BajaNomad

La Bocana

matt3706 - 10-3-2006 at 09:48 AM

I was curious where this spot is in Baja. I read some things that lead me to believe it was up north by Santo Tomas but then I read some other things it lead me to believe it was down south more by Punta Abreojos.


http://www.pbase.com/jugheadken/image/56072994

Thanks

Matt

miguel_amarillo - 10-3-2006 at 09:51 AM

its the beach you hit when you take the Puerto Santo Tomas road to the coast. Puerto S.T. is to the north, just a bit up the coast.

matt3706 - 10-3-2006 at 10:11 AM

Ok, so it is north of Punta Cabras. My buddies and I go down to Punta Cabras once or twice a year, we've been looking for another spot to try out. How is the camping, fishing, surf, etc. there?

pargo - 10-3-2006 at 10:26 AM

Yes, north of punta cabras. Bocana has campsites. All the times I've been there it seems mostly locals camp there. They go all out, kids, quads. carne and did I mention chingo of kids?. I like to go north about three miles to Puerto Santo Tomas. It's alot quieter. It's a "resort" of sorts with rooms, showers etc. but we always ask for one of the old motor homes up on the top. Theres three of them up top over looking the resort. As you approach you can see them from a distance they stick out like a sore thumb. They lack in amenities but you're away from everyone and it's a great view.

pargo - 10-3-2006 at 10:35 AM

For fishing ask for Sammy Saenz. He will hook you up.
If you get a good pangero like Marcos you'll have a shot at some yellows but you'll definitely be bringing back some quality rockfish from out at soledad reef.
Make sure you take some rapalas for trolling!

Bajamatic - 10-3-2006 at 10:51 AM

I think the best camping in that zone is probably cabras. Its fun to check out la bocana, and people say that puerto santa tomas is cool, but its not a camp spot. To the south of La Bocana along the coast you run into the cement quarry, which has trucks and buses running in and out a lot so its kind of noisy, and the coast is fairly inaccessible.

DanO - 10-3-2006 at 11:08 AM

The Gomez family also rents cabins up the hill from the campground at La Bocana. Rustic, nice view. La Bocana is only crowded on holiday weekends and Semana Santa. Mid-week it's deserted.

Bocana...

bigzaggin - 10-3-2006 at 11:50 AM

is not really the best camp site per se...lots of truck/family traffic on weekends and Bajamatic is right about quarry trucks, etc. There are some nice bluffs to camp on south of the river, but there again, lots of truck traffic to and fro the quarry. Some good rock fishing in the area (especially to the north closer to Puerto Santo Tomas) The wave at the rivermouth can be fun on NW windswell but the shelf is really deep out the back there and anything over 3 foot and it starts to wall and slams really hard on the sandbar. Also, water is REALLY cold there all year.

And for some reason, this place is a mecca for gringo trucks stuck in the sand. No idea why, but on 3 occasions, I have seen people stuck in the sand down by the waterline there.

Cabras is usually a better place to camp though I will say that, mid-winter, mid-week, you can find some nice solitude in the Bocana area.

shari - 10-3-2006 at 02:23 PM

La Bocana is also a village between Pta.Abreojos and Bahia Asuncion where you can find waves if you like...

David K - 10-3-2006 at 04:10 PM

There are many La Bocanas in Mexico! It is the name of a place where a river reaches the sea or the opening of a lagoon to the sea... a mouth, if you will.

The beach at El Rosario is called La Bocana because the Rosario river reaches the sea there...

DanO - 10-3-2006 at 04:22 PM

Stuck trucks at La Bocana? It's the national pastime there. My brother calls it "Disaster Beach." BZ's right about the wave there walling out with size, but you can get lucky on a small day with a little offshore breeze out of the rivermouth. Also, the water is indeed cold, but in mid-August to early September this year, it was unusually warm.

Water...

bigzaggin - 10-3-2006 at 05:25 PM

everywhere this fall was unusually warm...over the last month I have trunked it at Punta Cabras AND Canoas. Very strange.

LA BOCANA ( SANTO TOMAS)

BAJACAT - 10-3-2006 at 07:51 PM

Here they charge $50 pesos for camping per car.They also have cabins for rent.. there are sand dunes on the south side on the arroyo. to the north is Puerto Santo Tomas.

santo tomas bucana.JPG - 14kB

Santo Tomas

BAJACAT - 10-3-2006 at 07:56 PM

Here they have little house's for rent they are prisecy but it's a nice place to stay. you can get what ever you want from the fisher men that live there.. just let them know what you want in the morning and they will have it by lunch or dinner..

5243890-R1-023-10.JPG - 34kB

Santo Tomas

BAJACAT - 10-3-2006 at 07:58 PM



puerto santo tomas.JPG - 32kB

matt3706 - 10-4-2006 at 11:25 AM

Is there any good camping spots south within about 1-2 hours of Punta Cabras? We haven't explored past there really.

BajaWarrior - 10-4-2006 at 02:34 PM

Malibu Beach is 10 miles to the south of Punta Cabras. When driving west on the paved road to Erindira, turn left when the pavement ends into the arroyo and follow the signs to Malibu Beach (3 miles the sign says at pavement). The water is pretty finicky at the camp during the day, but at night it works. They have power also. Clean showers and toilets too. $10 a night for two people with RV. American homes on either side of the camp and a nice sand beach below a small bluff. Not good surf, the surf is back to the north two miles, on the west end of the brussel sprout fields right before you get to town. Or back to Cabras

South of Malibu beach, the road (rough) is right along the water and everywhere is a campground. But, the road stops as a result of high cliffs along the water. You would have to exit the beach and go up a grade onto the mesa above to access further south, but really, the only spot you'll come to is San Antonio del Mar, 15 miles to the south. (Great quad ride) Even from there, you can easily make it to Quatros Casas and beyond to Shipwrecks easily on a tank of gas on a quad. (We carried extra gas and didn't use it)

So, check your map, all I've mentioned is close to one another, just slow going off road, but adventurous.