BajaNomad

Arrival airport & driving in Baja and oneway car hire rental or taxi

PeggyJazz - 3-14-2023 at 03:50 AM

Booking a trip to Baja for first time for my husband and myself. We will be on boat from Loreto to La Paz and fly from UK. Best place to fly into seems to be San Jose Cabo airport as we can just change in Madrid, Spain. Any other suggestions please?
If I am correct, how safe is it for 2 British people to drive in Baja? How good are the roads? We have driven through many rough areas of the world but don’t want to do anything foolish as we are now over 60 years old. Is there a good company to use? Is it better and safer to just hire a taxi? Or is that ridiculously expensive?
Can we rent a car at San Jose Cabo airport that is safe and reasonable? Is there anything special to do on south coast- camel ride and zip wire look good on TripAdvisor and if we have a car, we can do those, which we can’t in a taxi. Then if we drive north to Loreto, can we leave the car there so a one-way hire? That is usually much more expensive, but I think we will need to do that.
When we land at La Paz, we would need another one-way trip La Paz back to airport.
What do you recommend we do please? My preferred option, if safe, is to hire 2 one-way car hires: airport to Loreto and La Paz to airport.
Many thanks for all advice.
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WideAngleWandering - 3-14-2023 at 09:54 AM

Camels in Baja? That's ... interesting.

I think most of your questions could be answered by the car rental agency. Well, except the ones about the camels.

PeggyJazz - 3-14-2023 at 10:02 AM

Number 1 on TripAdvisor for outdorr activities Camel Outback Adventure with Mexican buffet and Tequila tasting
By Cabo Adventures
Lats 3 hours
https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/AttractionProductReview-g15251...
in case you can't use link it says "Highlights
Ride a camel down the beaches of the Baja peninsula and get back to nature
Sample several tequilas and enjoy a hearty Mexican lunch overlooking the water
Choose from two start times to suit your schedule—morning or afternoon
Benefit from round-trip transportation from most hotels in Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo":D

mtgoat666 - 3-14-2023 at 10:44 AM

One way car rentals are pricey, if you can find one.

There is bus service for one way trips.

You can also fly in and out of loreto, and make connections to europe destinations via mexico city.

PeggyJazz - 3-14-2023 at 12:07 PM

Thank you. I have looked at flights to Mexico city and not very helpful. It sounds like you say it is hard as well as pricey to get a one-way car rental.
I'll look at bus services instead. Not sure which ones but maybe I'll find them.
Jenni

JZ - 3-14-2023 at 01:00 PM

We are planning a trip to Morocco this summer and will ride camels in the Sahara.

Might have to practice first in Baja. Who knew.

pauldavidmena - 3-15-2023 at 06:20 AM

When I fly into Cabo, I usually rent from Los Cabos Family Rental (a.k.a. Dominic's of Los Cabos), but I usually stay an hour north in Todos Santos and use the car for both trips near Todos and any excursions to Cabo or La Paz. Given that they're a small, family-owned business, I doubt they could support a one-way rental to Loreto, but it wouldn't hurt to ask. Some of the larger U.S. rental companies (Avis, Enterprise, Alamo) or the international Eurocar might be more accommodating.

Good luck! I'd be curious to learn which route you follow.

mtgoat666 - 3-15-2023 at 08:08 AM

Quote: Originally posted by PeggyJazz  
Thank you. I have looked at flights to Mexico city and not very helpful. It sounds like you say it is hard as well as pricey to get a one-way car rental.
I'll look at bus services instead. Not sure which ones but maybe I'll find them.
Jenni


for questions re bus service, try asking on the Talk Baja group on facebook. Wider audience, you may get more info. there also may be airport shuttles from la paz to cabo airport


Marty Mateo - 3-15-2023 at 08:14 AM

I’ve rented through Mex Rent a Car about a dozen times from the San Jose Del Cabo airport. They have a good ,little to no wait shuttle service to and from the terminal. Most of the rental car locations are walking distance from the terminal so no long shuttle rides. They’ve always been reasonable priced and no surprise charges when picking up or dropping off the car. I have done a one way rental to La Paz that wasn’t too pricey at the time.
As far as safety goes , I’ve driven rental cars as well as my own vehicles all over the Baja peninsula and have always felt very safe and never had any issues with police or other officials. The main roads are in good condition and most of the dirt side roads are reasonably well maintained and worth exploring.
Sounds like a great trip , enjoy

Marty Mateo - 3-15-2023 at 08:21 AM

Also ,the intercity buses on Baja are reasonable modern European models and much better looking than the ones I see in Canada or the US 😂 . No first hand knowledge but they seem to travel frequently up and down the peninsula

chippy - 3-15-2023 at 01:07 PM

https://abc.com.mx/home

This may help?

bajaric - 3-15-2023 at 02:30 PM

If you desire the experience of driving in Baja, go for it. The roads are not built to the same standards as in the "first world" but nothing to be too concerned about. You might want to take a few precautions, such as hiding large amounts of cash, carrying water and food, etc. And remember to stay on the right!

On the other had if you just want to get to Loreto there are direct flights from London to LAX (Los Angeles) (11 hours) and from LAX to Loreto.



Bwk94510 - 3-16-2023 at 01:25 PM

Hi - A few thoughts. As bajaric said there is a direct daily flight from LAX to Loreto.

The drive from San Jose Del Cabo airport is not a problem- will take you about 8 hours or so to drive. I just drove down from San Francisco to Cabo a fw weeks ago and had no issues with the road, police or anything else- was a great trip and was my first time doing it. met a lot of American's, Canadians and a couple Brits during our travels.

I just looked at Enterprise rental from Cabo to Loreto - two day rental with required liability insurance for about $600 for two day rental one way.

Final thought - camels....I vote no for that plan. I've been out there on an ATV tour in the same area on the beach. If you like to ride camels while atv's and side by sides are blasting all around you at 40 mph than go for it. Otherwise I'd pass.