The cruising publications are correct when they describe the great travel to be had amongst the islands in the Sea of Cortez within a very small radius of La Paz. Like, within a 35-mile radius are four islands plus the Baja peninsula. For those of you from the PacNW, think "San Juan and Gulf Islands, but with sunshine and no trees." This is pretty cool cruising down here, my young onions. Observe:
Moving north from La Paz just a few miles, you'll first come to 4 or 5 anchorages stretching along the 
Pichilingue peninsula for about 12 miles or so. Puerto Balandra is the most popular of these stops, and for good reason. In flat-calm weather, the beachcombing and snorkeling is stupendous here. Difficulty: if a SW coromuel comes up, which happens frequently but only at like 2 in the morning, it gets bumpy. First 2 times we were here, we got bounced right out without having seen anything. Third time was a charm, though: flat-calm November weather, and some of the best snorkeling anywhere. Good sunsets, too.
Next, a sample of some anchorages on Isla Espiritu Santo. 
South to north out of La Paz, 
we have over here on the left a shot of The Fox at Bahia San Gabriel. Shallow, with a deeper anchoring hole over toward the lagoon & the defunct pearl fishery works (we didn't find the hole but it's totally there, really; & we anchored OK in about 15 feet so in calm weather = no problemo). The lagoon is accessible by dinghy when the tides are right – and if they aren't, it's still fun to watch the tidal outflow and all the vultures patiently waiting for something to come their way. Lucky for us they were mostly looking in the opposite direction.
North of San Gabriel we have 
Puerto Ballena, a 3-lobed, fair-weather anchorage whose northernmost lobe is called Ensenada de la Raza. Aim for the cluster of caves in the pink cliffs of the north face (that's them over there on the left), and look for 15-18 feet 
depth, and you're good. In fair weather. You'll see 2 islets to your left (named Gallo and Gallina; Gallo is shown in the pic on the right), nice snorkeling everywhere, and if you like dinghy excursions there's plenty to see without even going ashore. But to summarize, if the weather is good (hint), here you have: pink cliffs, offshore islets, white beach, green mangroves, turquoise water, orange sunsets. Nice.
Skipping over other interesting but fair-weather anchorages, a mere 10 miles or so north of Ensenada de la 
Raza we have Caleta Partida, an almost-all-weather, capacious anchorage linking Isla Espiritu Santo and Isla Partida. Hoo boy, this is a popular spot. Everybody comes here. For the shelter; the snorkeling on the reef at the north entrance; the beaches; the dinghy excursions; the fish camps; the hikes; and the whale bones near the panguero shack ashore. It can hold a lot of boats and that's lucky, as it has the best shelter from winds and fetch for miles around. So, you'll likely be sharing this spot with 10 other boats at any given time. If a large power yacht arrives it may discharge jet-skis and water skiiers. But no matter – it's pretty, and there's room enough for all.
There are other anchorage selections just a few miles north of Caleta Partida. 
Weather depending, there are at least six potential spots to drop the hook north of Partida. However, past these 6 options, and a mere 21 miles from Caleta Partida, is Isla San Francisco. The main anchorage, "The Hook," is a big attraction. It accomodates a lot of boats, has red cliffs that shelter boats from north wind, and looks thusly, on the left there. Isla San Francisco's lesser-used east anchorage, which is excellent in southerly/westerly weather (and where we celebrated Thanksgiving 2008), looks like that pic on the right – just tuck in between the 2 reefs like we did (more room than it appears to have) & you're good.
Now let's look at the south end of Isla San Jose and Amortajada Lagoon, about 5 miles north of Isla San Francisco depending on your course of travel. The Fox is over there on the lower right, in front of the mangroves & on the shelf in about the middle of the north-facing side of the lagoon's long hook, in about 20 feet and sitting pretty:
How about Punta Salinas further north along Isla San Jose, where you can explore defunct salt works?
The Fox is there just below and to the left, anchored off the ruins in about 22 feet:
Of course, the fishing village over on the Baja peninsula at San Evaristo may be more your style – great anchorage, great snorkeling and hiking, great people on shore. There's a small tienda where you can buy eggs, milk, sometimes veggies, and always salsa; there's a school, salt ponds, a small herd of goats, and a desalination plant where you can buy fresh water if you need some. San Evaristo also has two excellent anchorages – one sheltered from north weather; the other, main anchorage, sheltered from southerly weather. It's an excellent stop:
To recap – there's all this and more within an easy day's trip of the metropolis of La Paz. It's a terrific place from which to take a sailing cruise into the Sea, whether you go for a long weekend or a month. Come see!
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