All those signs on Highway One announcing the Escalera made us curious about what was actually going on, so Steve and I stopped off at Santa
Rosalillita not long ago.
There's an impressive paved road into town, at least where it leaves the highway--a whopping 39+ feet wide. A mile or two later it turns into a
better-than-average Baja side road, with concrete supports in place for two small bridges.
Neat little town--church small but well done, lots of pickups and cars, homes modest in size but substantial, quite a few with solar panels.
But the marina? As someone who used to report on places like this for Pacific Work Boat and Sea magazines, I'd rate it dinky. Not much maneuvering
space for those thousands of pleasure boats that have been envisioned, and no sign of any heavy-duty earth-moving equipment waiting to spring into
action in the future.
Steve chatted with some women doing their laundry at the local store. They said the marina was placed smack in the middle of the bay instead of to one
side of it or the other, and this has brought some unwelcome changes. Sand is piling up on one side of it and being eroded away on the other. Local
people can't walk down the beach anymore.
The ladies also said that no one in Santa Rosalillita has been given any info as to what's going on. Steve asked if when completed the marina would
provide jobs. No way--"We people here do not have the qualifications to work for Turismo." (They volunteered this view, incidentally, Steve didn't
lead them into it a la Larry King.)
One thing we noticed on the way back--there's no Stop sign where the road into town joins the main highway. At night, an unwary driver could find
himself crossing onto the main road, ready to be sideswiped, with no warning at all.
Overall, I'd say the Escalera Nautica isn't proceeding as advertised. Does anybody mind?
LeraBob H - 7-6-2004 at 02:45 PM
Lera,
It was exactly as you describe about two years ago when I drove out there. No changes, no progress, wasted efforts that messed up the beach there. I
hear that the surfing there is not the same as it used to be either. An environmental mess if you ask me.Dave - 7-6-2004 at 02:58 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by Bob H
Lera,
I hear that the surfing there is not the same as it used to be either.
God forbid we should screw it up for the surfers. Besides the huge economic impact they have in Baja who else would drink all the Corona?
Dude?
[Edited on 7-6-2004 by Dave]tim40 - 7-6-2004 at 03:18 PM
IF they could complete it in a fashion that was beneficial to the locals and respectful of what Baja has to offer the world, we would all be for it I
imagine. With that conveyed, I too spent the time some period back to see for myself, and it does not appear that much/any progress has been made.
The location of the proprosed marina, is a mess at best!
Santa Rosalillita
Mike Humfreville - 7-7-2004 at 09:12 PM
Mary Ann and I spent a few days there in in 1974. We were looking for a place to live for the summer just after we were married. We were familiar
with the peninsula and thought that the =west coast might offer a coolness during summer and inquired at Santa Rosalillita bout housing. The village
then was maybe 20 huts and what might be considered to be a small tienda, an arching wide bay to the north and west with a totally sandy beach, pangas
strewn equidistant on the gently rising sand like pearls on a breastlain necklace, crude bluffs to the east. The folks were warm anf friendly and
told us we could use this partially constructed cinderblock two-room home of one of the locals that were gone for a number of months. We wanted to
stay but the morning westerlies, noiw known as June Gloom in So Cal, were heavy that year. Mary Ann and I settled for that summer in Bahia de Los
Angeles. I have wondered, across the years, what might have happened if the fog had burned off earlier for us at Santa Rosalillita. We passed by
there several times as late as the mid '70's but never since. David K - 7-7-2004 at 09:22 PM
Those 'hundreds' of Escalera Nautica xx kms. to go signs are all GONE save one overhead one I spotted. They should be showing up outside the gringo
homes at Puertecitos any day now! WHAT A JOKE (Gracias a Dios)!pappy - 7-14-2004 at 09:28 AM
the road does not go all the way into town.the dirt portion is actually worse than the previous washboard road.the marina is indeed tiny and
definitely put in the wrong place.the whole nautica thing is a joke-a bunch of false numbers(of boaters) and demented dreaming by those who are
responsible for it....
With all these projects
jrbaja - 7-14-2004 at 10:04 AM
like the Escalera and Nopolo and a bunch of other money making schemes going the direction they are going, perhaps there is hope for the preservation
of Baja after all.
Ma nature has a funny way of protecting herself!
It'll just mean more unfinished structures and projects in a few places. Not really unusual for Baja.
Makes for some good pictures.wilderone - 7-14-2004 at 02:28 PM
"the whole nautica thing is a joke-a bunch of false numbers(of boaters) and demented dreaming by those who are responsible for it...."
Toldjaso.
Pray for hurricanes.
What about the whale?
dbrooks - 7-14-2004 at 03:08 PM
I was there in January after traveling off-road from San Agustin (now THAT is a rough road). Still had a good point break at SR - but you had to
paddle WAY outside.
I think that the legendary "mile long break" is still possible with the right swell, but we saw none of it the two days we were there.
There was a decaying whale north of town on the beach - stunk to high heaven. Is it still there? whodat54321 - 7-14-2004 at 07:49 PM
ugh! just the thought of rotting whale makes me shudder.
but on to the other subject of this thread. it seems to me that over the years going back to my mother's day (pre 1950's) development in Baja has
followed a skewed and strange path. It is not supply/demand driven, but anticipated demand driven. No builder in their right mind here in the states
would ever build like that and hope to stay in business very long. What are these people thinking? I know there are going to be a lot of baby boomer
retirees soon, but I just don't think they are all (or even a small fraction of just socal) going to pile into the waiting arms of the development
scene there. I'm kind of disapointed that President Fox, a good capitalist with Coca Cola, would screw up something like this. Just makes me
wonder.
Whodat
Skeet/Loreto - 7-15-2004 at 05:58 AM
Many, many People of all types have been trying to change Mexico for many years with out much Success.
Skeet/Loreto
"In God I Trust'wilderone - 7-15-2004 at 08:53 AM
"Change" and "success" are oxymarooonic in this context. Mexico (Baja California included) have been changed BIG TIME in the past 10 years, but the
successful aspect of that change is dubious. It may be a success in some respect for those enterprising few who initiated the change, but Baja cannot
endure such change indefinitely without reversing the "success" factor. With ruined beaches, depletion of species, influx of people and their
resultant pollution, it cannot be viewed as success overall. Another case in point, in the '70's I traveled to Yucatan, as far south as Tulum. There
was nothing but pristine beaches along that 80-mile stretch. Now, that coast is dotted with development and military boats regularly patrol the
beaches for drug runners. Changed - irreparably, but not success in my book. Mexico has some of the prettiest places on earth, but they are intent
on ruining every single one - primarily by selling out foreigners. The one bright spot in the aforementioned development in Quintana Roo state, is
the biosphere preserve and the land acquired by the Nature Conservancy, within which no development will occur. If you do your part, individually,
you can make a difference - and that would be success.bajalera - 7-15-2004 at 04:05 PM
Who in the world ever got the idea that there are hundreds of boating people who want to come down here, tie up at a pier, deal with a port captain
and all this can entail--then check in at a 5-star hotel and play golf?
As for having your yacht hoisted onto a truck and hauled across the peninsula, just think of all the possibilities here . . .
Lera4baja - 7-16-2004 at 06:55 AM
4baja - 7-16-2004 at 07:07 AM
anybody that has spent any real time there knows that this place can be tough to camp in. from fog in the summer turning to strong north west winds in
the late afternoon to off shore winds in the winter and cold. this is not a place to lounge around in your boat all day and collect rays or casualy
sail around the bay it can be a dangerous bay. i have seen a few sail boats come in with broken mast and shatterd rudders looking for help and spare
gas to get home. this was for sure a wrong location to build a marina and will only cause future problems with the fisherman there.
all classic cases of what happens when
capt. mike - 7-16-2004 at 07:32 AM
government takes the helm.......free enterprise and the market? no....controls and waste? yes....big time.
