La Bocana and back May 2022

Just drove to La Bocana snd back and here are some notes.

Crossed into Mexico on a Friday @ 11am and there was absolutely no traffic.

There are 3 automated entry gates, you can enter, it takes a bazillion pictures, shows a green or red and you exit through a gate.

I was so happy the gate lifted and don’t recall if it was green or red (secondary).

Then you pass through a covered area with people, just to the right under this covered area is where you get your fmn. Red scribbles below.

They waved use through so we made the first turn and doubled back. (Yellow path)

There was no one getting an fmn and we used credit cards to pay, we wore masks when entering the office

We meandered out of Mexicali and overnighted in San Felipe at Stella Del Mar.

We topped off at chevron on the way out and hit the glorious drive on the 5 to the 1. The road is in great shape and even has a shoulder! The checkpoint on the 5 south of San Felipe has been abandoned and we were asked only a where are you from, where you going, and what are you doing, (vacation)

Getting to the narrow 1 and back to playing chicken with semi trucks was like a different drive after the easy 5.

We stopped at the Pemex on the north side of villa Jesus Maria 216 miles from San Felipe.

There are a few potholes north of Guerrero Negro. Nothing real bad.

Make sure you have your 20 pesos and windows rolled up for the uninspiring undercarriage fumigation as you enter Baja California Sur.

We hit the rush hour on the road to Punta Abreojos and saw two cars. Most of the potholes are filled but there are small sections that need work that may or may not be marked with small signs on the side of the road. By then our lead driver was smelling the barn and we were cruising along fairly fast.

Into La Bocana and across the flats to The cabins at La Bocana adventure. It is common for soft sand to accumulate in front of the restaurant and cabins so I elected to let some sir out of the tire and head down to the hard packed sand near the water and then turned straight up the beach to the cabins. My two wheel Toyota truck had no issues.

During the stay we gassed up at the Pemex in Punta Abreojos and paid with credit card. And stocked up with snacks for the trip back at the “Costco” in La Bocana. Note, people wore masks in the store as did I.

Trip back was in reverse. I left solo at dawn on Tuesday and made good time to the border even though I stopped at a couple of the viewpoint parking lots on the 5 to admire the sea of Cortez. By then it was hot which surprised me because I had cold air coming out of my vents but forgot I had the defrost on from the morning.

Checkpoints were easy. Note to self, don’t put the fancy Bluetooth speaker on top of stuff in the back. I declined to sell.

The 5 south of Mexicali was freshly paved and I followed the google route to the east Mexicali sentri lane approaching from the west. I waited in the left lane to make the left turn perhaps 8 minutes as the ready lane was backed up to the main road.

It actually widens to two left turn lanes at the end and it looked like some drivers would pass by and scoot into that lane and then turn left across the ready lane waiting traffic into the sentri lane. Truly an odd arrangement.

The big delay in the sentri lane was crossing the topas, no line at all. There was a guy checking that I had a sentri card half way in where you could get out of line if you goofed.

There is a camera and 8 feet beyond that a square rectangle for reading the rfid chip in the card. I stopped somewhere in between and looked out the window and aimed the card at the rectangle. That seemed to work and a number 1 appeared on the led screen above all the crap. I drove forward and was greeted by name by the agent, A little under 10 hours from La Bocana across the border and a good portion of my audio book done.

Always nice to get reports and photos, thank you!