Nov/Dec Baja trip

Just got back from this year’s Baja trip, and since I’ve been sad to see a decline in trip reports over the past few years, I figured I’d finally get around to writing one.

Was trying to be efficient with my vacation time, so decided to try and cram the drive down on a weekend, then work remote for a few days and start the vacation officially on Thanksgiving day. Caravanned with a buddy down to El Centro late Friday night, and crossed Mexicali West at 6am the next morning. Parked and got our prepaid FMM’s, at that hour it took about 10min, zero hassle, and we were on our way. We stopped only twice, once in San Felipe to top off our gas, and another time in Guerrero Negro to refill. With a tail wind the whole way we made great time and rolled into Mulege just about 5pm. Pulled into Santispac shortly after, and spent the night there. Were on the road again the next morning, I think by 8am, stopped for lunch in Constitucion for lunch and then on to Centenario where we had rented out Harald’s place so I could work from there until Thanksgiving. Working there was great, the wifi Harald has is plenty for Zoom meetings, and my buddy and I spent the evenings having a beer or two with Harald on his patio. His dogs were great also!

The morning of Thanksgiving, we rolled out to pick up our wives at the airport in San Jose Del Cabo, and meet another friend who lives in La Ventana but was at the airport dropping off his girlfriend, and wanted to tag along for a bit. After waiting around the airport and getting the ladies, we headed out to camp in one of the arroyos at the beach somewhere not too far from La Fortuna. Wind was blowing pretty good, but our site was nice and sheltered, and temps (water and air) were nice and warm! There was a swell coming through, but the wind made it a bit of a struggle. Was able to shoot some fish each day we were there also. After 3 nights we moved on and found another campsite near Punta Arena, similar setup where we were sheltered from the wind. Temps were great and had fun diving and getting fish, and just exploring the area on foot. After 3 nights there, we decided to start heading North since our friends wanted to camp in Bahia Conception and then they needed to start heading back north. Stopped in El Triumpho for the first time and checked out Café El Triunfo. Met the owner and learned about the history of the café/bakery. Breakfast was great, maybe the best French toast I’ve ever had! We also got a loaf of the sourdough bread to take with us and it was delicious. Pricing was high by Baja standards, more on par with what you’d pay in the states, but the meals were huge and really good. Finished out the day driving up to Conejo to crash for the night.

Conditions were windy/choppy at Conejo, so we rolled out early the next morning and headed to Playa Escondida in Bahia Conception. It was quite busy there, but we lucked out and got a spot. Not a private place, but the scenery is nice, and great paddling for our SUP, and we paddled out to a couple of the islands in the mornings. Took off one of the days and drove out to San Nicolas to check that out since we’d never been there. Dirt road was in good condition all the way there. We continued on to have a look at Punta el Pulpito, and the road was much slower from there. The beach out there was deserted so I went for a swim, and later a gringo came rolling in on his ATV to do some fishing. He had some great stories from his trips down starting in the 60’s and how things were back then. I love to hear those stories. It was starting to get a bit late so we headed back to our campsite at Escondida. If you’ve stayed at any of the campgrounds in Bahia Conception, you know how many salespeople come around each day. We met one named Angel who was riding a clapped our motorcycle, and selling bread and cookies. Angel was super outgoing, and we talked to him for awhile, and he told us he started by riding a bicycle out to the campgrounds with his wares from Mulege and saved up enough for a motorcycle. This guy is committed! We bought a bunch of his cookies and a few loaves of his Jalapeño bread, both of which were awesome. Worth a try if you ever run into him out there. A couple days later it was my wife’s birthday and she wanted to spend the night at La Serenidad so we packed up and headed there for the night. We like that place just because of the history, and we seem to meet interesting people there whenever we stay. This time was no different! Dinner was great and so were the margaritas. Early the next morning our friends headed north, and we had breakfast and then on down to Loreto to meet up with some friends who were down from Canada, and then caravanned down to San Cosme to camp for the week. Weather became overcast, but was super warm and water was almost dead still. It was awesome conditions for diving and stand up paddling! We paddled out to Isla San Cosme, and on the way back we ran into a small (maybe 15ft) whaleshark. It was our first time seeing one and it was very curious, swimming right underneath us (my wife sits on the front of the board and I do the paddling), and circled around a few times before heading on its way. Such a cool experience! Enjoyed the rest of the time there with more diving, some hiking, and hanging out with our friends and their kids.

My wife and I said our goodbyes to our friends and headed south for one last camp stop on the trip. Spent the night in Constitucion at a cool little place called Maria de Nadie boutique hotel. It had only 7 rooms total, and a small restaurant and bar. Rooms were really affordable ($65 for the night we stayed) and included a small breakfast the next morning also. Place was nicely decorated. Only downside was no off street parking, but we didn’t have any issue. Oh yeah, the woman at the front desk spoke English and was very nice. If we ever stay in Constitucion again, I’d stay there for sure. After breakfast we rolled out to Puerto Gato and set up camp. It was dead calm again and warm, and we had the place to ourselves. Not that we expected to see anyone else camping, but there wasn’t even a boat overnighting there. Next day I went out for some fishing with some locals from near there we have made friends with in the past. They showed up early in their panga and we were off. Water clarity had become a bit murky, but was able to still get a cabrilla and a pargo. Next couple days were spent doing a little more paddling and diving, but visibility seemed to get even worse. The wind ended up picking up pretty good so we went for a hike up the canyon behind the beach, and enjoyed all the green plants that had exploded from the rains in September, and the canyon blocked all the wind. That night the temp dropped considerably. Forecast was showing more wind in the coming days so we decided to start heading North a day early. Drove back up to Mulege the next day and stayed another night at La Serenidad, and were off the next morning to San Felipe, making it there mid afternoon. Checked into Stella del Mar hotel, based off some recommendations here on BN. Was the priciest place we had in Mexico, but still cheaper than America, and was right on the sand. Had a decent restaurant and bar also which we enjoyed. Before hitting those though, we walked downtown and had a drink at a place on the Malecon. It was really slow there this time of year tourist wise, but it was nice to avoid the crowds and have great service. Next morning we had breakfast and headed to Mexicali. Traffic heading south was full of chase trucks for some off road race that was going on, as well as almost every kind of overland rig and Sprinter build you could imagine. Seemed like everyone was heading south for Christmas holiday. We definitely encountered more tourists this year than we had the previous two. Crossed at Mexicali West, and this was the first time we’d used our Sentri cards since we’d just recently gotten them. I got a little mixed up trying to get to the Sentri line but figured it out after a couple wrong turns. Cops were busy pulling over others that were getting confused like myself it seemed, so I felt lucky that we didn’t get pulled over. Wait was about 30min, and we were back in the states and heading north to home. Overall trip was 4 weeks for me, about a week less for my wife since she flew down after I got there, but we had an incredible time, met some great folks, and I’m already missing it.

A handful of photos in no particular order:
























i ll love you forever poem

And a great time was had by all!

Quote: Originally posted by lencho

Quote: Originally posted by Trunkrack   Just got back from this year’s Baja trip, and since I’ve been sad to see a decline in trip reports over the past few years, I figured I’d finally get around to writing one. .... Maria de Nadie boutique hotel. Very nice report, thanks! That name cracks me up; did you perchance ask where it came from?

Quote: Originally posted by BajaBlanca

GREAT trip report! Next time do visit La Bocana too! We are so off the beaten path and so affordable at $40 a night! Look for Juanchy and his brother Joaquin for some of the best peeps ever. Punta Abreojos has the best huevos rancheros at Juanitas restaurant on the boardwalk. La Bocana has the best lobsters and margaritas. the Cabana restaurant right on the beach. Bahia Asuncion has the best fish tacos at Ramons (Fri and Sat). Stay at Shari's campsite called Campo Sirena. Suggestions for next time based on what you enjoyed this time. Thanks for the stories and the photos.

Quote: Originally posted by David K

A super-impressive trip and trip report, thank you! I also have stayed at Harald's guest room... so very impressive, and a great little swimming pool, too! Any chance you can add captions under the photos for their locations? I am curious about the tinaja (water hole) in photo #6. Thanks and Merry Christmas!

Quote: Originally posted by David K

Thank you. Fear not, it is bad roads that filter out bad people. Most of the locations are familiar to me, as with others here. Seeing a photo's spot on a map makes it really special to me. I do respect your feelings on this disclosure. Have a super Christmas!

Quote: Originally posted by 4x4abc

Hey Joe, thanks for visiting! Very much enjoyed our talks you covered a lot of ground on your trip you guys are so lucky that you can share that experience with your wifies! come back any time

Quote: Originally posted by Trunkrack

Quote: Originally posted by David K   Thank you. Fear not, it is bad roads that filter out bad people. Most of the locations are familiar to me, as with others here. Seeing a photo's spot on a map makes it really special to me. I do respect your feelings on this disclosure. Have a super Christmas! Hey David, while we're talking about this place, quick question. While we were camped at PG, a motored up from his sailboat and we got to talking. He asked if we'd seen any of the markings on the canyon wall from Russians who were there over 100 years ago. I'm not a Baja history buff, but the only Russians I'd read about were located up in Northern Baja. Was the guy just pulling my leg, or do you know anything about this? Thanks, and have a great Christmas also!

Quote: Originally posted by Trunkrack

Quote: Originally posted by David K   A super-impressive trip and trip report, thank you! I also have stayed at Harald's guest room... so very impressive, and a great little swimming pool, too! Any chance you can add captions under the photos for their locations? I am curious about the tinaja (water hole) in photo #6. Thanks and Merry Christmas! Hey David, the photo you're referring to is the end of the canyon directly behind(west) of Puerto Gato. Kind of left out the captions on purpose. Inner struggle of mine and its why it has taken over ten years of trips down to finally write a trip report. Even though anyone can find these spots with some internet research, I hate to serve it on a platter. On the other hand, I have really enjoyed everyone else's trip reports since finding BN maybe 5 years ago, and have been pretty bummed that they have almost disappeared, so I figured I'd contribute. If you want more info, feel free to PM me. Happy Holidays!

Great report! Thanks for not spoon feeding people those amazing places. I agree, you have to earn them. Having said that, I have got some great road reports from fellow nomads that helped me discover some beautiful places. I always bring a mountain bike with me to explore crappy side roads before I grunt my truck camper down them.

Your report will encourage people to explore.


I love this spot.

Quote: Originally posted by HeyMulegeScott

Thanks for taking the time to share. Great photos. I was glad to see Angel in Mulege get a motorcycle. We used to see him all the time pedaling his not so light bicycle up down the hills to get out to Bahia Concepcion.

Quote: Originally posted by fishmaster

Wow...great trip report. Thanks so much!!! God I LOVE Baja. What an awesome trip you had. I can't wait to retire!!!

Quote: Originally posted by Trunkrack

Great report! Thanks for not spoon feeding people those amazing places. I agree, you have to earn them. Having said that, I have got some great road reports from fellow nomads that helped me discover some beautiful places. I always bring a mountain bike with me to explore crappy side roads before I grunt my truck camper down them. Your report will encourage people to explore. I love this spot.[/rquote] Yes, that Palapa is super cool! do you by chance know the story behind it? Someone did a lot of work to the hilltop to level, then install all the steps and build the structure itself. Nobody was home at the small house at the beach below, was wondering if someone lives there full time or part time?