Just back from my annual “loop trip” from San Diego to Gonzaga to BOLA and back to San Diego (via the Pacific side). My camera was damaged on the way
down so I’m trying to get some photos from my amigos and will post them as soon as I get them.
This year I was traveling with 5 guys form Mexico City that I work with. This was their first time to Baja and they loved it (I think). None of them
had either camped or fished before, so it was all new stuff to them. We traveled in 2 vehicles: my Tacoma with Kayak and Windsurfer on top and a Jeep
Cherokee (rented in Tijuana from Advantage rental for a bit less than $500 for 6 days including liability insurance and taxes).
Day 1: San Diego to Gonzaga
Drove across the 8 to Mexicali and to San Felipe for lunch (Tacos de Pescado at Adrianas(?) On the north side of the Malecon). Service was painfully
slow, but the Tacos were delicious as always in San Felipe. No problems with the road other than the few spots of dirt sections that are reported on
the road conditions thread. Travel time from highway 8/805 intersection in San Diego to San Felipe was about 4.5 hours with no stops other than gas
and 1 military stop.
The road south to Gonzaga was pretty much as reported by others. Pavement goes about 5 miles south of Huerfenito.
Our plan was to stop at Punta Bufeo and rent a Panga to explore the Islands (San Luis and Poma) right off of Bufeo. So, we stopped at Bufeo and talked
to the guy who runs the “hotel” but he said the guy who can drive the Panga was not there so we decided to head into Gonzaga to find a Panga for rent.
The road after the pavement is still very bad so we made the right decision not to rent a sedan and try to make the run (Sedan rentals in Tijuana are
considerably less expensive than the Jeep). I did not see much activity on paving … in fact we saw no work going on at all. I’m betting 2 more years
before the road is paved into Gonzaga.
In Gonzaga we decided to camp at Rancho Grande for proximity to the restaurants and trying to find a Panga that would take us out to Isla San Luis …
which we did! For $130 we hired a “large size” Panga from one of the guys at the fishcamp on Bahia Willard (halfway between Alfonsinas and Fernandez).
The guys at Rancho Grande store put us in touch with the guys at the fishcamp.
The minute we arrived at Rancho Grande, I spotted 3 whale sharks 50 yards right in front of the campground!!! I immediately launched my Kayak and was
paddling around the whale sharks in a few minutes!!! INCREDIBLE!!!
Wind was calm when we arrived, but was up and down all night long … interrupting my beauty rest. We were the only ones camping at Rancho Grande.
Day 2: Exploring Isla San Luis and Poma
Whale sharks were still off the campground so the first stop for the panga driver was a swim with the sharks … I dove right in much to the shock of my
Mexican friends but in a matter of 10 minutes they were in the water joining the fun. GREAT STUFF!!
Then it was off to Isla san Luis for some exploring and snorkeling. The ride out was a good 45 minutes of Cortez “washboard”. Best snorkeling was off
of Poma (the protected calm side) … and I managed to spear a couple of tiggers which I made into ceviche that night. After a few hours at the islands
it was back to Gonzaga for a siesta and dinner at Alfonsinas. Antonio was only serving up Tacos but they were delicious as usual!!
In the middle of eating I was surprised when I heard someone say … “Preston?” It turned out to be Tim, a guy I had met at Alfonsinas 3 years ago!! Tim
joined us for some tacos and we shared some beers. Tim is an amazing guy when it comes to beer … he knows by heart all the date and location codes
from the beer bottles!! Tim has been coming to Baja for 25+ years so is a wealth of knowledge. We had enjoyed each other’s company but had not
communicated for 3 years!!! Talk about 2 ships passing in the night!! Tim was on the tail leg of his own loop trip. We spent an hour catching up and
then our group went back to the camp for our nightly bonfire and plenty of cerveca and tequila.
Moon was pretty full and a bright orange as it rose … quite spectacular!!!
Day 3: Gonzaga to BOLA
Trip out was relatively smooth. Stopped at Coco’s (he was not there ... still in Ensenada for the operation. My Mexican amigos were fascinated with
Coco’s corner … they could not understand what it was doing in the middle of nowhere.
Arrived in BOLA and decided to camp at Archelon (run by Antonio) … which was a nice upgrade from Rancho Grande. Antonio runs a first class camping
operation … but his prices are pretty high ($8 per person per night). Showers are “good” and toilets are spotless.
First order of business was to make arrangements for fishing. Antonio radioed to Rafael Cueves who showed up at Archelon after about an hour. After
about 30 minutes of negotiation, we reached an agreement for 2 boats for $400. I think we overpaid, but I knew Rafael was good and I wanted my Mexican
friends to have the best.
Ate dinner at the Taco place next to Las Hamacas restaurant which was great (slow service but great food).
BOLA weather was GREAT!! Not too hot at all and was calm for most of the day. Wind was up and down overnight again but not too bad. And of course the
moon and starts were great.
Day 4: Fishing
Rise and shine at 4:30 AM for fishing … my Mexican friends did not like that at all. Met up with Rafael’s son and Joel Prieto’s son at 5:30 off of
Gulliermo’s. First hour was making bait (30 in 1 hour with 2 rods). Then it was off to the southern tip of Smith Island …. NOTHING. After about 30
minutes we moved south to just off La Gringa … SUCCESS!!! In a couple of hours we boated about 30 X 10 pound yellows!!! My Mexican friends were having
a ball. I was fishing on the top, and my friends were fishing on the bottom … and everybody was catching. Temperature was great and no wind at all. We
finished off our bait and then headed to Smith for some snorkeling. Water was surprisingly cold …, I would say in the mid-60’s at best.
After about an hour of freezing our asses off it was back to shore for our pig-fest … or should I say, fish fest. Went to Las Hamacas and gave them
about 10 pounds of prime yellow tail fillets. First it was shashimi (remember to bring wasabi next time), them empanizado, mojo de ajo, veracruzana
and vapor. We needed help fro my dog to get 80% of the fish down … the rest was for morning burritos for my Mexican friends.
Siesta time then more star gazing and off to sleep after another fantastic day in Baja.
Day 5: BOLA to San Quintin
After a couple of hours exploring La Gringa (from land) we started our journey back. We decided not to be too aggressive and planned to stop at san
Quintin for the night. Decided to go upscale and stayed at my favorite spot, the Old Mill. $33 bucks for 2 right on the water .. quiet and great to
kick back. Oh ya, price includes a beer for all guests. Took a couple of more bags of fillets to the restaurant next door. Fixed them up beautifully
and had a couple of bottles of Valle de Guadalupe Chenin Blanc (200 pesos per bottle!!!) and we were quite satisfied.
Day 6: San Quintin to Tijuana to San Diego
Mosied back with my traditional stop in Puerto Neuvo for langosta at Puerto Nuevo Uno. Not the best price ($23 for 2 large halves) but the quality is
always good there. I think there were 3 military stops (including one as you get on the toll road), which was quite annoying. I don’t quite understand
their method of cursory search of 100% of the vehicles. Seems to me it would be better to profile and do a serious search on a smaller percentage
(with a few randoms thrown in). They never seem to look hard so hiding something would be quite easy … but who am I to tell the “experts” how to do
their business.
Concluding remarks:
Overall another great trip … no real problems and many great memories. I’ll post up the photos later this week (or beginning of next week).
At our final dinner I asked my amigos for their favorite part of the tip. Here is what they said:
Jesus: whale sharks
Santiago: Coco’s corner
Beto: fishing
Arturo: the stars and the moon
Paco: fishingDavid K - 6-22-2011 at 05:45 PM
Wonderful trip report Preston... Bummer about the camera!
Pictures
preston - 6-23-2011 at 11:09 AM
Isla San LuisDavid K - 6-23-2011 at 05:06 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by preston
Isla San Luis
Either the fog is really thick, or you need some assistance with posting photos... Let me know if I can help or email me the photos to post if need
be.BajaBlanca - 6-23-2011 at 06:10 PM
can't see pictures either .... and the trip report was excellent .... I bet those guys were totally impressed with the rugged beauty of their own
country. Viva Baja !preston - 6-24-2011 at 10:49 AM
Photos arew coming ... will be a photobucket link. I'm waiting for my amigos to upload them onto photobucket. First photos will be uploaded today ...
and all of them by early next week.
Yes, those guys were quite impressed by the rugged beauty and the remoteness of where we went.preston - 6-24-2011 at 12:37 PM
Sounds like a mighty fine trip Preston. Sorry we didn't get to meet up with you this time. Maybe next year. That's great that you got to experience
the whale sharks and catch some yellowtail. Sounds like your friends enjoyed it too.David K - 6-26-2011 at 10:23 AM
Thanks Preston! Looks like Coco's Corner is staying fresh with new decorations!
Boating into a volcano crater is pretty cool! Is this Isla San Luis (that National Geographic said could become active again?
The photo of you guys walking on San Luis is way cool... where the crater drops into the Cortez (it was over 800 pixels, however).
Thanks again!!
[Edited on 6-26-2011 by David K]wessongroup - 6-26-2011 at 10:28 AM
Thanks so much for sharing... really enjoyed your trip and thanks for all the photo's.. (glad your camera came through) mcfez - 6-27-2011 at 07:44 AM
Excellent report! star gazing in Bola is just fantastic. This area is one of my favorites. Old Mill is one of our pit stops too......always clean n
friendly.preston - 6-27-2011 at 09:37 AM
Thanks for all the kind words.
Isla San Luis was interesting. That area of the volcano that drops into the se is "infested" with birds. You can pretty much walk right up to them as
they are not easily intimidated (real nice nature experience). It would have been nice if we could have camped in Bufeo as the shot out to Isla San
Luis would have been just a few minutes (I'll try this next time).
Our Panga driver did not like the idea of landing on San Luis as it was tricky maneuvering onto the Island.
I'm still waiting for one more of my amigos to post his photos. I'll post when they are on the photobucket web site.
Great Trip!!
EdZeranski - 6-28-2011 at 07:32 AM
That was a great trip report, good pics too!! Thanks. Old Mill is one of our going home stops too, the same rooms you had. My friend Pete has been
staying there since the '50s when he and friends went for ducks as well as fish. After the 500 mile push from Loreto I'm ready for the 'guest beer'.
Again, thanks for the great post.
EdZ KG6UTS
OB, Borrego and Baja!
Final pictures
preston - 6-28-2011 at 09:46 AM
Again, thanks for all the nice comments. Here is the link to the final set of photos ... the best in my opinion:
