san felipe, shell island, gonzaga bay, punta final, cocos corner November 2013 (tons of pics)

Happy new year Nomads! Im relatively new here on the forums. I was a lurker for a long time until the site let me actually sign up. This site has been very resourceful for finding info before going on trips into baja. so now its my turn to pay it forward to someone else.



My wife and I got turned on to san felipe only a year ago when we followed along with some friends down to the south campos for a weekend of camping on the beach for thanksgiving 2012. Since then, we've made several trips back camping and relaxing on the beaches of san felipe during the last year. Thanksgiving 2013 was coming up and a big group of us were headed down to san felipe again for thanksgiving on the beach, but this time my wife and I took some time on our own to venture further south and not make any plans but to just go with the flow and camp where we like.



We were following the weather forecasts closely for san felipe and surrounding areas as it was looking nasty. cool winds and rain were expected. Saturday november 23rd 2013, the wife, dog and I woke up, checked the weather report, saw that there was a slight chance of showers, but said F it, we've camped through thunderstorms, lets go! So, we jumped in the jeep and left san diego for mexicali en route to san felipe. Here we are just after crossing the border at mexicali.



driving the long stretch of highway 5 to san felipe.



almost there...





here we are out front of Mariscos La Morena on the malecon in san felipe. this is my dog Sierra and my wife Caroline. The weather looks pretty nasty at this point. guess these were the chance of showers the weather was warning us about?





so after a beer and a few tacos, it was getting late. we still were headed further south to km 26 to get to Shell Island. it was roughly 330pm when we left san felipe and got to shell island 30 minutes later only to find it was pretty high tide still. David K has posted a lot of pics of shell islands entrance and how it can be disrupted by the high tide. well, fortunately for us, it was only a few inches of water so I decided we'd go right through it. no issues here with the jeep. quadradrive isnt so crappy in mud afterall(thats not to say I've never been stuck in san felipe, however... not airing down and trying to play in the sand is a rookie mistake, but I made it). After crossing the mud and pulling into the sand, I air the tires down an dkeep going on shell beach looking for a nice place to camp. Nobody was around. It was so peaceful. but it was starting to rain! We set up the tent with a tarp underneath and the EZup over the top just to ensure we'd be alright given any thundershower situation. Fortunately, nothing fell from the sky other than the few drops that tickeld our heads while setting up the tent. We lucked out. We woke up the next morning and it was beautiful.



















about noon we deicde to pack up and go further south. we wanted to go check out gonzaga and see where to call it a night. we packed the jeep back up and headed out.

heres the road from shell island out to the 5





at the exit/entrance I stopped to air the tires back up. I aired down to 12 psi and got around the island like I was driving on asphault. The only bad part about that is airing back up... took about 5 minutes a wheel with this crappy Harbor Freight air pump I got for 13 bucks. I dont recommend it.





then we were off. back on the 5 highway. we stopped here and there to take a few photos.















eventually we made it to gonzaga after a few more stops and then of course, the military checkpoint. the guys at the military check point are always so nice. every time they always asked the name of my dog and how old is she etc etc and seemed to all love dogs. after we got back into the states my wife and I though... "you think the reason they ask questions and pay attention to the dog is because they want to make sure shes actually ours and not just some stray dog?"



we got to alphonsinas and had an awesome lunch.





while sitting there eating out tacos, we saw a whale shark. its hard to tell whats going on in this pic but you can see a black tip, thats the fin of the whale shark. it was relatively small for a whale shark. its still early in the season at this point, so it must have been a baby.







after hanging for a bit we figured it was time to move on and find some place to camp for the night. we first visited the palapas at rancho grande. but we determined that wasnt for us. next we moved to campo beluga and found the same thing, not for us. we kept drving down the dirt road and took a left at punta final. as we drove up to the entrance, the sign read 12.00 dls/night. but nobody was there. we waited for someone to show but nobody would. siesta? we drove in and it was super windy. people were camped along the main strip of beach which faces north and getting blown away by the wind. as youre on the beach at punta final and look to the right, theres a little peninsula that goes out to a rocky point. I decided Im going to see if the jeep will make it up that and camp there as the rocks would block the wind from the north. sure enough, we arrived.













we enjoyed a peaceful night here at punta final. I felt bad for all of the other campers getting blown away on the beach while I was sitting in peace with a nice fire and cold pacifico.



we woke up to a beautiful sunrise and decided to pack up and go check out cocos corner as Ive never been and heard so much of this guy on the forums.









we drove for a while on this dirt road to get to cocos. miles seem so quick when you're looking at them on a map. but when you're actually driving the dirt roads and feeling all the bumps, it seems much much longer. after what felt like an eternity, we reached cocos corner. his place really is in the middle of nowhere. which is great, beacuse I really needed a beer... even at 9am.









coco was even more awesome that I anticipated. I could have sat there for much much longer and just talked with the guy. he has so many stories that are unbelieveable. we got there about 9 and ended up staying about two hours just hanging out with him and drinking beers. I came unprepared tho; everybody leaves something of theirs behind to add as a decorative piece to his shack. We didnt bring anything to leave behind. then I realized that I had played metallicas master of puppets cd at least three times through and we should leave that as our staple. so we signed it and coco had us put it up on his post that goes through his table to the roof.







of course, coco took my wifes footprint





and Sierras too





one last pic before we took off.





after leaving cocos place, I felt humbled. talking with Coco kind of changed me. I felt really accomplished having visited him and gotten to know him.



As we were about to leave cocos place, we took a look at the weather and tossed a few ideas up in the air. We were either going to head to calamajue and see about camping there for the night, or head to bahia de los angeles and find somewhere to camp down there, or head back to shell island because we know its incredible. welp, we decided to head back to shell island. the weather was pushing the clouds south west so we knew we would be heading for nicer weather by going back up north.









back to alphonsinas for another good meal and beer.











we stopped in at puertecitos and it was low tide. we let the dog out and she found the birds and chased them all away.







I stepped in the little market nearby puertecitos and struck up a conversation with a local guy about fishing and he asked me if I needed bait. I ended up buying a fish as bait and a cocacola for two bucks! what a deal. I put the fish in a bag and headed back to shell island. At this point, the weather was incredible.

here we are back at shell island. (it really is my favorite camping spot ive found in baja so far)





getting the last of the days sun before it drops over the mountains to the west.







a long day of chasing birds made the dog tired





first thing int he morning, I cut up the fish and cast out the reel. first thing I caught..... a sting ray.... great...





and another sting ray....





then I sat and sat..... and drank. thats the fun of fishing, isnt it?





ahh there we go. something is on the line. lets hope its not another sting ray..





oh hey thats not a sting ray. awesome. even the dog gets excited.





its a corbina! roughly 14-16 inches long. I cut it up and the wife cooked it with butter in a pan. ...I need to work on my fileting skills.





then I caught another one. tho I let my wife reel this one in. shes never had the opportunity to reel in a fish. this one was a wee bit smaller so I let it go.





aaand some more sting ray.... were done here.











we cruised back into town to get some gas and a meal before the rest of our friends were getting there.





in town we wanted to try the coconuts. my wife and I love coconut water. we also buy the whole coconuts from sprouts. they are from thailand. so i was curious to taste the difference between the two different coconuts. in short, the thailand coconuts are way better. I was expecting more from these. oh well.





our last morning on shell island before going a little further south to meet with our friends coming down.







here we are at a house we rented from wednesday till monday for the remainder of the trip. our friends were coming down this day for the rest of thanksgiving weekend.





this is at km36ish where the house is we rented.



i tried some fishing from this spot and it just wasnt as good as shell island.





the house we rented also allowed for the rental of this daihatsu mini truck. ...this thing was epic.







after a few days of chilling out at the house and doing nothing but drinking beers and eating, it was time to cruise back to san diego. we hit the border at mexicali on a monday at 1030 and it took us an hour and fifteen minutes.





no issues whatsoever. also no issues bringing the dog around mexico at all. I know some are skeptical about the stipulations of bringing your dog into mexico. all you need is a certificate of health and proof of rabies vaccinations and you're good to go.



all in all, incredible trip. was great having no set plan and going wherever we wanted. meeting coco was amazing. hes such an interesting guy. I'd do a trip down there just to get to his place again any day. I have to say, shell island is still my favorite camping spot I've found in baja. its absolutely beautiful. cant wait to get back!

Thanks

Loved your pics and story and the 3 of you are soooo cute! Thanks

Thank you . Just an awesome report. Someday...

Another look at a great trip report from some of my favorite places in Baja... Now I am hungry for some Corbina !!!