The CalyCanto Casitas are the ideal place to experience Todos Santos. It doesn't feel like you're in a vacation rental, even though there are some very nice ones available; it feels like you're being hosted in someone's beloved home, and you are. The owners' great love and respect for the region is everywhere apparent: in the beautifully simple, strong furniture Mexico is famous for, in the equally and deservedly famous saltillo and talavera tiles that serve as the flooring both inside and outside, in the abundance of architectural details, the rich colors, in the charm of the bathroom and the outdoor shower overlooking the ocean, in the outside wood shutters on every window, including the sliding glass door leading onto the terrace, for maximum comfort and control.
Cozy inside, expansive outside, I alternate between sleeping in a big soft queen bed in the beautiful bedroom or out on the roomy terrace under the stars. The nighttime sky itself is a marvel; without the compromise of city lighting the heavens are brilliantly alive. . . .You can almost always hear the surf, night and day, and many a night i've made my way in the moonlight the short distance to the sea.
Jim, one of the owners, is wonderful to deal with. From the very beginning of our acquaintance, it was clear there was an unusually open and friendly person on the other end of the email. Throughout all my dealings with him to get the various details worked out, as I am a long-term tenant (something I highly recommend), he has consistently treated me as a friend. He is as special as the town and the casitas are.
The casitas themselves are perfectly located about 2 and 1/2 miles from the town proper. I love being in Todos Santos with all it's gently bubbling life, and I love being outside of it in the deep silence and peace of the country. Getting into town is a 5 minute or so car ride. I highly recommend hitchhiking; I'm seldom on the road more than 5 minutes before a car comes along and through this method I've come to know many of the locals, as well as the large community of passionately devoted outsiders.
To be here in Todos Santos is to live largely outside of time, to live largely inside the abudance of nature, and to dwell with people with whom one feels an effortless sense of easy community. It has been fantastic to be here in the "off season:" It is hot but not as hot as many American cities, and between ocean breezes and palapa fans, i am never uncomfortable.