Baja - A Trip to the Tip

[SunMan]

Though I have dragged the co pilot to Baja on more than one occasion, she had never made the full trip to the bottom of the peninsula. After having to listen to the boys talk story for years about places she'd never been we thought it was time fix that. We headed down to San Diego and flopped for the night. The next day we crossed the border at 0645, got our visas and were on our way by 0715. After fueling up and a mandatory fish taco lunch in El Rosario I was getting dangerously tired behind the wheel so we stopped for a little cat nap in the desert:

Before we hit the road again I stumbled upon this cool snakeskin

We didn't really have a destination planned for the night, we were just going to drive until we were done, wherever that was. We hit Villa Jesus Maria and decided call it a day so we went to check out Laguna Manuela for the night, it was someplace new for me.

We drove down the beach towards the lagoon and found a secluded place to pop up.

Being pretty tired after a 12 hour day the co-pilot whipped up a little snack and we called it dinner for the night. Fresh queso fresco and chipotle queso quesadilla from the Doña Lala's in San Vicente. Always a great stop when headed southbound to stock up on fresh cheese, honey, olives, tortillas and dried fruits. Props to old forum member doble traccion for the tip on this place years ago.

 

[SunMan]

The next morning we drove out to see the light house at Punta Santo Domingo

We found this nice secluded beach situated right below it

Next stop, San Ignacio. This little oasis is a jewel in the middle of the desert and was the start of new territory for the co-pilot and she was impressed!

It was nice that we were there on a Sunday as there was a lot of activity with many of the locals hanging out and trying to beat the heat in the shade of the town square. We had a nice lunch and toured the mission which was erected in 1696. There is a lot of history here as the original mission was actually founded around 1610 by the Jesuits but was under constant attack by the Portuguese. This is definitely one of my favorite places in Baja and i never spend enough time here.

 

[SunMan]

Ultimately our destination for the day was San Juanico, aka Scorpion Bay. We headed out the notoriously awful road to Laguna San Ignacio, though it has been paved a good way out there it is still the same ole bone jarring washboard it always has been. Cruising through a levy out in the salt flats...

You do not want to veer of the road anywhere out here or you will be in deep trouble, this place is notorioius for gobbling up the vehicles of drivers who stray off the path!

I hadn't been through here in years and after some bad navigation on my part (it's not just you Maglellan!) I missed locating the easier, less bone jarring way through the flats we ended up taking the dreaded north road in. As bummed as we were this guy was having a worse day than us...

 

[SunMan]

After a long, hot day and over 130 miles of some of the worst dirt roads Baja has to offer we arrived at the pot of gold. Here we are rinsing off the road grime in our own indivdual ways...

After a good long surf I was ready to break in the new Cook Partner, what better way than some messy tacos al pastor! Thanks again DD, I am loving this bugger! It really got a solid work out on this trip.

With the swell forcast to be on the rise for the next few days things were looking pretty good. The end of another beautiful day...

 

[SunMan]

We spent 3 nights and 4 days in San Juanico.

Why we go:

Scorpion Bay ain't just another pretty name...There's a reason they call it that:

 

[Silvertip47]

WOW!!! What a great trip. I would really like to go there someday!!! Preferabley with a small group who knows where they are going!!!

You didn't have any trouble getting your dog across?

 

[SunMan]

Fresh mango from San Jose de Gracia, breakfast of champions!

Spotted this sweet rig on the beach while leaving town...

Took a newer south road out of SJ which leads out by Punta San Gregorio and Las Barrancas. Had always wanted to check these places out so this was a plus.

 

[SunMan]

Next stop, "Rabbit Point". This was about a six hour journey south, a pretty easy day.

Mama working on her road pop:

The Campo for a couple of nights

Unfortunately the winds were not cooperating, this place perpetually haunts me...grrrrr

 

[SunMan]

Since the surf wasn't really cooperating and I was fairly surfed out we generally rested, took long beach walks and ate well:

Breakfast

Appetizers

Main Course

Side Dish

Mmmmm..

The end of another crappy day:

 

[SunMan]

The Tequila rations were running low so the next stop was La Paz to resupply and then off to the East Cape.

Since I have been there last they have installed small palapas all the way up the coast from San Jose del Cabo beyond Cabo Pulmo. Makes it nice for camping or day trips up the coast. We found a nice spot at a well known surf spot and posted up for a couple of days.

We got there late in the afternoon and I went for a surf and stayed out until around 9 pm surfing under a beautiful full moon. Water was 78-80 degrees.

 

[SunMan]

Next we headed into San Jose del Cabo and then on to Cabo San Lucas, I showed the co-pilot lands end and she was happy and excited to have finally made it to the tip. We loaded up on ice in Cabo and headed north towards the Todos Santos area to get out of the mayem that is CSL.

For those of us who still use ice chests you learn to sniff these places out in any town you enter:

Playa San Pedrito

And then back to "Rabbit Point" to get skunked again:

Laundry day (enough of those sweaty sheets from the East Cape!):

You can tell supplies must be getting low, but it wouldn't be a trip to Baja though without a bacon wrapped hot dog!

 

[sdmarkus]

Looks like an incredible trip SunMan, thanks for sharing.

I used to enjoy frequent trips down to Puntas Cabras, but that's about as far south as I have been and not since they began having some issues down there years back.

How do you feel about traveling in Mexico these days?

 

[SunMan]

Silvertip,
No issues with the dog ever. I do have vaccination paperwork but have never been asked to see them.

SDMarkus, thanks. I have no qualms about travelling in Mexico, i have made 3 trips and spent over 35 days in Mexico in the past nine months with nothing but good times and zero hassels.

 

[SunMan]

With the surf forcast fading it was time to head back over to the Cortez side and the last big area the co-pilot has not seen on Mex-1. We made a side trip into Loreto and cruised the Malecon and grabbed some supplies. I'm not sure if we even saw one single tourista while were were there, i asked a shopkeeper about it and she said it has been pretty bad there tourist wise lately. We left and headed north stopping at El Requeson for lunch and a swim. El Requeson

One of the many beaches along the highway, there are just too many sweet little hideaways to stop at them all. 'Zat a pop up I see down there?

Our destination for the night was Playa Santispac and a nice dinner at Ana's

The co-pilot out for a snorkle

I had my own priorities:

Turns out the cook at Ana's went to Mulege for the night so we went to Playa Burro for dinner at Bertha's (had to crank a little Dead on the way there

) Ceviche and camarones al la diabla...que bueno!

 

[SunMan]

We popped into Mulege the next day...the damage from Hurricane Jimena last year is still evident. I stopped in an RV Park near Serenidad to fill up my water tank and they were still digging out, it's been 11 months. Off to Punta Abreojos for a long shot on the still fading swell...no dice but we did catch this great sunset...

If you are going to make the drive down the peninsula you better be ready to pass hundreds of these guys on either side of the road...there is no margin for error.

Don't ask (sneaky co-pilot secretly revels in my pain!):

 

[SunMan]

We left Abreojos with no real plan but to keep heading north. San Pedro Martir and/or Bahia de Los Angeles were options. After consultation with my navigator it was clear that warm water and white sand beaches would trump the mountains and pine trees on this trip. Bahia de Los Angeles it is then... Our first view of the Bay of L.A.

We swam for awhile and weighed our options, i reckoned since the co-pilot had spent the last 14 nights in the camper she had earned a real shower and a bed for the last night. We found this little joint and called it good. Kayak rentals and other recreational gear were included in the rate. Overpriced? Yes, but we didn't care.

Gunner found a local buddy to play with so he was stoked, here we have one happy dog!

We logged some quality time in these babies:

And if one photo can sum up our trip I think this one pretty much says it all:

Thanks for riding along with us!

 

[chnlisle]

This should be titled "Why We Love Sunny." I hope Ana had some of her wonderful fresh bread for you guys. Great stuff! Thank you.

 

[Ted]

I have been looking forward to this TR since you said you were doing a two week trip to Baja. Your report did not disappoint. Just one thing - you can't put in a photo of a bandaged finger and then say "Don't Ask". At least we know DD didn't do it to you.

 

[RJones]

Great report and pictures! You have to spill the beans on the finger.

 

[Cort]

Awesome trip report...makes me want to head down to Baja. I have not been down there since I was 18 years old. Baja came up several times while a few of us were out in the Warners. Seems like several of us have been wanting to go down there but have been a bit concerned about the safety factor. I am glad to hear that you have had to problems. Its always good to travel in Baja with those that are familiar with it.

Cheers on an awesome trip,

Cort