BajaNomad - driving on Baja beaches legal or illegal?

Harold I think wrong way to ask. In a country that there is no law. I'm sure people that live here know what I'm talking about. I'm areas where there are not many people no problem. In areas with many people best stay away for safety. Sorry but fact of life.

I know what people do and why

but I want to find out what the law is

wrong is wrong 800.jpg - 78kB

Bajaboy - 9-17-2019 at 02:12 PM

Since you live in La Paz, maybe go to the police and ask them.

Tioloco - 9-17-2019 at 02:12 PM

Some of the crowded areas have the most vehicular traffic on the beach. On the Sonoran side, the police and military patrol the beach in vehicles alongside all of the vacationers and locals.

bajatrailrider - 9-17-2019 at 02:28 PM

Harold with great respect. If you go to police station to ask that question. You may ask them why there is no law when crime is committed. Or why 1 percent go to jail.

larryC - 9-17-2019 at 02:30 PM

In BoLA, which is in a national park, the park guards claim that it is illegal to ride or drive on the beach. So far all they do is ask you to get your vehicle off the beach.

wiltonh - 9-17-2019 at 03:08 PM

We had a meeting with the police in La Ventana. They discussed driving on the beach and say that it is illegal for anyone except emergency vehicles.

There are signs at most beach access points which discuss the turtle issue. The police have posted pictures of them helping put up the signs on the Neighbor Hood Watch Group but it is unclear whether they paid for them or if it was some environmentalist group.

Alm - 9-17-2019 at 03:32 PM

In BoLA, where beach is the shortest way from downtown to the first few camps in the North, or between the camps - this is exactly what locals do, in ATV. Both gringo locals and Mexicans. Didn't see anybody stopping them, but maybe does happen occasionally. Or when one is doing it for fun, rather than out of necessity, getting from A to B.

bajatrailrider - 9-17-2019 at 03:33 PM

Seems norm to me down south In places where houses on Beach. Don't ride there but past Ensenada where I ride no houses. For that matter the road is on the Beach. All fisherman and the trucks that haul the small rocks to so cal. Use beach road. Even the nat park here the road on beach is the park. All drive it. So life goes on I ride and enjoy.

marv sherrill - 9-17-2019 at 04:09 PM

Sorry, Alm, but in Bola there are new signs indicating that driving on the beach is illegal due to turtle nesting, had 2 just a little ways down the beach from my house., And there is a municipal code number that states that it is against the law. I do not have the number here, but it was posted on a large sign just as you enter town, but we lost the sign in hurricane Odile. North of town most homeowners will stop you and point out the illegality. New fliers are also in town indicating the same. Jet skies are also illegal due to the whale sharks.

bajatrailrider - 9-17-2019 at 04:40 PM

Speaking of signs last week new one's. To tell you not to have camp fire on beach. On my beach run this week all signs gone. So I checked old camp fire on beach that is where wood signs went. To make camp fire Mexico is Mexico

SFandH - 9-17-2019 at 04:54 PM

Since the Federal Zone is 20 meters back from the mean high tide, it includes much of the beach and I think the rules would be administered by PROFEPA. That's probably where to look for the pertinent regulations.

JZ - 9-17-2019 at 05:44 PM

Unless we get arrested it is 100% legal.

Nikno - 9-17-2019 at 06:00 PM

You'll pull your hair out trying to figure out what is legal and illegal in Mexico. There are rarely clear answers when it comes to laws. Sometimes it's allowed, sometimes not. Depends on so many factors.

Clearly, it is illegal to drive on the brach in some places and clearly marked as such. But in many places, especially rural Baja, driving on beaches is a way of life for locals and visitors. I have never heard of a national or state law that outlaws driving on beaches, so as Tioloco points out, it is presumed not illegal. But of course, if someone wants to hassle you over it, they will find a way.

wiltonh - 9-17-2019 at 06:05 PM

Here is a link to a picture that the La Ventana police sent out.

https://app.box.com/s/at72fxwlgcvoav18n8u52woyfhq5ps5x

Lee - 9-17-2019 at 07:35 PM

Wouldn't matter if it were law and PROFEPA was the enforcing agency. It looks like Mexicans drive anything they want on Pescadero beaches. It comes down to local enforcement and that'll never happen in this area. Miracles happen.

The Cerritos crowd race from the S. end to the N. through turtle hatching zones, etc. The turtle people are MX. Guess they can't do anything about it. Or the gill nets strung for miles at San Pedrito.

shari - 9-18-2019 at 08:57 AM

I disagree...there are good laws in Mexico and I like the way police enforce them...only when they need to...when offenders are blatantly and dangerously breaking said laws.

Beach driving depends on so many factors...where the beach is, if there are turtle nests, people on the beach etc. If it is a problem they enforce it, if not, they let it slide.

AKgringo - 9-18-2019 at 10:25 AM

Where you are driving, what you are driving, and how you are driving makes all the difference.

Sadly, common sense and awareness of the surroundings is not universally distributed!

I drive on some beaches, and not on some others.

mtgoat666 - 9-18-2019 at 11:26 AM

The beaches in san q have been ruined by beach driving. Last time i stayed at the mision, cameron steele’s tour group (guests at the hotel) was racing up and down the beach and dunes, endangering women, children, dogs...
I wont go back, a peaceful and beach walk was impossible with gringo knuckledraggers using the beach as race course. The hotel owner needs to ban bad guests like cameron steele tour groups, and put security on the beach to stop the dangerous behavior of their own guests

Don Pisto - 9-18-2019 at 11:33 AM

The beaches in san q have been ruined by beach driving. Last time i stayed at the mision, cameron steele’s tour group (guests at the hotel) was racing up and down the beach and dunes, endangering women, children, dogs...
I wont go back, a peaceful and beach walk was impossible with gringo knuckledraggers using the beach as race course. The hotel owner needs to ban bad guests like cameron steele tour groups, and put security on the beach to stop the dangerous behavior of their own guests

thats a shame.....im sure you'll be missed

David K - 9-18-2019 at 04:13 PM

:lol:

Having been on a Cameron Steele tour and stayed at the Mision Santa Maria hotel, there on the beach with them, I can tell you it is a very organized affair and there is no racing up and down the beach. The TV crew and helicopter are not cheap to have along so it is staged very tightly. They do leave the hotel parking lot and take the beach route down to El Pabellon then back on the highway. The beach route is a 'road' used by everyone... even school busses bringing clam diggers out, drive on that beach. It is flat, hard sand at low tide... anyone can drive on it (like the beach at Daytona and Pismo).

I posted photos of what that drive away looks like back in 2014. It was so early when Cameron has us leave, cold and foggy, nobody is on the beach but the Trail of Missions caravan:

bajabuddha - 9-18-2019 at 04:26 PM

T H U N K !

Did I just hear a name drop?

bajatrailrider - 9-18-2019 at 04:34 PM

I disagree...there are good laws in Mexico and I like the way police enforce them...only when they need to...when offenders are blatantly and dangerously breaking said laws.
You can disagree all you want sad you don't Know Mexico. The laws are not enforce . Even when you call the police active shooter. They call back hour later want to know if shooter's are still there. Cop shop is 3 min away then they show up . Point is they are not worried about your beach problems. This is Mexico
Beach driving depends on so many factors...where the beach is, if there are turtle nests, people on the beach etc. If it is a problem they enforce it, if not, they let it slide.

bajatrailrider - 9-18-2019 at 04:39 PM

. Do use all a favor stay out of Mexico. Looser are not wanted you a tourist. So shut up and enjoy here or stay home

4x4abc - 9-18-2019 at 09:25 PM

David, you got suckered in. Happens. Mission stuff and paintings are a thin veil.

I was about to make a comment on the groups that go to Baja to rip up the desert (because at home they can't any longer) - but I will let that alone.

David K - 9-19-2019 at 08:54 AM

Harald, I just wanted to correct goat's post as I had first-hand info. I don't do Baja with a fleet of Raptors. I am fine going solo in a Tacoma. Driving fast is fun off road but it is the exception down there. Maybe if I had lots of money and groups along it would be different? People are paying big bucks to go on a Cameron tour so he is doing something right! I would love to continue to take people to the Baja backcountry at normal speed, as with my Baja Extreme 2016 tour.

4x4abc - 9-19-2019 at 09:59 AM

Harald, I just wanted to correct goat's post as I had first-hand info. I don't do Baja with a fleet of Raptors. I am fine going solo in a Tacoma. Driving fast is fun off road but it is the exception down there. Maybe if I had lots of money and groups along it would be different? People are paying big bucks to go on a Cameron tour so he is doing something right! I would love to continue to take people to the Baja backcountry at normal speed, as with my Baja Extreme 2016 tour.

so, if someone pays big bucks, it must be right?

Baja is a big unsupervised playground. The number of fences and gates springing up tell you that the tide is turning. As usual - another paradise lost because some can keep their pants up.

David K - 9-19-2019 at 10:07 AM

No, I made no judgments.
The land is the land and people are of the land.
People can change the land and build roads but Nature will do what she does and the roads are washed away or grown over unless man changes that, again.

mtgoat666 - 9-19-2019 at 10:48 AM

I saw what i saw. You saw what you saw. It appears we saw different trips.

Payment does not legitimize an activity, nor does payment make a wrong a right.

David K - 9-19-2019 at 11:26 AM

Yes, we saw different trips.
No, payment does not.

bajatrailrider - 9-19-2019 at 01:49 PM

I saw what i saw. You saw what you saw. It appears we saw
different trips.

Payment does not legitimize an activity, nor does payment make a wrong a right.

. Simple tourist don't like what people do here. Stay home In Calif with the rats and homeless

bajatrailrider - 9-19-2019 at 07:16 PM

I would call you a ugly Baja blow hard no count
Prove to us all what it hurts where I ride my bike on the Beach . Now that you opened your big mouth if nothing prove it. We are all waiting pipy boy

mtgoat666 - 9-19-2019 at 08:26 PM

I would call you a ugly Baja blow hard no count
Prove to us all what it hurts where I ride my bike on the Beach . Now that you opened your big mouth if nothing prove it. We are all waiting pipy boy

I can’t prove anything to you, because you are too stupid to understand. Hell, you can’t even write a sentence without mangling it, and your idiotic punctuation was at first amusing, but now is really sad to think you lived your whole life as an ignoramus.

You ever scrounge up $10k for that race you so desperately want so you can watch my a$$ as you flail and gasp and cry far behind me?
If you can find $50, I will arm wrestle you for it

AKgringo - 9-19-2019 at 08:47 PM

Goat, B.T.R. was actually replying to an attack by "pippy", the most recent incarnation of a banned member. The latest version has also been banned and deleted already!

JZ - 9-19-2019 at 08:59 PM

If you can find $50, I will arm wrestle you for it

I'll take that bet for a grand. Didn't lose over a ~15 years stretch once.

bajatrailrider - 9-19-2019 at 10:22 PM

Haha looks like loser Mt put his foot in his mouth again. Don't worry JZ. This loser already backed out of a one way 10,000 dollar bet. He showed all on nomad how scared he was. He just talks with zero sense. When you call him out he just hides. He even tried to change the bet 😂. Then when I called out his partner he deleted his post. Guess his wife made him delate it. You poor souls don't even have a clue what is going on in Mexico right now.

Alm - 9-20-2019 at 02:23 PM

Quote: Originally posted by AKgringo

... an attack by "pippy", the most recent incarnation of a banned member.

I thought it was a new troll, not some banned and re-registered under new name. There are/were some mentally unstable members with "verbal diarrhea" and severe attention deficit disorder to the point that a person can't comprehend simple answers. But this one sounded like new. Several posts in different threads, all flaming. Too obvious to even bother to respond.

matthew_mangus - 10-4-2019 at 08:02 PM

Beach driving depends on so many factors...where the beach is, if there are turtle nests, people on the beach etc. If it is a problem they enforce it, if not, they let it slide.

Are there any visual cues of turtle nests that are visible from a car moving 20+ mph down a beach? I like camp on the beach in my truck but am always nervous about driving w/ in 100 yrds of high tide lines during nesting season. I typically just stay back, but wonder if I'm being overly cautious.

Pacifico - 10-4-2019 at 08:54 PM

Quote: Originally posted by matthew_mangus

Beach driving depends on so many factors...where the beach is, if there are turtle nests, people on the beach etc. If it is a problem they enforce it, if not, they let it slide.

I've often wondered about this as well... I ride quads on the beach and think that with the large footprint of the ATV tire, the low weight, as well as forward momentum (most of the time), and, the depth that turtle eggs are buried at, if they actually sustain any damage. A truck might be a different story...

Anyone have any data or studies on this with the turtle eggs? I think coyotes do more harm personally. I've seen plenty of dug up turtle nests, as well as dead mama turtles that laid eggs and didn't make it back to the water due to coyote attack. Very sad to see a set of turtle tracks going up the beach and not making it back down to the water...

David K - 10-4-2019 at 09:18 PM

Human foot prints on sand can penetrate deeper than atv or 4x4 tracks that are properly deflated. Turtle eggs are very deep and likely safe. As far as seeing turtle tracks from a vehicle, most certainly as they are very obvious. I have only seen turtle tracks south of La Paz, so far. I have seen photos showing the turtle population is doing so well that they have extended nesting nearly to San Felipe!

4x4abc - 10-4-2019 at 10:10 PM

Quote: Originally posted by matthew_mangus

Beach driving depends on so many factors...where the beach is, if there are turtle nests, people on the beach etc. If it is a problem they enforce it, if not, they let it slide.

you will only spot the location of a nest by the very visible mama footprints. Once they go away, only someone with a good nose (coyotes) can find them.

I agree with others here - the eggs are deep enough to not be harmed by even large animals trotting down the beach (cows). The pressure per square inch of a truck tire will definitely do no harm.
But that is not really the point. Emotional people can not be reached with science (see palm trees).
The super concerned want to protect every single egg. I understand their feeling, but nature has figured that one out already.

It is the desperate attempt to save the planet. You are not doing that by sitting on a turtle nest. Or by not using plastic bags. Or straws. Please!

We are doomed! Let's party while going down. Right on top of a turtle nest.
By the way - do they taste any good?

mtgoat666 - 10-4-2019 at 11:27 PM

Yes, tires on vehicles will compact noncohesive sands at depth of egg burial.
Don’t believe me? Bury your wife’s legs in 9 inches of sand and drive over them, ask her if she feels pressure.

paranewbi - 10-5-2019 at 05:14 AM

Quote: Originally posted by 4x4abc

Quote: Originally posted by matthew_mangus

Beach driving depends on so many factors...where the beach is, if there are turtle nests, people on the beach etc. If it is a problem they enforce it, if not, they let it slide.

Taste is an acquired thing...I never developed it. Playa Azul mainland 1976. A few locals perused the beaches in the night darkness. The eggs are like ping-pong balls but don't possess the rigidity. Bite a small hole in the egg and squeeze/suck out the briny liquid. Said to be an aphrodisiac but didn't motivate me.
My surf buddy found them tolerable and consumed several more than my single indulgence. Didn't seem to do much for him either.
The actual words described by locals for the indulgence; "makes you a macho-man at night" (our impressed translation).

wilderone - 10-5-2019 at 07:15 AM

Are you kidding me. men

Udo - 10-5-2019 at 07:27 AM

Most of the time, when you ask the police why crime abounds and lawbreakers
have the upper hand, they will proudly tell you that they are the "preventive police" with "no authority to arrest when a crime is committed." They will also tell you that the only cops with total arrest authority are the Federal cops and the marines when in their military duties.