The southern Baja loop

The southern Baja: February 13, 2017 - March 16

The night crossing from Mazatlán went smoothly, lasting maybe 12.5 hours dock to dock. It was the getting off the boat and through the various checkpoints that took another 2 hours. A giant pain. The first stop is to pay a "port access fee" of 170 pesos. The next line is for the policia (state or federal, I forget which) to do a check, although I got waved through. A much longer wait to get through a military checkpoint where everyone gets searched...they took my one pear! Finally, a quick, mandatory fumigation spray around the bottom of the car for 30 pesos and I was free.

my spot on Playa Tecolote

After loading up with food and gas (I bought some new pears) I drove the short distance to the free camping beach of Playa Tecolote (#117, 118 in map below). A very pretty flat stretch of sand and stones, this is a popular crash pad for RV'ers.

Tecolote from long range...restaurants and

bathrooms are in the distance

The nights were beautiful with an almost full moon and just the lapping of small waves on this protected beach. In the picture of my campsite in the distance is the island of Espiritu Santo. People fish or kayak here and swim, of course. Although the water is a bit chilly this time of year at 70 and the winds can be fairly strong with the air temps only getting into the low 70's...this is their version of winter. Nights can drop below 50.

one of many statues along the 3 mile
long La Paz malecon

After the beach I went into La Paz and stayed at a campground, Aqua Marina, that I had used some 11 years ago. I thought it had closed but Mary Lou, the owner, has decided to keep it going even after the death of her husband Richard. They have great showers and it's within walking distance of downtown.

almost the end of the beach road north of El Sargento

Next I drove over to La Ventana and El Sargento - really one place as they bleed into one another - one of the wind and kite surfing hot spots on the Baja. It's why the place exists, as far as I can tell. It was definitely too windy to camp in my tent.

approaching the gnarly part of the remote road 

I thought I'd keep heading south along the water and it took me to one of the most remote parts of Mexico I've been to, not seeing another vehicle or person for almost 1-1/2 hours, a very difficult thing to do in Mexico, at least on the mainland. You can see this road on the map below between green #121 and #122.

an obstacle along the remote road, it still had

some stink to it

I also had to shift into 4-low in order to climb over a steep area of large rocks, a rarity. My vehicle is always in 4-wheel drive but, because it's my only vehicle, I don't purposefully look for difficult routes as I can ill afford any major damage. Putting the FJ into 4-low, though, turns it into a different vehicle...it feels like you can climb a wall.

the stormy sea along the remote beach road

The first 11 miles of the remote road took the 1-1/2 hours I mentioned earlier until I reached the outpost of Boca del Alamo, a tiny village that, nonetheless, has Land for Sale signs in English.

a cabalgata going thru Cardonal, beer cans in hand

From this point south to Los Barriles were more and more vehicles, more people and bigger and bigger homes. Cardonal had it's share and Punta Pescadero, with it's single runway of an airport, had huge homes, it looked like Palm Springs.

the big beach at Los Barriles, it's an ATV highway

I camped for two nights in Los Barriles where kite surfing and fishing are the main activities. It's an expensive area to hang out if you're a traveler on a budget. One restaurant, catering to the numerous gringos, wanted 90 pesos for a beer (!), something that costs about 24 on the mainland. I grabbed one out of my 'frig, instead.

I did, however, later find another restaurant in town called El Viejo that has been there for years and they had great fish and chicken tacos and beers for 25 pesos. Recommended.

outside the cafe

For a change of pace I went about 20 miles inland to a campground called Rancho Verde (#124,125,128,132), a small place that sells lots (cheaply, about $15k) to those interested in living off the grid. There is an old mining town up the road to the west called El Triunfo, an attractive place that is known in the gringo world for a restaurant called Caffe El Triunfo (yes, it's spelled with 2 "f's"). I think it's known for it's bread, but the meal I had was overpriced and quite average. Beautiful building, though.

the lower Baja, try to follow the green #116-137

(the black is from my trip in 2006)

waterfall and swimming hole called Sol de Mayo

Next, I wanted to see the waterfall and swimming hole called Sol de Mayo, also inland (#126,127). There is a small informal camping area for about 5-6 vehicles and I had a quiet spot for two nights under lots of stars. Being the only one here I got to go down to the waterfall when no one else was around to take pictures and to take a swim. The water was quite cold this time of year.

rocky beach at Cabo Pulmo

I then drove a bit north and out to the coastal sand and dirt road that goes from La Ribera down to San Jose del Cabo. I had hoped to find a good free camping beach and there is a popular one at a place called Los Frailes. You're supposed to first call the owner of this vast expanse of land to get permission, but I didn't have a signal because of the remoteness! Oh well, it was too windy so I went back to Rancho Verde for a night.

Cabo Pulmo (circled in ink on the map above), also along this stretch of beach road, is a tiny town that has one of the only coral reefs located on the west coast of the Americas. The water, though, is cold this time of year, and it was very windy the day I drove through making the water very choppy, so another time. Summer, with warmer and calmer waters, is your best bet.

the hot spring held back by a dam, rocks create small pools

Another inland spot is called Agua Caliente, a small hot springs where one can camp for the nominal fee of 50 pesos. I had a peaceful night but the hot spring didn't appeal to me. Besides, I don't really like sharing a "tub" with strangers.

San Jose's main square

lunch with Carolyn and Alberto

Then it was down to Cabo San Lucas to meet up with my friend Alberto and his wife Carolyn. I splurged on a room for two nights at $90/night. It was a nice respite and allowed me to do some things on-line, do some laundry and get my FJ serviced. The three of us met up for an afternoon of wandering around the more historic San Jose del Cabo where they did some shopping and we stopped for lunch.

Super Tacos B.C.S. in La Paz

Driving north I quickly ducked into Todos Santos for about 20  minutes (too rich for my blood) before grabbing another night at Rancho Verde as it's very conveniently located and then back to La Paz for two nights. I had previously read about a fish taco joint in La Paz but I wasn't able to find it until this swing through town. It's called Super Tacos B.C.S. and the fish and shrimp tacos were outstanding. I put a salsa roja on mine that's picante without being too hot and some grilled onions. A must stop if I ever come through again. It's right next to the skanky old Hotel California. Not to be confused with the very nice Hotel California in Todos Santos

one stretch of the surfing beach at Rancho Conejo

I was finally ready to seriously head north towards Loreto. First, I drove up the coast just to the west of La Paz to the small mining town of San Juan de la Costa (see map above), intending to keep going further north to San Evaristo and southwest on a backroad to the highway. The gas station I had hoped for didn't exist any longer so I was forced back south to Highway 1 and then west to the surfing beach of Rancho Conejo (#136, 137).

campsites at Rancho Conejo are scattered among the scrub

This was another windy spot and a very basic surfing beach with outhouses and a questionable cold "shower". Hardcore dudes hang out here. I spoke to one guy who had been here three months surfing and sleeping in the back of his pick-up. I stayed two nights for 75 pesos/night (collected by a slight guy named Nardo who wore a baseball cap that said "Aloha" and sandals to show off his painted toenails). I would come back here again for a longer stay as the 10 miles of dirt road to get in seems to keep away a lot of the bigger RV's. Plus, no one will find you here.

the crumbling mission, and church, of Gonzaga.

A one-dog kind of town

I continued to push north making it to Ciudad Constitucion (#138) in just a couple of hours. After scouting out the campground...it'll do...I took a couple of side trips, one to an old mission town called Gonzaga just to the east and then the port town of San Carlos to the west. Gonzaga is all sand and dirt roads and I hardly saw a soul. Even in the town I didn't see more than about a dozen people. It seems to be holding on by a thread. I didn't even see anyone selling snacks from the front of their home...there's always someone selling snacks! The mission itself is crumbling but the humble church is still being used.

Blue heron in San Carlos

San Carlos is one of several places you can go out and watch the grey whales that come down here from around Alaska every winter to give birth to their calves. By the time I got there it was late in the day and it was too windy on the bay, anyway. Wind is a common theme on the Baja for me.

a calf visits a nearby boat, they let you pet them

a mother and calf swim off away from us in the bay

The following day, however, was much nicer and an easy one hour drive took me to Lopez Mateos, another whale watching spot. I walked up to one of the ticket vendors and there were four people standing together who said I could join them. A boat cost 1200 pesos, so the more people the cheaper it is.

the folks I shared the boat with: Glen and Mahtu from

Canada, Maja from Slovenia and Ana from Spain

We spent two hours out on the very calm bay getting close to a number of whales. When they are nearby the trick is to splash the water and this seems to draw the calves more than the mothers. I got to briefly touch one of the calves and the skin near the mouth felt kind of spongy. It's fun and exciting to get close up and they don't seem to mind. Ana, in the picture, is a tour guide based down in La Paz, it turns out. The other three had come up for the day with her and Ana acted as our interpreter since the boat captain didn't speak any English. It worked out perfectly.

Scorpion Bay at low tide. If you zoom in you'll see my

tent perched on the bluff.

That afternoon I drove further north to San Juanico, a surfing town and fishing village on the Pacific. Also called Scorpion Bay, this beach is known for some of Mexico's best surfing when the swells are up, offering long rides of a minute, or so. When I was there the water was quite calm so my campground (#139, 140) was almost empty, which was nice. At high tide the water comes right up to the edge of the bluff and the sound of the crashing waves blocks out the entire world.

from Cd. Constitucion to Loreto, green #138-148

the lush village of Purisima

To get to Loreto I needed to retrace my steps, taking a couple of side trips to Purisima and Cantuomo. The Baja, which is most often rocks and desert, can be harsh, stark and unforgiving, but it's also full of these oasis towns where there is a source of water. The immediate area is a verdant green, going from cactus to palm trees.

driving down to Agua Verde

The Baja is fairly narrow so driving from the Pacific side to the tiny fishing village of Agua Verde was an easy drive of only about 60 miles. The dirt road down to Agua Verde winds its way down a steep cliff at one point offering beautiful views of the Sea of Cortez.

great camping at Agua Verde

The camping in Agua Verde (#141, 142) is free and on the nice sand beach of this pretty and tranquil bay. This town has only a couple of restaurants and a small market to supply the 300 residents and the few campers and boats and yachts that drop anchor just offshore. This is my favorite beach campsite so far on the Baja even though there is only a basic outhouse for use by campers...you get used to it.

the old mission in Loreto

Two nights in Agua Verde and it was time to move north to Loreto to visit my new friends Bob and Marilyn. We originally met last winter on the Mexico mainland and then again back in January in Morelia. I got to spend 6 wonderful nights with them in their beautiful Loreto home eating, drinking, talking and doing some fishing. Yes, I went out with them on their boat to fish!




Bob insisted we needed to leave the house at 5:15 and we had the boat in the water by 6. It was still dark out but a number of us were already fishing for bait fish; mackerel, I think. Bob caught one but that one fish plus a number of others we had bought from a vendor on the water was enough to get going.

the sea lions on Isla Coronado off Loreto

First, we stopped by one of the islands where seal lions were hanging out making lots of noise. When we got close enough the barnyard smell of these guys got to be pretty rude.

blurry pic of dolphins jumping in our wake

Bob dropped a line and very quickly there was a bite. Bob handed the rod over to me and I got to reel in what turned out to be about a 15 pound yellowtail, my first catch. Nothing else was biting in that area so we started moving and caught sight of plenty of dolphin and probably 5-6 water spouts of whales in the distance. 

me with the 30 lb. yellowtail

We tried another fishing spot further out and again Bob dropped a line and snagged one. Again, he handed me the rod and, with considerable effort, I was able to reel in another yellowtail from a depth of about 300', this time much bigger at almost 30 pounds. My lower back and left bicep were sore for two days after that. But what a thrill to get that fish aboard. Bob conked it on the head with a bat and it got put on ice with the earlier catch.

We tried a few more spots, Marilyn in charge of trolling the boat around some very specific points in the water but there weren't any other bites that day. We headed in and for a few nights we had yellowtail sashimi and delicious fish tacos.

having dinner at the Mision in Loreto

Meeting Bob and Marilyn has been one of those serendipitous moments that traveling seems to inspire. I'm not sure when or where our paths will ever cross again, but I'm glad we did. And I hope we do.