WELCOME TO VIVA BAJA; a place to view, discover, or plan your Baja California adventures!

Baja California is the land of boulders, boojum trees, beautiful beaches, and historic missions.

On this page, find travel details such as maps, photos, links, as well as Baja California history, books, and more >>>

Going to San Juan de Dios, 2017.

Click here to see what’s new at VivaBaja.com

Click here to buy New & Used BAJA BOOKS (at OldMissions.com)!

Baja California History is amazing! This is where California began and was the only place called California, prior to 1769 when the name was modified.

“My book covers the years 1533 to 1855 with the discovery of California and Spain’s attempts to colonize the peninsula, eventually using missions. Each mission is detailed and photographed. The padres are all named, with the mission they served and the years of service. I also talk about the ‘lost missions’ and explain what and where they were.” David Kier

 

Land of Missions
My book, about the discovery, and Spanish missions of Baja California. Latest printing: 2023

 

In addition to the 25 Spanish missions, two more were founded after Mexican independence, near San Miguel.
To order Baja California Land of Missions today: www.oldmissions.com The January 2023 printing is in stock and ready to ship to you, no shipping or postage fee for U.S. addresses.
This website was created in the year 2000. Twenty-two years later, it has been revised to better help you plan trips and discover more Baja California adventures! More content being added. Look for more modernizing changes in the near future. Until then, just scroll down to see and read about the fascinating peninsula that is full of history and adventure. Several links lead to much more and hundreds, no thousands of photos give you a look at some of Baja’s endless attractions…
El Coyote, a small bay in the larger Bahía Concepción, has been photographed because of its beauty for many decades.

Baja California is a thousand miles of fun! Beware, you may catch ‘Baja Fever’!

The 1972 Edition of Mike McMahan’s wall map was also featured on the back cover of his 1973 and 1983 books.  See the all color 1967 edition.

Let’s talk about Baja California: Join our Facebook discussion groups to share your travels, ask for advice, or make requests for this page.

1) Viva Baja Page Discussion: https://www.facebook.com/groups/vivabaja

2) Historic Locations Discussion (mission sites, old mines, cave art, travel before 1973): https://www.facebook.com/groups/bajamissions

3) To email David: info@vivabaja.com

First time driving to Baja California, Mexico? Advice for border crossing and driving 


The Baja California Travel Club: https://www.discoverbaja.com/

Click to DISCOVER WHERE TO GO, WHAT TO DO, and HOW TO GET THERE:

    Discover LOCATIONS (Travel Articles, Maps, Books, Road Logs)

    Discover HISTORY (Missions, El Camino Real, Painted Caves, etc.)

    Discover DRIVING (Border Crossing, Road Maps, Kilometer Marker, GPS)

One of the many great Dave Deal Baja cartoons. This was a bumper sticker from the mid-1970s sold by Arnold Senterfitt, author of Airports of Baja California. Deal’s art was the inspiration and source for the Pixar film, Cars.

View HISTORIC IMAGES OF BAJA CALIFORNIA , hundreds of photos and drawings from 1868 to 2004 including photos from Howard Gulick, Harry Crosby, Erle Stanley Gardner, Desert Magazine, and more!

For more ideas on where to go, see my Travel & Camping Photo Albums, below. !

Coming in 2023:

           

Click to see: What will the new guide have in it? 

Click to HEAR & SEE ‘BAJA PEOPLE’ on Slow Baja podcasts 

Slow Baja

Click for Viva Baja MEDIA (TV shows, YouTube & a motion picture by or with David Kier)

Vivabaja

          Zoom in close to see BAJA CALIFORNIA MAPS (1685-2021) 200+ maps!

“Let me draw you a map!” A cartoon of David Kier guiding folks to the missions, by Jerry Meloche in Bernie Swaim’s 2004 book, ‘Bouncing Around Baja’.

                   A  biography about David and how he connected with Baja California                                        

 

Boojum trees (Cirios) are endemic to Baja California’s central desert and a small area across the gulf. These two appear to be dancing along the road south of Calamajué.

CLICK HERE to quickly find photos of specific Baja locations (1999-2022)!

My Baja California Travel and Camping Photos (1965-2022):

Mission Santa María, March 30, 2022.

David K’s Viva Baja Party Photos:

LINKS to MORE VivaBaja and other Baja California Sites  (Baja Travel Sites; Baja Locations; Tide Charts; Home Pages; Book Authors; Contributed Photos)

Vivabaja

Please allow me to help you find fun and adventure in Baja California as I have for TV shows and documentary films! Email: info@vivabaja.com
2014 CBS Sports Network, Trail of Missions
2019 Travel Channel, America Unearthed with Scott Wolter
2019 Trail of Mission Recon (a 5-part YouTube series)
2020 Feature Film, The Devil’s Road
2021 Amazon Prime TV, Mysteries of the Southwest, The Last Mission

EMAIL Questions or Comments to DAVID: info@vivabaja.com

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Join our active Facebook group to see and share Baja California travel and news chat:

 https://www.facebook.com/groups/vivabaja