BajaNomad - open container law

open container law

mannings - 5-31-2014 at 02:31 PM

I've read to be careful drinking 'in public' around the Malecon as you could be arrested.. I've read that you are free to "drink your Pacificos on the beach"...

Just curious what's cool and what isn't... and I'm not talking about being drunK and disorderly... just having a beer.

woody with a view - 5-31-2014 at 02:45 PM

i think it is similar to going shirtless unless you're on the beach. disrespectful. it all depends on where you are and who is around, i guess!!

bajaguy - 5-31-2014 at 02:45 PM

Keep your cold beers in an ice chest, then when you open one, pour it into a insulated "Big Gulp" cup..........

That way the beer is cool and so are you

:lol:

[Edited on 5-31-2014 by bajaguy]

mannings - 5-31-2014 at 02:47 PM

We must have met.

bajaguy - 5-31-2014 at 02:48 PM

Been to St George a few times, I know the drill

Quote:

Originally posted by mannings
We must have met.

mannings - 5-31-2014 at 02:49 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by woody with a view
i think it is similar to going shirtless unless you're on the beach. disrespectful. it all depends on where you are and who is around, i guess!!

Good analogy.

I suppose being down in south campos I should be fine as long as I'm not acting the fool..

Osprey - 5-31-2014 at 03:00 PM

Manning, a little anecdote from my Utah days.

Mezcal and the Mormons

I wasn’t born this way – crumpled up, old and stove up. There was a whole era when I made the time to play all around The Great Basin, mostly chasing the wily trucha, trout, to you Spanish challenged out there. South central Utah was close, empty of people and loaded with lakes and springs and seeps and trout filled streams and rivers so it was my weekend runaway place for over three decades.

I sometimes had pickups, a couple of jeeps and I mostly dry camped near the water and the fish. I’d make a nice fire, put on some suitable tunes and break out some Gusano Rojo mezcal – the unique, almost from-the-still smoky taste was just rough enough around the edges to suit my try anything once disposition.

All my camping and fishing gear, food, booze and possibles would be thrown in the vehicle so I could be self-contained no matter how rustic the spot I happened to pick. Sometimes I would call the appropriate Utah Fish and Game office to find out where they were biting and make a short list of destinations to choose from. At other times I would seek out map sites that might hold natives, that is, places where the fish had never been planted; the jeep got me to a few that were a challenge and I was happiest there because I would have the place and the fishing to myself.

Somebody told me an old high school chum had moved to southern Utah and had just opened a bar in the little town of Hurricane so after I took a nice limit of rainbows from a place called Otter Creek, I found the place on my way back home, stopped to reacquaint myself with the bar owner. There he was behind the bar – he had quit his job running the presses at a Las Vegas newspaper, moved to Utah, opened two bars.

Something about Utah and booze: I worked for some nice Mormon people in Las Vegas but I never tried to figure out the story with booze and bars where I loved to fish so much. I did know the State Liquor Stores were not well stocked nor were the prices on a par with sources in other states. There were all kinds of licenses for beer and booze depending on the circumstances. In Jerry’s case, both his bars could sell beer but not booze. You could bring your own booze and drink it any way you liked – they would make a buck or two on the set ups.

So after Jerry and I sorted that out I went out to the jeep and brought in a half bottle of the good stuff, worm and all and spent some pleasant time getting reacquainted. Even then I knew better than to go too far with the mezcal when I still had a long drive home. Jerry said many of his customers left their booze in his care in the big walkin cooler where he would protect and care for it until their next visit, help to keep the peace by way of open container laws. So I found a couple of my business cards and rubber bands, marked the bottle as mine. I gave him another bottle I had in the jeep for his other bar in Navajo and applauded his business style.

After that little lesson I made it a habit of depositing a bottle in a few more places of the same business style in small towns near my favorite fishing holes. Never really acquired the taste for beer but I can tell you with certainty that I have enjoyed the alternative libations – the new routine gave me perfect excuses to stop and get to know some new folks (not just the nightcrawler mongers) in quaint and friendly little villages all over Color Country. A few times I found it advisable to sleep in the jeep, on the grass behind the bar, in the storeroom but that usually led to the discovery of great western breakfasts to be had in whistlestop coffee shops from Moab to P******ah. Looking back, I can’t put a good figure on the added value of knowing for sure, fish biting or not, what I could expect, by way of sweet, warm Mexican whiskey comfort on my way back home.

danaeb - 5-31-2014 at 03:40 PM

It's not like you're landing on Mars. Be aware and be respectful.

TMW - 5-31-2014 at 06:18 PM

The only time I've seen an open container was at SCORE contingency the day before a race in Ensenada. People could walk around with a Tecate. However a year or two ago I stopped at a wine booth and bought a bottle and they openned it and poured me a glass. They said I could leave to walk around the other booths and see the sights etc. The bottle was in a plastic bag with the top showing it had been openned. A couple of cops come up and said I couldn't walk around with an open wine bottle. They made me go back to the wine booth and drink it all. All this time there were people walking around with open beer cans. Go figure.

Hook - 5-31-2014 at 06:57 PM

In my experience, open container enforcement in the south campos is just the opposite; if you aint walking around with one, people look at you funny.

Seriously, there is no enforcement that I have ever seen. But I dont live there; just have visited several times.

JZ - 6-1-2014 at 02:25 AM

In San Carlos, Sonora you can have an open beer anywhere.

Any small beach town in Baja has been the same. It's only when you are in a city, that it matters in my experience.

It's weird, because in most of the world outside of North America you can have a beer in public, no problem.

Pescador - 6-1-2014 at 06:04 AM

As with all things in Baja Mexico, North and South, you need to watch and see what is going on. If you ask the locals, they will fill you in on what goes on. I have seen things vary greatly from town to town and sometimes even within the same town. Semana Santa comes to mind where anything goes kind of mentality takes over, but at other times things are much more conservative.
I have seen that things which were pretty commonplace in Mulege were really frowned on in La Bocana.

Marinero - 6-1-2014 at 06:07 AM

In the late 50's, Avila Beach, CA was a sleepy little town where the local cops would let the kids drink beer sitting on the beach wall. Most were well behaved and the beach was clean. Times change....

watizname - 6-1-2014 at 09:03 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Marinero
In the late 50's, Avila Beach, CA was a sleepy little town where the local cops would let the kids drink beer sitting on the beach wall. Most were well behaved and the beach was clean. Times change....

Wow. It just struck me how long ago the 50's were. The 60's I can relate to but the 50's, seem like moren a hunnert years ago.

David K - 6-1-2014 at 09:13 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Hook
In my experience, open container enforcement in the south campos is just the opposite; if you aint walking around with one, people look at you funny.

Seriously, there is no enforcement that I have ever seen. But I dont live there; just have visited several times.

This!

TMW - 6-1-2014 at 11:19 AM

Not to take away from the Baja thread. But every Feb. in Kernville near Lake Isabella they have Whiskey Pete Days. For 3 or 4 days they have a rodeo, gun fights, parades etc. People dress up in old west clothes. They have booths to sell stuff. Anyway you can walk around with an open beer can if you buy it in a store like a 7-11. If you buy a beer in a bar you can't leave the bar with it open. I'm not sure on the reason why. Maybe because the bars only sell bottle beer.

durrelllrobert - 6-1-2014 at 11:47 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by watizname

Quote:

Wow. It just struck me how long ago the 50's were. The 60's I can relate to but the 50's, seem like moren a hunnert years ago.

Remember that Bolsa Chica State beach just North of Huntington Beach in Orange County was "Tin Can" beach back in the 50s? There was a good reason for that:

woody with a view - 6-1-2014 at 11:59 AM

and whatever you do, don't drink and drive!

you might hit a bump and spill!!!

Marinero - 6-1-2014 at 12:26 PM

I remember the beach well. From time to time there would be "beach sweeps" with everyone available cleaning and tossing junk in a truck.

durrelllrobert - 6-1-2014 at 03:03 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Marinero
I remember the beach well. From time to time there would be "beach sweeps" with everyone available cleaning and tossing junk in a truck.

And the only reason that there were so many TIN Beer Cans on the beach is that Aluminum Cans weren't invented yet :lol:

Bubba - 6-1-2014 at 04:03 PM

Quote:

You're still allowed to have an open container on the beach in Oceano but not right next door in Pismo. Not sure about Avila now.

gnukid - 6-1-2014 at 08:07 PM

in baja, often, you can't walk in the downtown with a beer can or bottle but you can have a cup like vaso loco unless there is an event then you can bottles or cans. Typically bottles are not to go from bars nor should bring bottles to a bar since the bottle can break, but bottles or cans can be on the beach since its sand. Each city is unique.

[Edited on 6-2-2014 by gnukid]

24baja - 6-2-2014 at 02:26 PM

I thouht that beer at the beach was mandatory!

durrelllrobert - 6-2-2014 at 02:30 PM

And on the seventh day God gave us New Orleans where open containers 24/7 are almost mandatory. :bounce:

msteve1014 - 6-2-2014 at 02:40 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by durrelllrobert
And on the seventh day God gave us New Orleans where open containers 24/7 are almost mandatory. :bounce:

Not glass bottles. Bad for the drunks in the gutters.

sancho - 6-2-2014 at 03:42 PM

I'll go with the showing respect angle. A few yrs. back
there were no drinking signs posted on the San Felipe Malecon, don't know if they are still there. Never saw any
heavy handed enforcement. I enjoy a colorful warm Sat.
nite on the SF Malecon, hope that never goes away

bkbend - 6-3-2014 at 08:24 AM

I was on a Mexican beach several years ago and an officer with a badge and gun (good people to pay attention to) say it was technically illegal to have an open container on the beach and since it was Sunday, with lots of families about, he liked to enforce the law on that day. He did, however, give us the option to pour it into another container and continue drinking as long as it wasn't from the beer bottle and didn't 'look' like we were drinking. I think it just follows the "be respectful" theme. Keep a supply of red solo cups handy, they're available everywhere.

BajaRat - 6-3-2014 at 02:09 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by bkbend
I was on a Mexican beach several years ago and an officer with a badge and gun (good people to pay attention to) say it was technically illegal to have an open container on the beach and since it was Sunday, with lots of families about, he liked to enforce the law on that day. He did, however, give us the option to pour it into another container and continue drinking as long as it wasn't from the beer bottle and didn't 'look' like we were drinking. I think it just follows the "be respectful" theme. Keep a supply of red solo cups handy, they're available everywhere.

Bingo. It also depends who you are and if your intoxicated. Just down the beach or if your staying at a beachfront location prob not going to get bothered.
As for the Main beach best to be discreet. :cool:

PS Mannings, love the new avatar. Have fun down there. Most of those beach communities south of SF are private property, cold ones are mandatory.

[Edited on 6-3-2014 by BajaRat]

mannings - 6-3-2014 at 11:33 PM

Now that ive been here a few days... I'm good. Everything in south campos is allowed except maybe being a complete tool.

Nothing to worry about at all.

David K - 6-4-2014 at 08:15 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by mannings
Now that ive been here a few days... I'm good. Everything in south campos is allowed except maybe being a complete tool.

Nothing to worry about at all.

Thank you for reporting in on your vacation... I hope to keep hearing about it (since I am up here working)! Have fun!! Oh, and doing 'nothing' is one of the best activities south of San Felipe!