Inaugural Trip with my new Hawk down to Baja

[RandR]

Got back before Thanksgiving from my first trip with the Hawk. Down to Bahia Gonzaga and Bahia de Los Angeles for almost two weeks on the Sea of Cortez. Slept our family of 5 and a pregnant wife! May have to upgrade to the Grandby!

Camper worked out great. The Baja diaper change came in huge!

Rand

 

[Lighthawk]

Looks like a great trip.
Can't wait to bring my Hawk/Tundra combo to Baja.
I'm impressed you slept five in the camper. That must be a record of some type

 

[Cal]

I couldn't imagine 5 in a Hawk it would be really crowded. The Hawk is just right for my wife and I. I bet the weather down there was nice. Cool photos.

 

[telebrewer]

We just got back too from LA bay. Is that Dagget's camp? We have a Granby with my two boys, 5 and 2. It's nice. I'll post pix and a trip report. Got back before Thanksgiving from my first trip with the Hawk. Down to Bahia Gonzaga and Bahia de Los Angeles for almost two weeks on the Sea of Cortez. Slept our family of 5 and a pregnant wife! May have to upgrade to the Grandby!

Camper worked out great. The Baja diaper change came in huge!

Rand

 

[chnlisle]

Rand Great pix,
It's good to see CoCo is still plugging away.

 

[Mike S.]

Love the pictures of the kids in Baja. We used to take our kids until they figured it wasn't cool to be with the parents. We cherish our memory's of them in Baja and they still talk about it.

 

[BSS]

Looks fabulous. what does it cost to camp there?

 

[bobg333]

Looks fabulous. what does it cost to camp there?


We just got back from four weeks in Baja, going down the east side like Rand did. Campground fees ranged between free at Campo Beluga at Gonzaga Bay (we were the only ones there and nobody ever showed up to collect) to $25 per night at East Cape Campground (the Four Seasons of Baja campgrounds) in Los Barriles. $8 - $10 bucks per night on average.

 

[RandR]

We just got back too from LA bay. Is that Dagget's camp? We have a Granby with my two boys, 5 and 2. It's nice. I'll post pix and a trip report.


Yep Dagget's. Cool spot, my first time there. Last time I was out at Punta La Gringa, so this was nice to have the palapas

 

[RandR]

Looks fabulous. what does it cost to camp there?


We paid $10.00 at Gonzaga and 10 pesos at Daggett's (Bay of LA) A little more than I was used to. Ive always paid $5 per night on the pacific in north baja. Probably cause the water is cold!

 

[RandR]

Rand Great pix,
It's good to see CoCo is still plugging away.


I was proud to put a Coco's Corner decal as my first one on the camper.

Coco was the man in charge down there, especially with the 1000 going on. He got a lot visitors both time we'd stop.

 

[RandR]

Love the pictures of the kids in Baja. We used to take our kids until they figured it wasn't cool to be with the parents. We cherish our memory's of them in Baja and they still talk about it.


Yeah thanks its encouraging to hear that from parents whos kids are grown. On the trip we had several people tell us they used to take their kids to baja when they were little. I think taking them camping is really good for them. Kids these days have too little appreciate for the outdoors/ nature.

Every time we camp my kids take off playing for hours, they are much more entertained than when at home.

 

[RandR]

Looks like a great trip.
Can't wait to bring my Hawk/Tundra combo to Baja.
I'm impressed you slept five in the camper. That must be a record of some type


It was a little tight, good thing my kids are little though so we slept fine.

It really got interesting the day the wind blew so hard we stayed in there all day!

 

[RandR]

We just got back from four weeks in Baja, going down the east side like Rand did. Campground fees ranged between free at Campo Beluga at Gonzaga Bay (we were the only ones there and nobody ever showed up to collect) to $25 per night at East Cape Campground (the Four Seasons of Baja campgrounds) in Los Barriles. $8 - $10 bucks per night on average.


Where is Campo Beluga? We were at Rancho Grande just off the airstrip. Have you camped at Punta Final? I wanted to get down there to check that out.

 

[generubin]

My first visit to Gonzaga was 25 years ago. Outside of Alfonsina's and the few homes at the north, you could drive for miles of free beach and camp anywhere you want, all the way to Punta Final! There was no development at all. Of course, the road from Puertocitos was much worse than it is now. Below are a few vintage pictures including from the top of the big island in the bay. If you want to camp in a beautiful bay that is like Gonzaga from 25 years ago, I recommend Bahia De Las Animas, south of Bay of LA. Or even farther south at Bahia San Rafael.

 

[krj]

Hey RandR, heading down there next week, got a couple questions for ya.
How was the wind in Bahia Gonzaga? What route did you take down there; Mex1 down and then up, or did you cut over to Mex3 in Ensenada and head down that way? How long did it take from border to Gonzaga?
Thanks for the info and great pics, glad you had a good trip.

 

[RandR]

My first visit to Gonzaga was 25 years ago. Outside of Alfonsina's and the few homes at the north, you could drive for miles of free beach and camp anywhere you want, all the way to Punta Final! There was no development at all. Of course, the road from Puertocitos was much worse than it is now. Below are a few vintage pictures including from the top of the big island in the bay. If you want to camp in a beautiful bay that is like Gonzaga from 25 years ago, I recommend Bahia De Las Animas, south of Bay of LA. Or even farther south at Bahia San Rafael.


Great shots, thanks for posting them.

Also thanks for the recommendation on those other bays, definately will check them out some day

 

[RandR]

Hey RandR, heading down there next week, got a couple questions for ya.
How was the wind in Bahia Gonzaga? What route did you take down there; Mex1 down and then up, or did you cut over to Mex3 in Ensenada and head down that way? How long did it take from border to Gonzaga?
Thanks for the info and great pics, glad you had a good trip.


It blew pretty hard two of the days we were there, one day we were pretty well cooped up in the camper. It was due to a change in weather in SoCal, a front was moving in. Hard to say what it will be like when you go. Hope you guys have nice weather.

We took the 1 there and back. Hard to say how long from the border since we stopped for the night both ways. My best guess is 9-10 hours. Talking with locals it sounded like it was faster and less stressful coming down from Calexico thru San Felipe, I think that was like 7 hours.

Have a great trip, look forward to hearing about it when you get back

 

[generubin]

I probably did the trip 20 or more times. I found the road along Sea of Cortez, San Felipe to Puertocitos to Gonzaga was no longer and is infinitely more pleasurable than Mexico One.

 

[bobg333]

Where is Campo Beluga? We were at Rancho Grande just off the airstrip. Have you camped at Punta Final? I wanted to get down there to check that out.


Campo Beluga is perhaps 2k down the beach from Alphonsina's. From the store you need to go down the road to the beach that runs along the south side of the airstrip. It has palapas, flush toilets and single temp (cold in morning, warm in PM) showers; nice beach.

We didn't get to Punta Final on this trip. Another less developed beach we like is at Bahia San Francisquito south of LA Bay.

As others have said, the route thru SF and Puertocitos is far more pleasant that Mex 1. The road is now paved to 12 miles north of Gonzaga.