BajaNomad

lodging catavina area

paul r - 2-1-2013 at 11:50 AM

hi gang, after whaling it up in gn with shari, the return trip thru catavina is a question... the mision de catavina is sold out for the night we need, so my question is, what are my options for lodging in the area? I'm aware of the motel south of the mision de catavina, I forget the name, (we went out to check it 2-3 years ago and it seemed ?), any other options in the area?... we will drive to baja cactus the following day... thanks

skippermike - 2-1-2013 at 05:44 PM

My wife and I were in the same fix.
We had left Ensenada too late to make GN at a reasonable hour.
Mision Motel was full. Didn't really want to push on at night.
We checked out the little place across the street and a few hundred yards north.
Rooms 6 or 7 are least horrible. Incredible disinfectant smell - I think to hide the septic tank smell we caught in the morning. Bathroom pretty bad as well.
Bed wasn't too bad. Wished we had our sleeping bags. The lower sheet was really a tablecloth!
We just got up early and went to breakfast at Mision - who told us then that they had a race team "no show" the night before - but who had paid.
Good luck!!

paul r - 2-1-2013 at 05:50 PM

thanks skippermike, does anybody know the name of the motel just beyond the wash going south? thanks

Baja Bucko - 2-1-2013 at 06:19 PM

R. Santa Ynez which may or may not be open depending on if Oscar decides to spend the nite there...he owns the Cabanas in Catavina....more like rustic dorm room and can be very cold but if you are used to camping......

DianaT - 2-1-2013 at 06:26 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by paul r
thanks skippermike, does anybody know the name of the motel just beyond the wash going south? thanks


Not sure to what you are referring? Starting at the north end of Cataviña there is Linda's --- the pink hotel. It has had it ups and downs; in our book from ok to downright disgusting.

A bit further south and on the other side of the street is the Mision Cataviña Hotel --- nice one that you say is booked.

Further south is the turn off the Rancho Santa Ynez --- IMHO, a really nice place to camp. The rooms they have are rather bunkhouse style with a curtain to close of the bathroom. Very rustic.

Does anyone know of another hotel option in Cataviña?

If we knew the Mision Hotel was booked, we would spend the night in Guerrero Negro and drive to San Quintin the next day --- lots of nice options there. Or if you leave GN late, there are some options in El Rosario.

[Edited on 2-2-2013 by DianaT]

shari - 2-1-2013 at 08:15 PM

We stay at the little hotelito in Sta.Rosalillita...it's only about 10 minutes off the highway on a nicely paved road...the beds are a bit small but very comfy. It's a good option to Catavinia and on a beach! Hotel Maru, 615-159-1642 or 615-157-1263 or 646-162-1413 let me know if you want me to call them and make a reservation for you...it's not fancy but has good hot showers & is very clean and quiet.

woody with a view - 2-1-2013 at 08:33 PM

and maybe Maru will make you some vittles if you ask in advance.....

Bajaboy - 2-1-2013 at 08:41 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by shari
We stay at the little hotelito in Sta.Rosalillita...it's only about 10 minutes off the highway on a nicely paved road...the beds are a bit small but very comfy. It's a good option to Catavinia and on a beach! Hotel Maru, 615-159-1642 or 615-157-1263 or 646-162-1413 let me know if you want me to call them and make a reservation for you...it's not fancy but has good hot showers & is very clean and quiet.


I'm sure this is a great stopover but not an alternative to Catavina. The two are not very close at all.

BajaDanD - 2-1-2013 at 08:45 PM

We drive into Bay of LA sometimes when we are on our way north and know we cant make San Quintin before dark. Dont really like staying in Catavina but thats just us. A little out of the way but what a view to wake up to. Ill have to try Hotel Maru in Sta.Rosalillita sometime.

David K - 2-1-2013 at 08:47 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Bajaboy
Quote:
Originally posted by shari
We stay at the little hotelito in Sta.Rosalillita...it's only about 10 minutes off the highway on a nicely paved road...the beds are a bit small but very comfy. It's a good option to Catavinia and on a beach! Hotel Maru, 615-159-1642 or 615-157-1263 or 646-162-1413 let me know if you want me to call them and make a reservation for you...it's not fancy but has good hot showers & is very clean and quiet.


I'm sure this is a great stopover but not an alternative to Catavina. The two are not very close at all.


True... Santa Rosalillita is about 100 miles drive south from Cataviña and El Rosario is 76 miles north. A third motel option is Bahia de los Angeles, also at 100 miles away... but even further off Hwy. 1 than Santa Rosalillita.

An air mattress, sleeping bags and a ground tarp should be in any Baja vehicle, just in case there is no room at the inn!

Ateo - 2-1-2013 at 08:57 PM

Sounds like someone needs to open a new hotel in Catavina!

RnR - 2-2-2013 at 07:19 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Ateo
Sounds like someone needs to open a new hotel in Catavina!


x2

And a gas station ....

Bob and Susan - 2-2-2013 at 07:25 AM

it won't happen soon...it's called "return on investment"

and for the gas station i only use 1/2 a tank from guerrero negro to el rosario...so there is no REAL need to support a gas unit in the middle of nowhere

Marc - 2-2-2013 at 07:48 AM

There was a gas station at Cataviña years ago. I used to top off there. And a tire shop.
I think the half built structure there now across from the hotel was going to be another hotel??

shari - 2-2-2013 at 09:10 AM

when we get a late start north from Asuncion or GN...like after a day of whale watching, we just cant make it to El Rosario before dark so Rosalillita is a good option for that...beats CAtavina and just is a bit further to drive the next day...no big.

David K - 2-2-2013 at 10:16 AM

KurtG in the Santa Rosalilita (sic) thread mentioned a motel in Nuevo Rosarito, 10 miles south of the Santa Rosalillita junction, on Mex. 1.

Marc, there was indeed a Pemex station and parador (rest facility) at Cataviña, across from the (then) El Presidente Hotel. Opened in 1974... The Parador had a sunken room with sofas, a snack bar, bathrooms, showers...

Paradors were built to handle the new travelers on the new highway, as local services were not in place or existent. Cataviña was an abandoned ranch in 1973, nothing else there... but next to Rancho San Luis and Santa Ynez (which did offfer food, bunk rooms, gasoline).

Located at San Quintin, Cataviña, Parador Punta Prieta (L.A. Bay junction), Paralelo 28º, and San Ignacio, with a minor one at San Agustin (Pemex and trailer park). Over the years, towns grew, private enterprise offered the services needed, and the government run operations failed.

RnR - 2-2-2013 at 02:47 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Bob and Susan
it won't happen soon...it's called "return on investment"

and for the gas station i only use 1/2 a tank from guerrero negro to el rosario...so there is no REAL need to support a gas unit in the middle of nowhere


With a strong north headwind blowing, I can't make it from Jesus Maria to El Rosario. My full size pickup/trailer combo with a STRONG headwind gets something like 6 mpg. Couple that with a 32 usable gallon tank and you're out of gas before El Rosario.

Sometimes I make it and some times I don't. I carry two extra 5 gallon jugs and have had to use one of them on two or three occasions. Once, right between Mama Espinoza's and the Pemex. Yup, came up short by about 150 ft !!!

Bajatiger - 2-4-2013 at 12:02 PM

Question -- Baja Bucko says that the Rancho Santa Inez may or may not be open... we are planning to camp there on our way to GN (we've camped there before) -- is that true that it is reliably open?
TIA!

Bajatiger - 2-4-2013 at 12:04 PM

I should say, true that it's NOT reliably open.
And how I laugh at the use of the word reliable in Baja.

David K - 2-4-2013 at 12:07 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Bajatiger
Question -- Baja Bucko says that the Rancho Santa Inez may or may not be open... we are planning to camp there on our way to GN (we've camped there before) -- is that true that it is reliably open?
TIA!


Any business in Baja, include gas stations, may be closed... so have a back up. Now, if Oscar and Matilda are not at the ranch or serving food there, I don't see any reason you still can't camp in the big field in front of the ranch??? The Cataviña trailer park or the hotel property may be options... or to have some peace and quiet, take a dirt road away from the highway and sleep among the boojum trees!

Bajatiger - 2-4-2013 at 12:17 PM

Thanks for the suggestions... We are a four-car/RV caravan, so we thought it easier to go to the Rancho, rather than camp in the desert, which is what we usually do.

David K - 2-4-2013 at 12:35 PM

10-4 that... well the Santa Ynez camp area is huge, so if it doesn't matter if the cantina is open, or there is no chain at the entrance, ??? Otherwise the original government parador trailer park in Cataviña may fit the bill??? It is on the right, before the hotel.

cliffh - 7-31-2013 at 09:59 AM

We have been staying at Santa Ynez on our way up and down the Baja since the road opened, if you like to hike head up the wash. Used to be a gringo can't remember his name, rode around with Dog on a Quad that lived behind ranch house. Have not seen him in several years. Is he still living there? Thanks Cliff

cocoscabana - 7-31-2013 at 10:23 AM

Cliffh...yes he is still there. Saw him in april on the way home from BCS.

On the quad

John M - 7-31-2013 at 01:26 PM

Ralph is the fellow on the quad - he lives, when he is there, up the wash a couple of hundred yards "above" Rancho Ynez - off the road on the way to Mission Santa Maria.

JohnM

DianaT - 7-31-2013 at 02:30 PM

A few years back, we had barely set up camp and Ralph showed up. Enjoyed the conversation.

Linda's Cabanas, the pink motel, really has potential. We have stayed there a few times and sometimes it was OK, and others, well there were real problems.

I know it is a matter of return on investment, but during certain times of the year, the Mission Cataviña is full, especially if there is a bus tour headed up or down Baja. So it seems that a place like Linda's or even Linda's could make money if it was fixed up and reliable. Cataviña could sure use an alternative.

Bajahowodd - 7-31-2013 at 05:01 PM

The ONLY reason the Mision Catavina even exists is because it was part of a government- private partnership when Mex 1 was paved, to provide gas and lodging at doable intervals.

Gas has disappeared from Catavina (with the exception of the barrel guys) because the area is off the grid, and it made no commercial sense to burn fuel to pump fuel.

The hotel also must burn fuel just to keep the lights on. I suspect that unless and until they wire this area, there will not be another hotel in Catavina.