BajaNomad - Small Boat Ramps - Punta Banda and San Quintin

Small Boat Ramps - Punta Banda and San Quintin

SFandH - 8-5-2011 at 06:59 AM

Hi folks, long time lurker here.

I'm looking for information about boat ramps in the Punta Banda area. I have a 14 foot aluminum boat. I'd like to know about the condition of the ramps and the fees to use them.

I've read what I could find but I'd like to hear from folks that have used the ramps recently.

All info appreciated.

Thanks

[Edited on 8-6-2011 by SFandH]

DENNIS - 8-5-2011 at 07:07 AM

There's only one "ramp" in PB....at Rincon on the NE side of La Joya. Most here launch off the beach at La Joya.
I don't have a price, but it's probably not much as I've never heard any of these old coots grumble about it.
Another plus with La Joya is security for your vehicle which will be less than guaranteed at Rincon.

Welcome to BajaNomad, by the way.

fandango - 8-5-2011 at 08:31 AM

sfandh:
there is a boat ramp in good condition to fish the back bay. it is located down the agua caliente road, turn right down the dirt road just before the manned security building. this road goes along a white block wall.
nobody there, no security for your car and no safe access to the ocean.

DENNIS - 8-5-2011 at 08:34 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by fandango
sfandh:
there is a boat ramp in good condition to fish the back bay. it is located down the agua caliente road, turn right down the dirt road just before the manned security building. this road goes along a white block wall.
nobody there, no security for your car and no safe access to the ocean.

There are extreme tidal issues there. It's a common sight to see boats in the middle of the bay beached on a sand bar.

La Bufadora

bajaguy - 8-5-2011 at 08:39 AM

There is also a ramp of dubious quality in LA Bufadora.....

DENNIS - 8-5-2011 at 08:51 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by bajaguy
There is also a ramp of dubious quality in LA Bufadora.....

"Dubious Quality" is a five star rating for that nightmare. I'm glad that didn't work out. I tried to tell the tenants that were trying to build it that they were inviting a nightmare of jet-skis by giving them a way into the water. It was like talking to a sht-house wall.
Anyway, nature stepped in and put a stop to their nonsense.

getting this puppy to the water

mcfez - 8-5-2011 at 08:53 AM

My Gregory is a duplication of "The baja Catch". Yes....works well for hard to get places. The "roll wheels" on the back are very helpful for getting this puppy to the water when there is no ramps.

I thought I add this in case you were unaware of this type of launch set up. Good luck fishing.

1.jpg - 50kB

lizard lips - 8-5-2011 at 09:06 AM

When I went fishing with Fred Hoctor he used Rincon because it was close to his house but it was a pain in the burro to get the boat in and out. He had no problem parking his old beat up rusted out Checy Luv PU there. No one would have wanted that hunk.

[Edited on 8-5-2011 by lizard lips]

beachbum1A - 8-5-2011 at 09:17 AM

All the above are correct:
Rincon sucks for lots of reasons.
La Bufadora is a mass of kelp and subjected to big swells with a normal NW swell.
The back bay ramp can only be accessed with a high tide +/- a couple of hours.
Only way is to beach launch using the La Jolla beach. Cost is $50 pesos if you're not paying for camping.

SFandH - 8-5-2011 at 10:03 AM

Thanks for the replies. I think I'll do an exploratory day trip in my car before I hook the boat up to the RV and drag it down there. I'm used to the near perfect ramps in Mission and San Diego bays and I know no such things exist in Baja, except maybe at the more exclusive places connected with a hotel - I'm thinking the Coral Hotel in Ensenada.

Is the time of the month when there is the least tidal swing the best for the La Joya ramp?

mcfez, the stern wheels are a good idea, I'll get a pair for beach launchings, fatter the better I suppose.

I've also been reading about the San Quintin and Bahia Concepcion areas. Looks like good boating.

BTW, "fez" is an old standby scrabble word I often use.

DENNIS - 8-5-2011 at 10:09 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by SFandH
places connected with a hotel - I'm thinking the Coral Hotel in Ensenada.

Yeah....the Coral is great for boats too large to beach launch. Smaller ones as well.

beachbum1A - 8-5-2011 at 10:40 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by DENNIS

Quote:

Originally posted by SFandH
places connected with a hotel - I'm thinking the Coral Hotel in Ensenada.

Yeah....the Coral is great for boats too large to beach launch. Smaller ones as well.

Yea but last I heard it was $35 dlls to launch there though.

mcfez - 8-5-2011 at 10:43 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by SFandH
Thanks for the replies. I think I'll do an exploratory day trip in my car before I hook the boat up to the RV and drag it down there. I'm used to the near perfect ramps in Mission and San Diego bays and I know no such things exist in Baja, except maybe at the more exclusive places connected with a hotel - I'm thinking the Coral Hotel in Ensenada.

Is the time of the month when there is the least tidal swing the best for the La Joya ramp?

mcfez, the stern wheels are a good idea, I'll get a pair for beach launchings, fatter the better I suppose.

I've also been reading about the San Quintin and Bahia Concepcion areas. Looks like good boating.

BTW, "fez" is an old standby scrabble word I often use.

Free chicken dinner for the fez finder :-)
Hey...the wheels...get a decent set...and yes...wider is better. This systems has allowed me to access MANY MANY great spots. Worth the $200

J.P. - 8-5-2011 at 10:44 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by DENNIS

Quote:

Originally posted by SFandH
places connected with a hotel - I'm thinking the Coral Hotel in Ensenada.

Yeah....the Coral is great for boats too large to beach launch. Smaller ones as well.

the last time we lanched at the corral the fee was 35dollars.a bit pricey. I live in punta banda and have passed up the opertunity to buy some really nice boats simply because it is too much of a hassel to launch.

bajamigo - 8-5-2011 at 10:58 AM

Wait for the Tiger Woods facility to open (shouldn't be much later than the next millennium). After you plunk down a mere $13.5 million for the basic house and lot, you'll probably have free access to the "quick launch" ramp---it's built at about a 35° angle.

J.P. - 8-5-2011 at 11:08 AM

To me the most reasonable way to fish in Punta Banda is go out with Vonny . Roughly 130dls per day split 3ways His guides will put you on the fish. and i know from experince you canot drag a boat that cheap

SFandH - 8-6-2011 at 08:48 AM

Another newbie question.

Anybody used the ramp at the Old Mill in San Quintin? Punta Banda is not looking too good and the bay in San Quintin looks interesting from Google Earth. I've never stopped there, always drove by on my way south.

[Edited on 8-6-2011 by SFandH]

jbcoug - 8-6-2011 at 02:49 PM

McFez,
Could you provide any brand or model info on your wheel set up? Thanks

John

mcfez - 8-6-2011 at 04:27 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by SFandH
Another newbie question.

Anybody used the ramp at the Old Mill in San Quintin? Punta Banda is not looking too good and the bay in San Quintin looks interesting from Google Earth. I've never stopped there, always drove by on my way south.

[Edited on 8-6-2011 by SFandH]

Excellent spot! The ramp is excellent to launch from. The old Mill is a great place to stay at also...or across the street is a RV/Camp area...not real fancy but works well. In this same area...there's another excellent motel, restaurant, store. Good for staying for a prolong period of time.
The road coming off the highway is good graded dirt.....np for tows. Explore some of the nearby dirt roads...many wonderful sights...ranchos and such.

sq.jpg - 34kB

SFandH - 8-6-2011 at 04:37 PM

Thanks mcfezter, I'll check it out soon and take some photos.

I like the San Quintin area. Overnighted many times at Cielto Lindo. Time to check out other spots.

mcfez - 8-6-2011 at 04:45 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by jbcoug
McFez,
Could you provide any brand or model info on your wheel set up? Thanks

John

I have Easy Launch wheels that I attained from a BN here...fishabductor

http://www.ezlaunchwheels.com/
Looks like their web site is not maintained.

DO NOT BUY JUNK SUCH AS THIS:
http://www.allinflatables.com/shopping/custom/wheels.html

THESE MAY WORK WELL:
http://www.bajaenterprises.com/BoatWheels.html
My wheels are plastic.....light weight.

Here's how to launch you rig:
Back up as close as you can to the area you wish to enter.
Unload everything you can from the boat. Less weight, better.
If you have a issue lifting the bow.....use the gas storage can as a counter balance in the aft :-)

Practice AT HOME before hitting the Baja :-)

This advice was created from hours of mistakes that I made

mcfez - 8-6-2011 at 04:47 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by SFandH
Thanks mcfezter, I'll check it out soon and take some photos.

I like the San Quintin area. Overnighted many times at Cielto Lindo. Time to check out other spots.

YW

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g499404-d282231-Re...

bajadock - 8-6-2011 at 04:55 PM

Apologies, as this photo missed the ramp, approx 10 meters right.

Back to Punta Banda, the ramp on the south side of PB, directly south from the Rincon ramp is in good condition. Dirt road from carretera LaBuf over the hill to south side is better than it has been in a long time.

Zeppelin is the name of the camp/ramp. That is my #1 kayak spot. 50 peso donation suggested to the local "attendant" there. The sea urchin season is also here and you can usually get a sample of the catch mid-morning for another small donation.

[Edited on 8-7-2011 by bajadock]

SFandH - 8-7-2011 at 11:15 AM

Thanks to all for the info. I'm new to the baja boating scene and it looks like I'm going to need to learn all the beach launching tricks. I travel in a 2 wheel drive full size pickup with a camper on top so I stay away from loose sand.

I'm thinking about carrying 4 10 foot or so strips of carpet with me to use under the trailer wheels to get the boat in and out of the water. Has anybody tried that?

mcfez - 8-7-2011 at 07:15 PM

I wouldn't consider that. That camper and truck seems heavy and what not.....I would get the wheels (above) and end up without launch issues.

redhilltown - 8-8-2011 at 12:12 AM

mcfez mentions the "baja catch" book and it would be a great starting place for many of the areas mentioned here. might be dumb to ask but you say boating in your question but do you mean boating AND fishing? for a small boat in the san quintin area you can have a lot of fun but you won't (or you shouldn't) get out to the main/good fishing areas...maybe some halibut in the bays. puerto santo tomas just south of ensenada has two ramps...the old one that faces into the swells and you better know what you are doing and then the new one which is more on the bay side...the new one is perfectly nice as to launching but a very steep grade down to it but for a 14' a piece of cake...at least here you can get to some good rockfish and barracude/bonito in summer but there are some nasty breaks and currents if you head out too far and you really really (once again) better know what you are doing...in each case if you can go out with locals first and get a feel for it all the better!

SFandH - 8-9-2011 at 08:47 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by mcfez
I wouldn't consider that. That camper and truck seems heavy and what not.....I would get the wheels (above) and end up without launch issues.

Actually money is an issue with me. Especially with the POS boat - you know, a hole in the water that you continually throw money into. I try to minimize that. I wouldn't be driving the truck onto the sand, just pushing and pulling the trailer over the sand using the carpet under the wheels.

I'll try it and if need be, I'll buy some transom wheels.

Thanks for the reply,
El Cheapo

mcfez - 8-9-2011 at 09:03 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by SFandH

Quote:

Originally posted by mcfez
I wouldn't consider that. That camper and truck seems heavy and what not.....I would get the wheels (above) and end up without launch issues.

No no...we all have our spending limits!

Try this...and I have seen this in play on a beach up north:

Buy three round posts, lay on the ground spaced out evenly, roll your tin over those.

redhilltown post.....read that 3 or 4 times! VERY good advice.

SFandH - 8-9-2011 at 09:24 AM

Post idea would work, large diameter PVC perhaps. But the problem with the both the transom wheel and post methods is that I have to take it off the trailer first.

If I can figure out how to upload a photo, here is a picture of the boat, not mine but taken from the original sales brochure. I recently bought the boat. It's a 14' 1964 Starcraft Dart. Max HP is 45 and mine has a 1967 65 HP Merc on it.

No need to warn me about overpowered boats, I've been around boats since I was a kid and this is my third one. I won't be going out in the open ocean with this little guy, just in bays and estuaries.

Anybody want to trade a smaller motor for a classic Merc?

Anyway, it's a heavy rig, monster motor and thick aluminum, and I want to launch and recover it using the trailer. And I really don't want to bolt onto the transom some plastic ballon tires. It would ruin the coolness factor. Also I'm not a fisherman, just a joyrider and swimmer/diver.

I might try the bowfishing idea though.

64Dart_cropped.jpg - 32kB