BajaNomad

Puerto Santo Tomas

smlslikfish - 7-13-2009 at 10:28 AM

Anybody been there recently? What are my chances of a room and a panga if I just showed up this weekend? thanx to any & all

DENNIS - 7-13-2009 at 10:52 AM

La Bocana? I didn't know they had rooms out there.

DanO - 7-13-2009 at 10:53 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by smlslikfish
Anybody been there recently? What are my chances of a room and a panga if I just showed up this weekend? thanx to any & all


If you're thinking about Sam's place at the port for a room you'd have to check with him (011-52-646-1549415, realbaja@starband.net). I can't imagine they'd be fully booked on a non-holiday weekend, seeing as how the fourth of July weekend down there was the quietest I've ever seen it. Cabins would definitely be available at La Bocana. As far as the pangas go, it looked like business is picking up a little, but again, I'd be surprised if you couldn't get a ride from somebody out there on a non-holiday weekend.

[Edited on 7-13-2009 by DanO]

DENNIS - 7-13-2009 at 10:55 AM

Oh....I guess they do have rooms. I have to get out more often.

BajaGringo - 7-13-2009 at 10:59 AM

I say a couple of us should get together to make a day trip over there and decide which one is really Jack's old house, once and for all. Then we can make an accurate trip report of the area, lodgings and all.

I'll pack the ice chest...

;D

DanO - 7-13-2009 at 11:33 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by BajaGringo
I say a couple of us should get together to make a day trip over there and decide which one is really Jack's old house, once and for all. Then we can make an accurate trip report of the area, lodgings and all.

I'll pack the ice chest...

;D


It is one of the last houses on the north end of the Gomez property. It is smaller than most of the others and is fairly close to the road as you drive north to the port. There's a large bougainvillea on the south side of the house.

Bajahowodd - 7-13-2009 at 11:36 AM

Love to join in, but my feet are sore from driving.

DENNIS - 7-13-2009 at 11:37 AM

Now, See? Here we go again. It's been a lot of years since I've been there but, my recollection of the location was somewhere between the store and the north end. I think there was a fishing co-op operating at the end at the time. They had a shiney, new warehouse or whatever it was.

Like I said, a long time ago.

Bajahowodd - 7-13-2009 at 11:46 AM

Some time back, I posted a link in another thread. It was an article with photos of the house. Just can't seem to find it under the search tool right now. Maybe BajaGringo can find it.

DanO - 7-13-2009 at 11:53 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by DENNIS
Now, See? Here we go again. It's been a lot of years since I've been there but, my recollection of the location was somewhere between the store and the north end. I think there was a fishing co-op operating at the end at the time. They had a shiney, new warehouse or whatever it was.

Like I said, a long time ago.


All of the houses built by the Gomez's are between the store and the north end, but there are now well over a dozen, with another nearing completion on the bluff overlooking the beach at the south end. And the fishing co-op does operate out of the port at the end of the road. Nothing shiny there, but they did complete a new, more sheltered boat ramp last year.

Paulina - 7-13-2009 at 12:02 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by DENNIS
Now, See? Here we go again. It's been a lot of years since I've been there but, my recollection of the location was somewhere between the store and the north end. I think there was a fishing co-op operating at the end at the time. They had a shiney, new warehouse or whatever it was.

Like I said, a long time ago.


There you go. The last time I was out there was to check out Jack Smith's house. I was given directions from Fred Hoctor with the advice to stay away from the fishing co-op. They were "shady characters" as he said. At the time there was something being built at the very north end. I didn't know what it was because it was only the grand entrance as typical of the developments in Baja. Fred said not to engage the guys in conversation, being alone I took his advice.

I think it's time to check it out again.

P<*)))>{

BajaGringo - 7-13-2009 at 12:54 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Paulina

I think it's time to check it out again.

P<*)))>{


So let's put a date to it and agree where we all meet...

DENNIS - 7-13-2009 at 01:53 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by DanO
Quote:
Originally posted by DENNIS
somewhere between the store and the north end.


All of the houses built by the Gomez's are between the store and the north end



More specifically, by my muddled recollection, in the middle of that zone.

DanO - 7-13-2009 at 02:11 PM

Actually, that's a fairly accurate recollection. The house is roughly halfway from the store at the rivermouth to the port.

Now, without cheating, name the capitols of all 15 U.S. states that either border Canada or one of the Great Lakes.

Bajahowodd - 7-13-2009 at 02:13 PM

http://www.ploung.com/jack's_house.htm

Can't get the whole link hot.

[Edited on 7-13-2009 by Bajahowodd]

tripledigitken - 7-13-2009 at 02:17 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by DanO
Actually, that's a fairly accurate recollection. The house is roughly halfway from the store at the rivermouth to the port.

Now, without cheating, name the capitols of all 15 U.S. states that either border Canada or one of the Great Lakes.


You're not one of those Nomad retired school teachers I keep hearing about are you?:spingrin:

Ken

Bajamatic - 7-13-2009 at 02:28 PM

Whats going on at Pta Riff? Last time I was out there, a guard was stopping anyone from going over the hill. Anyone been out there recently?

DanO - 7-13-2009 at 03:02 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by tripledigitken
Quote:
Originally posted by DanO
Actually, that's a fairly accurate recollection. The house is roughly halfway from the store at the rivermouth to the port.

Now, without cheating, name the capitols of all 15 U.S. states that either border Canada or one of the Great Lakes.


You're not one of those Nomad retired school teachers I keep hearing about are you?:spingrin:

Ken


Nah. But my mom was.

[Edited on 7-13-2009 by DanO]

DanO - 7-13-2009 at 03:39 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Bajamatic
Whats going on at Pta Riff? Last time I was out there, a guard was stopping anyone from going over the hill. Anyone been out there recently?


That "security guard" was installed at the bottom of the hill behind the port for awhile by the owner of the land on the other side of the ridge from the port. Apparently he had plans to develop over there (one of many plans for that spot destined to fail -- can you say "howling wind, cold, fog and no source of fresh water?") and was irritated that the locals and others were going over and camping, fishing, squatting, whatever. So he chained off that crappy road going up to the ridge and put a trailer on it with a drunk and his wife, a couple of chickens and a litter of baja puppies to stand guard. (There may also have been a dispute between the owner of the Pta Riff property and Sam of Puerto Sto Tomas over who actually owns what and where.) For awhile the drunk was charging a toll to drop the chain and let folks by (I go up to the ridge for cell phone reception periodically), but late last year he and his entourage disappeared and the locals promptly opened an access point in the owner's barbed wire fence about fifteen feet to the west of the chain. As of two weeks ago, it was wide open.

On the other hand, development of one kind or another has overtaken both Bahia Soledad and the coastal mesa south of La Bocana. A lawyer now owns Soledad and has built a whole network of roads and pads out there, and there are a few folks who are building or have finished houses. What they're going to do for any substantial source of water is a mystery to me, but they're definitely serious.

On the south side of the rivermouth at La Bocana, nearly the entire coastal mesa, from what used to be the airstrip down to the quarry at Punta China, is now under cultivation (artichokes are the latest crop). The fields run right down to the road that skirts the tops of the cliffs, and although no one bars your way out there, I haven't seen anyone camping on those bluffs lately anywhere south of the established camping spot at the southern base of the dunes.

redhilltown - 7-14-2009 at 12:24 AM

I go to Sam's place often and while I email ahead he has told me he always has someone watching the place and you can simply show up and they will get have a casa for you...worth a trip if you've never been out there. Not just rooms but nice houses for very reasonable rates. For rustic panga fishing go out with Captain Marcos but don't expect any conversations in English! He really knows his stuff...just a beat up old panga and sight navigation for his good spots.

I've never had any problems with the fishermen there and often have bought uni and lobsters from them...I guess there are some issues between them and Sam but it shouldn't get in the way of you having fun. The boat ramp is new but has a head shaking wicked wicked turn at the bottom of a very steep hill.

Here is a blurb a few years old from mexfish.com that mentions the Gomez house

http://mexfish.com/psto/psto.htm

DENNIS - 7-14-2009 at 07:37 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by redhilltown
Here is a blurb a few years old from mexfish.com that mentions the Gomez house

http://mexfish.com/psto/psto.htm



Good link for info. Thanks.

BAJACAT - 7-15-2009 at 12:56 PM

I was there a while back , but i lost most of the pictures, I only have two, they do have Cabanas in La Bocana and also casitas in Puerto Santo Tomas.
LA BUCANA

motoged - 7-16-2009 at 03:38 PM

Google sez: http://www.puertosantotomas.com/accommodationsb.htm [url=http://www.puertosantotomas.com/accommodationsb.htm]

[Edited on 7-16-2009 by motoged]

BajaWarrior - 7-16-2009 at 06:49 PM

Here is a home I built at La Bocana in '93 and sold a few years later to a friend who still owns it.

r.LaBocana.jpg - 49kB

BajaWarrior - 7-16-2009 at 06:52 PM

View of Punta Santo Tomas from Patio footings during building stage...

r.ViewOfPuntaSantoTomas.jpg - 47kB