Imagine a place where you can really-and I mean really-get away from it all. No Starbucks in sight. No Costco. Just towering mountains perched on top of a sparkling blue sea. Head just south of California, and you’ll discover the Baja, a rugged landscape, largely untouched.

Just a few hours by plane from LAX is Loreto. If the Sea of Cortez is the soul of the Baja, then perhaps Loreto is the heart. A small fishing town of about 10,000 it is a place where time stands still. Literally. Especially if you’re, like us, building a home there. But that is all part of the charm.

We first arrived in Loreto in 2006 and have visited multiple times every year since.

Some of our fondest recent memories are from our adventures in this seaside village; winding through the Sierra de la Giganta mountains to reach San Javier in the 110F desert heat; finding ourselves encircled by a pod of hundreds of jumping dolphins in the middle of the Sea of Cortez; feasting on the best ice cream in town at La Michiocana; or enjoying the friendly company of the locals and our neighbors in the Loreto Bay development.

Clinton shoots videos for Stark Insider. San Francisco Bay Area arts, Ingmar Bergman and French New Wave, and chasing the perfect home espresso shot 25 seconds at a time (and failing). Peloton: ClintTheMint. Camera: Video Gear