Planning
Bringing a Dog to Cerritos Beach
Cerritos is an open beach with no restrictions on dogs, which makes it one of the easier places in Baja to travel with one. A few things are worth knowing first.
Playa Los Cerritos is an open, unpatrolled beach with no restrictions on dogs. They run off leash, they swim, and on a weekday morning at the northern end they will often have several hundred metres of sand to themselves.
That makes this one of the more relaxed corners of Mexico to travel with a dog. A few things are worth sorting out first.
Getting a dog into Mexico
Mexico dropped its requirement for a health certificate for dogs and cats arriving from the United States and Canada some years ago, and inspection is now generally visual on arrival. That said, requirements change and airlines set their own rules independently of the government.
Check two things before you book: the current entry requirements published by SENASICA (Mexico’s agricultural health authority), and your specific airline’s policy on carriage, crate dimensions and summer heat embargoes. Airlines refuse animals in cargo above certain temperatures, and Los Cabos in August qualifies.
Bring the vaccination record regardless. It costs nothing and occasionally gets asked for.
The heat is the real consideration
This is the thing most people underestimate.
From roughly June to October, the sand at midday is hot enough to hurt a dog’s paws, and the air temperature is genuinely dangerous for exercise. Walk early and late. Test the sand with the back of your hand before letting a dog onto it: if you cannot hold it there for five seconds, neither can they.
Shade is limited on the beach itself. Bring water for them as well as for you.
Winter is easy by comparison. November through March the sand is comfortable most of the day and a dog can be out with you for hours.
In the water
Cerritos is swimmable, which is why dogs enjoy it here rather than being stuck on the sand. The northern end has the smallest waves and is the better stretch for a dog that is not a strong swimmer.
The same rip currents that affect people affect dogs, and dogs have less judgement about it. Keep an eye on how far along the beach they have drifted, exactly as you would with a swimmer.
Rinse the salt off afterwards.
Around the area
El Pescadero and Todos Santos are both easygoing about dogs. Many restaurants with outdoor seating will seat you with one, though it is worth asking rather than assuming. Neither town has a formal dog park; the beach serves that purpose.
There are veterinary clinics in Todos Santos and in La Paz. Ask reception if you need a recommendation.
Staying with a dog
The Cerritos Beach Inn is pet friendly, and dogs are welcome on the beach in front of the hotel. We ask that you tell us when you book so we can put you in the right room, and that dogs are not left alone in a room.
Our ground floor rooms with patios are usually the easiest for anyone travelling with a dog, and reception can tell you which are available for your dates.
