, these dunes largely began forming during the Pleistocene era.
This is another term for the most recent ice age that ended around 11,700 years ago, and which had lasted for a few million years prior.
Essentially, the sediment was brought here by continental shelf depocenters, after which the nearby waves would carry the thicker sediment into the water, leaving the finer sand to settle along the shore.
Over many years, the sediment would also be distributed by winds, which over time, would end up as a massive dune field like what we see today.
Even now, Guerrero Negro is known for being a rather windy place. As such, the shape of the dunes is constantly changing, so the Dunas de Soledad are never going to appear exactly the same upon repeated visits.
In addition to being windy, the town of Guerrero Negro is also notoriously overcast and cloudy. As such, it’s generally recommended to visit in the morning when there’s typically a higher chance of sun.
While it was indeed cloudy during my visit, I at least got some glimpses of blue sky and sunshine here and there. For the rest of my time in Guerrero Negro, the sky would be completely overcast from dawn until dusk.
While not especially tall, these dunes can be quite difficult to traverse given the softness of the sand. Closer to the water, you can find some tightly packed sand that’s fairly easy to walk over, but traversing the center of the dune field will leave you out of breath.
Throughout my couple-hour visit to the Dunas de Soledad, I didn’t encounter a single other visitor. I was completely alone on the dunes, with the only signs of life being the occasional airplane lifting off from the nearby military base.
While not very far from town, the Dunas de Soledad, or the Dunes of Solitude, is indeed an appropriate name.
Another thing to keep in mind before your visit is that while the city of Guerrero Negro lies at the northernmost point of the state of Baja California Sur, the dunes lie just over the border in the state of Baja California (also frequently called Baja Norte to avoid confusion).
From my understanding, at certain points of the year, there may be a time difference of one hour, as one state observes daylight savings while the other does not.
At the time of my visit, both states happened to be in the same time zone, but I’d recommend confirming this before your visit to avoid potential confusion. This will be less of an issue if you’re visiting independently.
As mentioned, I’d hired a taxi from town. And fortunately, there happens to be cell reception out here, so my driver was able to call me to tell me he was on his way.
Without any specific landmarks to seek out other than the water, and with the ever-changing landscape changing due to the wind, visiting the Dunas de Soledad is all about free exploration. And for the average visitor, a couple of hours will be more than enough.
Additional Info
Fortunately, unlike the nearby salt flats, Dunas de Soledad are unstaffed and freely accessible throughout the year. All you need is a vehicle to get you there.
I would imagine that most visitors to Guerrero Negro have their own vehicles, though I was what’s likely a rare exception. Nevertheless, it was still easy to make a deal with a local taxi driver.
I saw a few drivers waiting outside the Museo de Sal, Arena y Mar in the center of town, and I negotiated a price with one who gave me his card. I then called him the next morning and he came to pick me up at my accommodation.
He dropped me off at the dunes, and then picked me up at the same spot a couple of hours later. Everything went smoothly, and while I forgot to write down the exact number, I only paid several hundred pesos for the roundtrip excursion. He did indicate, however, that the price was lower due to it being low tourism season.
It’s also worth noting that all of our negotiations happened in Spanish, and I’m not sure how many English-speaking taxi drivers there are in town.
Even if you do have your own car, you still might want to hire a taxi anyway. The reason is that figuring out exactly where to stop and get out can be tricky. As mentioned, my driver drove past the airport/military base and then down some dirt roads that don’t appear on any map apps. It then took me about five minutes on foot to reach the main section of the dunes.
For such a remote and, quite frankly, unappealing town, Guerrero Negro is surprisingly expensive. Within the town center, the only hotels featured on Booking are Hotel Malarrimo and Hotel Los Caracoles.
Both of these are located along the main road which is where you’ll want to base yourself. Geographically, Guerrero Negro has a main east-west main road (Emiliano Zapata) running along the southern part of town which could be considered its ‘center.’
But to the south of it, there’s almost nothing but barren salt flats, while the rest of the town exists further north.
I stayed in an Airbnb that, while a nice apartment, was located several blocks north of the main road. And I can confirm that the further north you go, the worse things get. Therefore, I would only recommend staying along the main road. Even if it’s slightly more expensive, you wouldn’t want to spend more than a night or two in Guerrero Negro anyway.
Many people like to take road trips across the Baja Peninsula by car, and renting one would be a good idea. Otherwise, it’s entirely possible to travel across the peninsula by bus, with the two main companies being Autotransportes Aguila and ABC.
In either case, coming from the south, transport between Mulegé and Guerrero Negro takes about 4-5 hours, with the ride from Santa Rosalía taking about 3-4.
But when coming from the north, the nearest city is Ensenada, which is around 8-10 hours away! You can find both morning and night buses, but it would be wise to depart in the morning.
One reason is that some parts of the main highway are in bad condition, and a majority of the ride will be through undeveloped desert.
Another reason is that there are lots of military checkpoints between Guerrero Negro and Ensenada. And it’s normal for passengers to have to get out of the vehicle and let soldiers inspect their suitcases (fortunately, the soldiers tend to be polite and easy to deal with). If you were to take a night bus, you surely wouldn’t get any sleep.
Most visitors come to Guerrero Negro with the intention of seeing gray whales, and there are many local tourism agencies in town offering such tours.
The whale watching season, however, is limited to winter. And most local tourism offices don’t bother trying to accommodate visitors at all during the remainder of the year.
Aside from the Dunas de Soledad, another popular activity in Guerrero Negro is visiting the salt flats to the west of town – the main local industry. Unfortunately, it wasn’t until my arrival that I discovered the salt flats were closed.
The flats can only be visited as part of a guided tour run by the company which owns them. And they refuse to give any tours outside of the whale watching season. So if you’re not coming in winter, you’re out of luck.
Nearby the salt flats is a bird sanctuary, but I can’t confirm when they’re open.
Central Guerrero Negro is void of attractions with the exception of the Museo de Sal, Arena y Mar. Open throughout the year, it’s a cool little modern museum that’s free to enter, though they do encourage donations.
In summary, if you’re not visiting Guerrero Negro in winter, there’s basically nothing noteworthy to do other than seeing the Dunas de Soledad.
At the time of writing, I’ve visited 25 states throughout Mexico and have stayed in multiple cities in many of them. While I have nothing against the people of Guerrero Negro, I’d have to say that it was easily the worst place I’ve stayed in the country.
The rundown town is completely lacking in noteworthy architecture, while many of the buildings are in a terrible state of decay. The streets are littered with garbage, while many of the roads are unpaved – or perhaps they’re just covered in sand blown over from the dunes that’s never been cleared.
There are more dogs roaming the streets than people, and some of them can be quite aggressive. Some neighbors of my Airbnb, for example, seemed to own a few dogs but just left them out on the street all day and night. And they were not friendly, regularly barking and charging at passersby.
For whatever reason, this seems to be common practice in Guerrero Negro. There are also tons of street dogs without owners, though they were actually a lot more chill than the ‘pets.’
To make the town feel even more apocalyptic, it seems to be constantly gloomy, windy and cold – even in the middle of summer.
Ordinarily, I wouldn’t be so hard on a town like this if it were cheap. But Guerrero Negro is ridiculously expensive by Mexican standards! While I don’t know the exact reasons, I think a dilapidated town like Guerrero Negro can get away with its high prices because just about everyone traversing the Baja Peninsula has to stay there at one point.
For example, there are no towns to stay in at all between Guerrero Negro and Ensenada – two cities which are about nine hours apart.
So considering how you’ll most likely have to stop in Guerrero Negro anyway, you might as well go see the tourist attractions nearby, such as the dunes and salt flats (if they’re open). But I certainly wouldn’t plan any more time than necessary.
To be fair, if you stay in a hotel along the main road and never leave that area, perhaps Guerrero Negro isn’t that bad. As mentioned, things get worse as you leave the main road, and my Airbnb happened to be several blocks away.