Isla San Jose is a 20 mile long range of desert hills and mountains situated offshore from La Paz, after driving north on a desert road for 3 hours. Here, the imposing landscape reveals its charm through dramatic contrasts and subtle beauty. Only at night do the flowers of the cardones unveil their delicate white petals, and bioluminescence bombards every inch of the stark volcanic coastline. This island is one of many in the gulf’s remote archipelago. It’s entirely uninhabited, and the nearest civilization is a single-family town of fishermen on the adjacent, much smaller, Isla Partida. For a long weekend our team camped on the island’s western shore, circumnavigating this landmass by day on panga, mesmerized by coastlines akin to the Cyclades or fjords of Oman. Gawking as the sun fell behind the paper cut out skyline of the Sierra de la Gigantas. For a moment civilization didn’t exist. Here, it never has. — Mil gracias to @tinyatlasquarterly for making this expedition a reality and to @silkymerman for beautifully capturing these surreal moments.