As Baja California Sur’s capital, La Paz is mostly used as a jumping-off point for Cabo San Lucas’ beach resorts. However, its old-world charm and pleasant waterfront promenade featuring international art and restaurants overlooking the grey whale–inhabited water are reasons worth sticking around.

Located near the Mexico-Belize border, a true paradise awaits travellers in Bacalar. The town sits on the Lagoon of Seven Colours, a lake nicknamed for its beautifully coloured water, which makes it the perfect place for stunning sunsets, fresh seafood, and cenote swimming.

Ambergris Caye hovers in a holiday sweet spot: just enough amenities to make it exciting, but not so overdeveloped that you’re tripping over flip-flopped tourists. A mangrove swamp is the eye of this white beach island, the largest in Belize, and golf carts are the main form of transportation along the sandy roads. Reef divers drool over the Belize Barrier Reef and the Blue Hole, a 400-feet deep circle of limestone that teems with angelfish, elkhorn coral, cleaner shrimp and stalactites.

California’s desert regions fascinate visitors with the unexpected. Vast expanses, wide salt flats and ghost towns are on full display in In the quintessential desert at Death Valley National Park. Visit Joshua Tree National Park to see both the Mojave and Colorado desert landscapes, where wildflower blooms offer a spectacular sight every spring. Don’t miss the sculpture gardens and hiking trails of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.