BajaNomad - Punta Banda Camping

Punta Banda Camping

briantroy - 7-6-2010 at 07:08 PM

Spent the 4th of July weekend at La Joya campground in Punta Banda. We stayed in the part across the street from the beach as the place was packed. It turned out great, however, as there wasn't anyone within 20 yards of our camp and the fireworks could barely be heard. The entire campground was well kept with good security and clean bathrooms. The $12 per night was well worth it.
We caught a cab into town the first night for $50 round-trip and had dinner at Manzanillas. The food was fantastic and perfect if you are looking for an intimate and romantic dinner. I highly recommend the fish in white wine and chocolate soufflé. The olive oil for bread dipping was out of this world. I wish I would have asked where they get it.
The next day was shopping and seeing the sights (along with the obligatory beer at Hussong's). Later, we managed to get a filet of sea bass, a dozen oysters, a big bag of crab claws, 1/2 kilo of sea scallops and 1/2 kilo of shrimp for about $25 at the fish market. After stopping for limes, cilantro, garlic, salsa and handmade tortillas we returned to camp and cooked up a feast. While fancy dinners are nice, cooking up fresh seafood in a Baja camp feeds both body and soul.
Yesterday we saw La Bufadora and had lunch at Dos Hermanos Carnitas on the south side of Ensenada. Excellent lunch although I'm surprised the place hasn't burned down yet as the coals from the chicken spit were dropping all over the floor. Now that is ambiance!
I’ve been a little apprehensive about camping Baja in recent years. I haven’t been doing much lately mostly because my "manly" friends are scared. My 5’2, 110 lb female friend was the first in a long time to volunteer and we didn’t have any problems at all. The only difference I really noticed was an increase in security check points and the presence of federal police. I really hope things get straightened out down there; not just because I enjoy it so much, but because the people living there suffer from the drug trade.

[Edited on 7-7-2010 by briantroy]

[Edited on 7-7-2010 by briantroy]

[Edited on 7-7-2010 by briantroy]

[Edited on 7-7-2010 by briantroy]

[Edited on 7-7-2010 by briantroy]

DENNIS - 7-6-2010 at 07:52 PM

Yeah....I drove through the grounds and the place was full. Almost all California plates. This is a good sign. It's the best US crowd we've seen since the bottom dropped out.

Brian...50 bucks for the cab is a good price....in case you wondered. Driving back on HWY 1 at night with half a load on is crazy dangerous.
Glad you had a good time....or, are you still here?

briantroy - 7-6-2010 at 08:04 PM

After driving over the mountains south of Ensenada at night a few years ago, I swore I would never drive that road again in the dark; it was that scary. I especially wouldn't drive Baja at night after drinking good wine! $50 seemed great as I was expecting $80. We also noted that it was almost all CA plates in the campground. We walked over to see some fireworks and found most everyone were Mex/Americans. The folks at the campground were really friendly too, I liked that place. We came back last night and had a 2 hour wait. I couldn't use the Sentri because my friend doesn't have a pass. Do you live in Punta Banda?

DENNIS - 7-6-2010 at 08:41 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by briantroy
Do you live in Punta Banda?

Yes....Just up the road a short distance from la Joya.
Two hours at the end of a holiday weekend would be considered tolerable.

briantroy - 7-7-2010 at 12:38 AM

We were so stuffed after our feast we saved the scallops. I just grilled them up and these are not scallops. They are tough and have black skin attached to them.

pepino - 7-7-2010 at 01:46 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by briantroy
We were so stuffed after our feast we saved the scallops. I just grilled them up and these are not scallops. They are tough and have black skin attached to them.

Not scallops? From that fish market? Who would have guessed.

DENNIS - 7-7-2010 at 07:31 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by pepino

Not scallops? From that fish market? Who would have guessed.

Yeah....that place invented the term, "Rip Off." It's also the home of the worst Fish Taco in Baja.
Another trick you have to watch for is, they sell fish by weight. You have to watch closely as the guy bags your selections. If you take your eyes off him, you'll get home with a big heavy piece of bone in the bag along with some fish. These anchors are right under the counter next to his hands.
The Scallops/Hacha that Brian ended up with probably weren't the product he saw in the bin.
Baja Ambience....part of the charm....blahblahblah. They wouldn't pull this nonsense on a local.

Taco de Baja - 7-7-2010 at 07:45 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by briantroy
We were so stuffed after our feast we saved the scallops. I just grilled them up and these are not scallops. They are tough and have black skin attached to them.

What you got were "mock scallops". Usually stingray wings that have been punched out with a round cookie cutter that is the approximate size of a scallop....Like a "mock fillet", they are nothing like the real thing. :barf:

briantroy - 7-7-2010 at 05:40 PM

Is there a better place to buy seafood in Ensenada? Everything else was great, I just don't know of anyplace else to buy fresh seafood.

Udo - 7-7-2010 at 06:08 PM

There is no better place to buy fresh seafood in Ensenada. Unless you go to the lobster restaurant (I think it's called "La Casa de Langosta") just before you enter the fish market parking lot (on the right side). They have huge coolers just as you enter the restaurant/fish market. Excellent food, along with "Muelle Tres" as you walk on the north side of the malecon.

bajamigo - 7-7-2010 at 06:45 PM

The best place to buy fish and shellfish in Ensenada is de Garo's. It's a shop located in the row of shops behind the Santo Tomas winery, at 6th and Miramar. The stuff they try to pawn off on you at the Fish Market is hideous.

Udo - 7-7-2010 at 07:36 PM

I'll give the fish market a try in a couple of weeks when I'm in Ensenada again, bajamigo.
However, I have no complaints from the embarcadero fish market. I know my seafood, and always pick my own. Plus, I have dealt with several of the mongerers there, and they know me well.

DENNIS - 7-7-2010 at 07:46 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Udo
I have dealt with several of the mongerers there, and they know me well.

Perhaps, for that reason, you'll never see the common truth.

Udo - 7-7-2010 at 08:11 PM

You know it, DENNIS!

irenemm - 7-7-2010 at 10:43 PM

Good to hear lots of CA. plates on the beach. That is good for the economy. it give us business people hope.
Let see how the summer goes.
Maybe by next year it will start to pick up a little.
Glad you had a great time.
Come back soon and stay longer.
Irene
Posada Don Diego

Marc - 7-11-2010 at 06:01 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Taco de Baja

Quote:

Originally posted by briantroy
We were so stuffed after our feast we saved the scallops. I just grilled them up and these are not scallops. They are tough and have black skin attached to them.

I got the "mock scallop" ripoff in Bajia Kino last year. Terrible stuff. I bought it at the wharf.

ensenada

desertcpl - 7-11-2010 at 07:18 PM

me and the wife went last year stayed at the San Nicolas,

went to the fish market on the warf,,, a young man came up to us and told us you P.. gringo go home, how special was that,,

I am 65 and have been going to Baja since early 50s,, and have never had disrespect like this. is this what is going on now,, my wife didnt like at all, and I didnt either

[Edited on 7-12-2010 by desertcpl]

[Edited on 7-12-2010 by desertcpl]

DENNIS - 7-11-2010 at 08:46 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by desertcpl
I am 65 and have been going to Baja since early 50s,, and have never had disrespect like this. is this what is going on now,, my wife didnt like at all, and I didnt either

The younger generation is becoming much more outspoken than the older, more traditional folks. The piece of crap had probably been deported.
Either that or he was a university student. Youthful activism is popular.
If all of Mexico would speak their mind, I'm sure we would be uncomfortable with what we heard.

Ken Cooke - 7-12-2010 at 10:38 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by desertcpl
me and the wife went last year stayed at the San Nicolas,

went to the fish market on the warf,,, a young man came up to us and told us you P.. gringo go home, how special was that,,

You have to have thick-skin when you travel. I have had people pick fights with me for being the only African-American for miles. There have been many uncomfortable moments for me, but there have also been many rewarding ones as well.

I felt that I fit in the most in Northern Colombia, and I felt most out-of-place in Finland. I was threatened by 4 armed men in Sinaloa, and I thought I would never leave Tubares, Sinaloa - a place not Policed due to Cartel violence.

Regardless, I still have the "Travel bug" and I refuse to stay at home.

David K - 7-13-2010 at 09:05 PM

Speaking of Punta Banda camping... How about any reports of the Agua Caliente campground in Punta Banda where you walk out on the wet sand flats at low tide until you feel warmth, dig a hole with the shovel you brought, and hot spring water fills up the hole...???

DENNIS - 7-14-2010 at 06:15 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by David K
Speaking of Punta Banda camping... How about any reports of the Agua Caliente campground in Punta Banda where you walk out on the wet sand flats at low tide until you feel warmth, dig a hole with the shovel you brought, and hot spring water fills up the hole...???

It's all still there, David. Across the road in the high side of La Joya, there a maintenance building with an open, two foot diameter well dug to a depth of about twenty feet, or whatever. You can drop a bucket into the well and bring up steaming hot water.
These are part of the owners original plans.....to develop some kind of Spa based on the thermal springs in the area.
Still on the list of, "Things to do."

David K - 7-14-2010 at 07:22 AM

Thanks Dennis... magma is nearby to keep your toes warm!

David K - 7-14-2010 at 08:06 AM

Hmmm, welll ??? okay, next subject!

Cyanide41 - 7-14-2010 at 08:38 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by briantroy
We came back last night and had a 2 hour wait. I couldn't use the Sentri because my friend doesn't have a pass.

The best way to do that is to drop them off and have them walk across the border then pick them up on the other side. This can be a little scary for Baja newbs. Usually if you explain the difference in wait time, they figure out that they can handle it.

TMW - 7-17-2010 at 07:49 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by DENNIS

Quote:

Originally posted by briantroy
Do you live in Punta Banda?

Yes....Just up the road a short distance from la Joya.
Two hours at the end of a holiday weekend would be considered tolerable.

Dennis do you know Rocky Marciano (the former heavy weight champs son)? He has a house in La Jolla camp. I haven't seen him in several years so I'm not sure he's still alive. My brother had a trailer next to his place.

DENNIS - 7-17-2010 at 07:51 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by TW
Dennis do you know Rocky Marciano (the former heavy weight champs son)? He has a house in La Jolla camp. I haven't seen him in several years so I'm not sure he's still alive. My brother had a trailer next to his place.

Not right off hand, TW. Let me research this and I'll get back here with what I find.

hawaiicruz - 7-18-2010 at 06:15 PM

Quote:

I remember the first time I was there 1971? I think I was 7. The hot springs were there, no organized campgrounds at all. They hadn't even started building the half built hotel yet. We went many times when I was growing up, what great memories I have of that place. That's where my whole love affair with the peninsula began

bajabound2005 - 7-19-2010 at 06:54 AM

Quote:

He's still here and still alive!

wornout - 7-19-2010 at 06:58 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Cyanide41

Quote:

Originally posted by briantroy
We came back last night and had a 2 hour wait. I couldn't use the Sentri because my friend doesn't have a pass.

My wife and pickup got their Sentri Pass before I did so we did something similar in Mexicali, but, because the walk over lines were long she would drive up to the Sentri Gate and left me off. I would step over the low concrete wall, hold up my passport and thumb and get in a car in the regular lane real close to the regular gate that saw what was going on. Worked the two times I needed it.

TMW - 7-19-2010 at 07:36 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by bajabound2005

He's still here and still alive!

Thanks, next time you see him tell him Tom and Bill Wimberly said hi.

DENNIS - 7-19-2010 at 10:59 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by TW

He's still here and still alive!

Thanks, next time you see him tell him Tom and Bill Wimberly said hi.

I've been asking a few people who, I thought, knew everybody in La Joya.
I guess they don't because all I got was, "The Thousand Yard Stare."

Glad whoever he is, is still on the right side of the dirt.

[once you're past 65, you can use that aphorism]

walking the beach in "Punta Banda"

tripledigitken - 7-19-2010 at 12:06 PM

Mostly locals when we were there in 2007.
A nice place to camp.

TMW - 7-19-2010 at 01:07 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by tripledigitken
Mostly locals when we were there in 2007.
A nice place to camp.

I've been over that hill many times during the 80s to dive in Kennedy Cove. The kennedy's are a Mexican family that ran lobster traps. The old man died (drown) early 80s sometime. It was winter and he had heavy clothes on in rough water and got knocked overboard.

beachbum1A - 7-19-2010 at 01:11 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by briantroy

Dennis do you know Rocky Marciano (the former heavy weight champs son)? He has a house in La Jolla camp. I haven't seen him in several years so I'm not sure he's still alive. My brother had a trailer next to his place.

Yes, Rocky is alive and well! Still enjoys an occasional beer and a fiesta. Sold his house in La Jolla of about 25 years and has moved to a rental unit about a block away. Comes down only part time now.

TMW - 7-21-2010 at 08:20 AM

Thanks Beachbum.