jimqpublic - 1-23-2006 at 10:48 AM
Can anyone report on the road from San Ignacio to Laguna San Ignacio? We were there in 2001 and it was pretty good. In 2002 it seemed a lot worse
(horrible washboard)- but maybe that was just because I was towing a trailer.
We're driving a Subaru Outback with Michelin passenger car tires. My main concern is sidewall damage from rocks.
We'll be going late March.
jimqpublic - 1-24-2006 at 12:27 PM
C'mon- It's not the dark side of the moon. Hasn't anyone been out there?
bajajudy - 1-24-2006 at 01:05 PM
I would assume the worst.
We will be in San Ignacio in a week or so and will ask around. But most of the locals look at you like you are crazy if you ask about the road.
My last trip out there (last year) sent me straight to the chiropractor.
BUT people in rentacars make it all the time and they have those tires that look like toy tires.
Plus a lot can happen between now and March.
David K - 1-24-2006 at 01:47 PM
Jim, why not check out one of the Scorpion Bay web sites... ? They have driving details from all of the various roads going there from the south via
Insurgentes or La Purisima from Hwy. 1 south of Concepcion Bay, or over the mountain from Mulege via San Miguel to La Ballena, and both roads to San
Ignacio (mud flats at low tide or inland washboard).
Our own Nomad Juan del Rio can prpobably help...
Here are a couple of links: http://www.juanyjuan.com and http://www.scorpionbay.net
and here is the Scorpion Bay message boards (with a forum just for road conditions): http://www.scorpionbay.net/forum/default.asp
[Edited on 1-24-2006 by David K]
jimqpublic - 1-24-2006 at 04:34 PM
Thanks David. The forum at scorpionbay.net had a report from September saying the road between town and the lagoon had just been graded. Definitely
good news.
I will see to getting a better spare for the Subaru. Currently I just have the full-diameter-but-skinny spare and an extra unmounted full-sized tire.
I'll be sure to have a spare on a wheel before the trip.
[Edited on 1-24-2006 by jimqpublic]
bajajudy - 1-24-2006 at 04:56 PM
I would still assume the worst.
David K - 1-24-2006 at 11:48 PM
For me it's the road adventure getting there... But, if you just want to get to Scorpion Bay and the drive isn't as important... I would highly
suggest staying on the pavement and go all the way around which means only 30 dirt miles... You will get there sooner (perhaps), and probably no
flats!
If it were me, I would go in one dirt way and out another (to Mulege over the mountain)... Because Neal Johns tells me it it real pretty up there and
there's lots of cave art! See http://vivabaja.com/neal (after the El Aguaje part)
[Edited on 1-25-2006 by David K]
jimqpublic - 1-25-2006 at 02:01 PM
I just want to get to Laguna San Ignacio, not Scorpion. Of course I'll check in town about the road conditions too. Worst case is I pay someone with
a van to drive us out. Kuyima has $130 round trip posted on their web site but of course this could be shared.
bajajudy - 1-25-2006 at 02:08 PM
Its worth it to have someone else's vehicle get the sh*t beat out of it. Plus with the tours you probably will get a lunch if not Kuyima has good
food. We tried another place closer to town but it was real expensive. I wish I could remember the name
Whatever you decide once you see the whales and perhaps touch or even kiss one, you will not care about any of that other stuff. It is truly a
magical experience. One that I would put on the list of things to do before you die.
Have fun
DK there is absolutely no fun in bouncing down a washboard road for almost two hours. That is not adventure, its torture.
capt. mike - 1-25-2006 at 03:41 PM
i was there last week, the road is pure hell, even the Kuyima guides were b-tchin about it!
2.5 hours in the van over relentless wash board....i'd rather have an impacted wisdom removed by a rookie dental grad from U of Guadalahairy.....
David K - 1-25-2006 at 04:34 PM
It is only hell in the wrong vehicle, or lack of a couple modifications... Use Bilstein gas shocks (they don't fade), Lower tire pressure to 20 PSI,
Engage 4WD for better control, and get the Speed up to 50 MPH or more!
Now, let me be clear... I too hate graded (washboard/corrugated) roads... My Baja dirt road adventures are better done on simple parallel ruts (Jeep
trails) that get you close to the vegetation and wildlife... Much more natural than being on a bulldozed scar on the planet!
If going to just the Lagoon was all you were doing, then I didn't understand why the question ... as there is NO other road to choose from, like there
is for San Juanico... Are you not going to see the whales because of washboard road?
Capt. Mike... as these good people make their living from tourists for just a couple months a year (and profit greatly, I hope)... why in the world
don't they hire or get a grader and scrape the damn road for their clients at the start of the season??? It is obvious the government of Baja Sur
isn't providing the services with the tax pesos collected, they are too busy slamming American policies and the Governator!
The late owner of Puertecitos (Rafael Orozco) routenely graded the 52 mile road from San Felipe, as it was needed... Not the state government.
capt. mike - 1-26-2006 at 06:48 AM
good Q DK and i couldn't answer it with 100% certainty..............
, but
if you know baja, mexico, politics, their biz practices, nature of their work-life style ethic......the answer can be surmized with not too much
difficulty!
they don't care...and they don't have to!!
why is the San Ignacio town runway up on the hill full of weeds, tall BIG ones, rocks ditto size, crumbling asphalt etc and yet they still have
privates and mex comm'l air taxis go in all the time, AND the town/someone pays their yearly fed regis fee.................but no frickin
maintenance.
go figure.....
that road to the lagoon still sucks, i don't care what you drive or how, experienced baja drivers i talk to all agree it's one of the worst around the
peeeeninsula.
it's the mexican way i guess. people will put up with it to pet a whale, a once in a lifetime experience. ya haven't lived till you had baby whale
snot showered over you up close while touching near their blow hole!
David K - 1-26-2006 at 08:54 AM
Good answer Mike!
turtleandtoad - 1-26-2006 at 10:07 AM
If I want to pet a whale, I'll go to Malarrimo in Guerrero Negro. Why put up with 2-3 hours of bad road when you can do it in 20 minutes on a graded
road in someone elses vehicle.
jimqpublic - 1-26-2006 at 12:04 PM
Good questions David K and Turtle. Why? Why is that we enjoyed camping at Kuyimita more than just about any place we've camped before or since. Yes
we also camped in G.N. at Malarrimo and went whale watching with them. No comparison. Sometimes a bad road helps to keep a location unspoiled.
I know we could do a day trip from San Ignacio or Guerrero Negro. If we're risking destruction of our car we might do that. Otherwise though I
really want to camp at Laguna San Ignacio.
David K is right ....
cristobal - 1-26-2006 at 01:18 PM
Last year I got several rides in a week from SAN IGNACIO, where I stayed, to SAN ZACHARIAS (20 KM south of SI towards the LAGUNA ) and most each trip
was at 50+ MPH with lower tire pressure. The exception was the older farmer and his esposa who just poked along and took every side road.
I E-mailed one of my buddies in S IGNACIO yesterday hoping to get some current road conditions and he just got back to me. He spent more time asking
me if he could buy my QUAD that I leave on one of the ranchos than on the road conditions. 
He said the road was good. You have to remember that he lives there and has rarely seen it any other way besides dusty and rocky most of the year.
I think that means that there were NO construction projects on the way and the washboard ...??? that is here to stay... for a while.
bajarich - 1-28-2006 at 09:02 AM
The one time I drove to Laguna San Ignacio in my VW van, it took 3-1/2 hours at 10 mph. Any faster was shaking the van apart. When I returned, I
used the side roads that parallel the gravel road and it was smoother, although I managed to plow the front end into the dirt on a dip I hit too fast.
I had to replace my shocks after I returned home as there was nothing left of them.
If you have a rig that is set up to "float" over the washboard at 50 mph, that is one thing, but to do it in stock vehicle will only ensure extra wear
& tear. The physics don't change, the faster you go, the more force is applied to your suspension.
There is no guarantee on being able to pet the whales. We came close, but it was just out of reach. On the whalewatch trip we did out of Guerro
Negro, the guide never got us very close to the whales although we saw plenty of them.
OMAR.V - 2-14-2006 at 04:27 PM
Just go!
If you have passenger tires just don't drive too fast and lower the air but not lower than 20psi.
My Cherokee has never had a flat tire in Baja but I blew a tire in my wife's RAV4 at Laguna San Ignacio Road, 4 inch sidewall gash, but I was driving
at 55mph so I didn't even notice when it happened. Rocks at speed are too much for a passenger tire (lol).
It is 100% fine, is all worth it.
Bruce R Leech - 2-14-2006 at 04:37 PM
Oh yes the Pangueros stay back 100 meters
turtleandtoad - 2-14-2006 at 05:29 PM
Our panguero explained it this way. We are not allowed to approach the whale, but the whale can approach us because their rules are different.
BajaDanD - 2-14-2006 at 06:21 PM
The way I was told was that they can not have the motor in gear while a whale is that close and can not motor closer then 100 meters. they can however
stop the panga and wait for a whale to come to the boat.
One year we had a whale at the boat that would not let us leave. The Pangero would not put the motor in gear while the whale was close, every time it
circled away we would try to leave but it would come back to the boat it was getting late in the day and we were out an extra hour and hoping the
whale would get far enough away so we could go in before dark. We never aproached it we just parked in an area and it came to us. Every time we have
been there this has been the way they have done it. the boat moved into an area where there were whales around then we parked "so to speak" and whales
came to us. We have even had mothers introduce their calves to us and stayed back or right under us while we petted the calf. Like a proud Mama.
DAND