He Moved From Mazatlán 18 Months Ago. This Is the Baja He Found.

Alejandro Donnadieu spent twenty years climbing the corporate ladder in Mazatlán, most recently on the executive side of the Venados baseball club. Eighteen months ago he moved to Los Cabos and started over in real estate.

We sat down with him for The Baja Brief because he is the rare person who can still remember what it felt like to arrive. His answer to what surprised him most: how much of Baja he still has left to explore.

This conversation was recorded in Spanish. Quotes have been translated.

Why he chose Los Cabos over his own hometown

He is clear that Mazatlán was not the problem. "I love my hometown, it's beautiful and it has a lot of opportunity."

What Los Cabos offered was a more multicultural life, a culture built around sport and the outdoors, and a practical detail that matters more than people expect: Mazatlán is a 40-minute flight away, and Los Cabos has the international connections to get anywhere else.

On the decision itself: "Theory says decisions are emotional and then backed up with logic. That's exactly how it went."

He visited three or four times, then he and his wife did a ten-day road trip specifically to study how their friends here actually lived. "Emotionally we said, wow, this is something we want. Then we structured the decision with logic."

What most visitors never see

"There's a very superficial perception of this place, and it actually has a very deep depth that you can only explore by living here."

He is not dismissive of the resorts — "we have luxury resorts in Los Cabos, that's one of the main attractions and you should never undervalue it." His point is about the second and third visit.

"If you never leave the hotel, and you don't even go see the small towns like Todos Santos, Los Barriles, La Ribera, La Paz — you're going to miss a lot."

The image he keeps returning to is the desert one. "This place has the magic of the desert: you find oases. You find much more life, it's just hidden, and when you find it, it's oases with palm trees."

A three-day Baja itinerary

Asked to plan a weekend, he drew a line: everything from La Paz south. "You're leaving out Loreto and Mulegé, which are beautiful, but you need more time."

One timing note he adds: if you can land day two on a Thursday, San Jose del Cabo's Art Walk is running.

Cabo Pulmo: the aquarium of the world

This is where he gets most specific, and the practical detail is worth having before you go.

Getting there. The access road along the Sea of Cortez is rough dirt. "The best route is to go up to La Ribera on the paved road, and drop south to Cabo Pulmo from there."

Book ahead. "Have something reserved a week in advance." It is a small town and there is not much lodging.

What you'll see. "It's one of the best places to dive in the world. You can see whales. We've seen bull sharks — last time we saw seven at once. Schools of enormous amberjack, like something out of a film."

The story behind it is the part he wants people to know. Cabo Pulmo was a fishing village. In the 1990s, conservation arrived — which, as he puts it, "for a fishing town, you're hitting their economy." They understood it anyway, and retrained.

"That town that used to fish and deplete the area became the town that protects that marine conservation."

El Arbolito, if you'd rather snorkel

Inside the Cabo Pulmo protected area there is a beach called El Arbolito — the only East Cape beach with an entry fee, around 100 pesos per person. You can rent snorkel gear there, and because it sits inside the reserve, you get the same marine life without a dive certification.

Why community matters more than the perfect house

This is the line buyers should take away, and he does not hedge it.

"Imagine the perfect house in a place with an uncomfortable noise. The truth is you can have an imperfect house, but the moment you step outside you see a community exactly the way you imagined it — with the peace, the calm, the atmosphere you wanted. That's worth far more."

His reasoning: you have flexibility on the house. "You can't marry the perfect home unless you build it yourself on your own land. That's the only way. But community is something you have to be very careful choosing."

"It's your day to day. It's when you step out to take out the trash. It's the people you're going to be around, what's close enough to go eat."

It is the same conclusion Luis Tucker reached watching buyers change their minds mid-tour, and the one our broker names as the costliest mistake: committing to an area before you have seen the alternatives.

The three questions he asks every new buyer

• How many times have you been here? It tells him immediately how much groundwork is still ahead.
• What are your activities? Surf, dive, golf, off-road, quiet dinners — the answer narrows the map faster than a price range does.
• What's the budget? Last, not first.

Then he asks to go to lunch. "That gives me a much broader understanding. Or at least a video call — but having that face-to-face presence so we can understand each other and steer things properly."

Where he lives, and why

El Tezal. "I like El Tezal. I get my walks outdoors, I keep finding better little places to eat, and my exit is well located for either Cabo San Lucas or San Jose."

He also names Cerro Colorado as an area he finds attractive and central, and says San Jose appeals to him for being closer to the East Cape.

Worth noting that El Tezal is also where the market is most active — it accounted for roughly 12% of all Los Cabos sales this year, which is exactly why pricing data there is more reliable than anywhere else in the region.

On taking the leap

"Unless you've completed all your goals and have nothing new you want from life, you have to throw yourself at the fears and the risks. Staying in the same place, you're not going to have anything different — you're only going to get smaller."

Where to go from here

• Explore the areas in this itinerary: The East Cape, Todos Santos, Pescadero / Cerritos, La Paz
• Browse Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo, or all homes for sale and condos for sale
• Foreign buyer basics: The Fideicomiso Explained and our buying and selling guides
• Want to start with the three questions? Get in touch.

Frequently asked questions

Is Cabo Pulmo worth visiting?

Yes, and it is considered one of the best dive sites in the world. The reserve has very high biomass — whales, bull sharks, large schooling fish, dolphins, sea lions, octopus. Access is via dirt road, so the recommended route is the paved road to La Ribera and then south, and lodging and dive operators should be booked about a week ahead.

What is there to do on the East Cape?

Diving and snorkeling at Cabo Pulmo, surfing at the East Cape breaks, camping under some of the darkest skies in the region, and small towns like Los Barriles and La Ribera. Roads are largely dirt, so an SUV or truck is recommended.

How much does it cost to visit El Arbolito beach?

Around 100 pesos per person. It is the only beach on the East Cape with an entry fee, and it sits inside the Cabo Pulmo protected area, so snorkelers see the same marine life as the reserve. Gear can be rented on site.

What matters more when buying in Los Cabos, the house or the neighborhood?

The neighborhood. A house can be adapted; the community around it cannot. Buyers routinely find that an imperfect home in the right community outperforms a perfect home in the wrong one, because the community is what you live with daily.

Where do locals live in Los Cabos?

El Tezal is among the most popular, both for walkability and for being positioned between Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo. It is also the most active segment of the market, accounting for roughly 12% of all sales in the region this year. Cerro Colorado and San Jose del Cabo are other frequently cited options.