BajaNomad - San Felipe sea of Cortez coastal road

San Felipe sea of Cortez coastal road

bjthiesson - 2-18-2016 at 03:43 AM

Can anyone suggest some good places to beach camp along this route? We like swimming and fishing from shore. How are the roads, fuel , groceries, and scenery.

ehall - 2-18-2016 at 07:09 AM

If you get as far south as gonzaga bay they have everything you are asking about.

chickendoug - 2-18-2016 at 07:34 AM

Get a Palapa at Rancho Grande in Gonzaga Bay or go to Papa Fernandez and camp on the Seaof Cortez side by the sand dunes.

David K - 2-18-2016 at 07:45 AM

Bring all you anticipate for camping, including block ice. San Felipe (125 miles south of border) is where you need to top you gas tank as the next two Pemex stations south are not consistently open.

From north to south, possible camping choices on the beach:
Rancho (Laguna) Percebu (Km. 20/21)
Nuevo Mazatlan (Km. 32)
Playa Destiny
Puertecitos (Km. 74/75) some groceries, Pemex station
Punta Bufeo (Km. 135/136)
Papa Fernandez' (Km. 146) Gonzaga Bay
Rancho Grande (Km. 150) some groceries, Pemex station
Campo Beluga

There are more camps and a few undeveloped places you may camp.

Many photos can be viewed in my trip pages at http://vivabaja.com

This one is about 15 miles south of Puertecitos...

(2008, before pavement)

bjthiesson - 2-20-2016 at 11:34 AM

Thanks for the info.....which of these locations would have the best combination of swimming and shore fishing?

David K - 2-20-2016 at 12:01 PM

If there is any wind, the sea can get rough so bays or lagoons offer the best of both swimming and shore fishings (Percebu's lagoon, Bahía Santa María (Km. 31), Puertecitos cove, Gonzaga Bay.
The water is pretty cold until late May, then can get as warm as a bath through to the Fall.

redhilltown - 2-21-2016 at 12:31 AM

As mentioned, it really sounds like Gonzaga Bay is your best bet. As David K says, wind can be a real PITA during the spring along this route but the water should warm up well before late May. Shore fishing is best well south of Puertecitos...Corvina, Spotted Bay Bass, Triggers and maybe Sierra if the water has warmed up enough. Bring some squid, small hooks, and some chrome krocs and you should have no trouble getting dinner. Don't discount the Bay Bass, they are delicious. (and for sure don't discount the Triggers...bring a sharp knife.)

bjthiesson - 2-21-2016 at 02:14 AM

Once again....thanks for your replies.....we'll probably stop by there sometime in April....I know what you mean about the triggers...good to eat, hard to clean, and then there are the teeth....

wilderone - 2-21-2016 at 07:56 AM

"Triggers...bring a sharp knife."
And steel leaders. And stuff for ceviche

David K - 2-21-2016 at 09:46 AM

With bait on sandy beaches, you should be able to catch corbina and croakers, both excellent eating.

mcfez - 2-21-2016 at 09:58 PM

Gonzaga Bay will meet all your expectations. Great sandy beaches and great fishing indeed. Fishing and swimming is great at Punta Finale where snorkeling is outstanding "up and over the hill". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4r4O4CwuuI Frame sec 19 shows the rear lagoon area. PF is down the road from Gonzaga Bay...which is where you want to gas up and stop by the store (phone there too)

WestyWanderer - 2-25-2016 at 12:42 AM

As DK mentioned the best place for reliable gas is San Felipe, it's another 50 miles to Puertocitos where the gas is questionable at best. If you're planning on staying in more than one place I would recommend staying at Clara's place for a night or two, it's the camping area just south of the gas station in Puertocitos (on the left through the white wall). Fairly protected from the wind and campers are allowed to use the hot springs (they are tidal hot springs and work best as the tide retreats) which are just a short 5 minute walk from the camping area on the bay. Just past the hot springs there is a boat ramp, I'm told the fishing isn't bad off the point around the boat ramp. Just about a mile south of the turn off to Puertocitos is a small grocery store on the left, it's newer and is good for the basics (ice, some veggies, condiments) but NO BEER.

Past this (about 45 minute drive) Alfonsinas IMO is definitely a good choice with a beautiful sandy beach and good restaurant. The gas station here is much more reliable than in Puertocitos and Rancho Grande, the market across the highway from the gas station, is excellent, everything from vegetables to good filtered drinking water.

WestyWanderer - 2-25-2016 at 12:45 AM

Punts Final is beautiful, can be very windy though, just FYI

redhilltown - 2-25-2016 at 01:11 AM

April in this part of the world...many a "Easy Up" canopy has been wind ripped to shreds and left to rot in the Baja sun. But have done it many times and would do it again in a heartbeat. By Mexico standards getting gas in Gonzaga Bay is pretty reliable...more reliable than catching Corvina (if you catch Corbina you should play the lottery!). It may be cheating, but culinary shears for cleaning Triggers works great! Cut into them with a sharp knife but then use the shears for the perimeter.

Embrace the wind...I'll take a windy Cortez over a non windy anywhere...anytime.

David K - 2-25-2016 at 09:27 AM

Quote: Originally posted by redhilltown

April in this part of the world...many a "Easy Up" canopy has been wind ripped to shreds and left to rot in the Baja sun. But have done it many times and would do it again in a heartbeat. By Mexico standards getting gas in Gonzaga Bay is pretty reliable...more reliable than catching Corvina (if you catch Corbina you should play the lottery!). It may be cheating, but culinary shears for cleaning Triggers works great! Cut into them with a sharp knife but then use the shears for the perimeter.

Embrace the wind...I'll take a windy Cortez over a non windy anywhere...anytime.

What my dad considered about the finest eating surf fish and what motivated him to live in Del Mar on the beach and then go camping south of San Felipe, was in pursuit of the California Corbina... They live on both sides of Baja, all along the Pacific and then primarily in the north end of the gulf on sand bottom beaches. They take bait such as sand crabs, grunion, squid, and mussels.

Corbina (b= bottom mouth) vs. Corvina (normal mouth)...

Quote: Originally posted by David K

Quote:

Originally posted by RnR

Quote:

Originally posted by David K

The problem naturally is the V and B in Spanish sound nearly identicle... Thus corBina and corVina get confused!

Fishabductor: ... yellowfin croaker
Juan Arce: ... boca dulce

So now I'm really confused....

Obviously some of these names are in Spanish and some are in Engish. Is corBina and corVina the spanish or the english name? Seeing as I live near the East Cape, what are the local spanish names? I tried asking a local (Mexican) friend about the fish and I think that in my anglicized Spanish that the V and B were sounding exactly the same..... Hmmm.

More fish... A Yellowfin Croaker (and the related Spotfin Croaker) are different fish than the Corbina... But, all three are bottom feeders and have the downward facing mouth. Croakers can make a croaking or pig grunting sound out of the water, have the yelow fins or a dark spot. Corbinas do not... I never heard the term Boca Dulce applied to the Yellowfin Croaker until Shari began posting on Nomad and told us that was what Juan called it, when a Yellowfin Croaker photo was posted here.

From Ray Cannon's 'How to Fish the Pacific Coast':

Spotfin Croaker: Roncandor stearnsi
Yellowfin Croaker: Umbrina roncandor
California Corbina: Menticirrbus undulatus
(The Corbina is the "MOST highly esteemed fish by surf anglers south of Pt. Conception".)

The 'Corvina' is not in the book, except as another name used for the Corbina.. as is 'California Whiting' and 'Surf Fish'.

In Tom Miller's 'Angler's Guide to Baja California', he shows the three varieties that Ray Cannon shows (above), plus three varieties of Corvina:

Orangemouth Corvina: Cynoscion xanthulus
Gulf Corvina: Cynoscion othonopterus
Shortfin Corvina: Cynoscion parvipinnis

(all three are rated as 'excellent eating')

The Totuava (Cynoscion macdonaldi) and White Seabass (Cynoscian nobilis and also called Corvina Blanca) are both related to the Corvina...

Here, it is easier for me to share the page from Tom Miller's book that covers the Corvinas, Croakers and Corbina:

Martyman - 2-26-2016 at 11:37 AM

Once you are south of Campo La Costilla the fishing improves and there are some nice "hidden" campsites. Just gotta look for 'em.