Mexico City  - Hurricane Jimena was moving along the coast of Mexico's Baja California Peninsula Wednesday without causing serious damage.

Hurricane Jimena had yet to make landfall, but was bringing strong winds and some rain to the western Mexican peninsula.

The hurricane had been downgraded to a category 2 storm on the Saffir-Simpson scale, but remained dangerous, the Miami-based National Hurricane Centre said. Hurricane Jimena was expected to weaken further, although the centre noted that it would still be a hurricane when it moves inland.

Mexico's Development Minister Ernesto Cordero told Mexican radio that the authorities expected "minimum damage" from the storm.

"We have not been informed of damage to the hotel infrastructure in Los Cabos, for example," he said.

It was moving north-northwest along the Baja coast and was expected to make landfall later Wednesday or Thursday on the central part of the peninsula, near San Jose de Gracia.

"The core of Jimena will be near or just offshore the west coast of the southern Baja California Peninsula today, and near or over the central Baja California Peninsula on Thursday," the US centre said.

The hurricane had bypassed Cabo San Lucas, a renowned resort community at the peninsula's southern tip, and La Paz, the capital of the state of Baja California Sur.

At 1500 GMT the centre of the hurricane was 45 kilometres north- northeast of Cabo San Lazaro, with wind speeds of 160 kilometres per hour, forecasters said.

On Tuesday, thousands of tourists were urged to seek safety and return home if possible, while residents of particularly endangered areas and barrier islands were evacuated as a precaution.

High waves also battered the states of Sinaloa and Nayarit on the eastern side of the Gulf of California. Harbours were closed and the military was deployed to help with evacuation and to guard deserted areas from looting. dpa