BajaNomad

Map questions, navigation?

ftrphb - 10-22-2023 at 12:10 PM

Papar maps phone maps, do phone app maps work outside of coverage?

David K - 10-22-2023 at 12:46 PM

YES... I was just posting about the Benchmark Maps second edition (2023) now on the Avenza App... Needs no cell coverage... satellite tracks your location as you move in Baja. It is great.

Posted yesterday: https://forums.bajanomad.com/viewthread.php?tid=99343

Another option

John M - 10-22-2023 at 01:05 PM

We used on X off-road maps for Baja

https://www.onxmaps.com/offroad/trails/mx/baja-california

John M

BeachSeeker - 10-22-2023 at 01:35 PM

Gaia has been a game changer for me. Offline satellite maps are a huge advantage when exploring remote areas.

The only complaint I have with Gaia is that it takes FOREVER to download offline maps. A 100MB map can take 15+ minutes.

StuckSucks - 10-22-2023 at 02:11 PM

Right now I'm building a map of places I'd like to visit in Baja for our upcoming Baja 1000 trip. The map gets built on Caltopo, then imported to Gaia which lives on an iPad in the truck dedicated to navigation. As BeachSeeker said, you can download maps to use off line there - similar to the Avenza app but much more powerful, flexible.

JZ - 10-22-2023 at 03:52 PM

Gaia or Back Country Navigator (BCN) are best.

I build tracks on Google Earth and import them to BCN.

My Google Earth:



[Edited on 10-23-2023 by JZ]

bajaric - 10-23-2023 at 06:51 AM

Good advice above, to elaborate a little the Avenza app is an economical way to load a pretty good road map (Benchmark Atlas) on your phone or GPS-enabled tablet. I would also add that it would not hurt to get one of the more recent AAA Baja maps published up until about 2000 on eBay. The AAA paper maps are easy to read and since they actually drove the roads and logged the mileages between road junctions in some areas these are still the most accurate maps for driving the main connecting dirt roads in the back country.

A low tech option is to "snip" the Google Earth satellite view and print it out, then mark the latitude and longitude coordinates for road junctions and features of interest on it and use a handheld GPS and a compass to determine the correct route while in the field.

A discussion of the best maps to use for navigation in the back country is included in my new book The Gold Distracts of Northern Baja a History and Travel Guide (Jens Tobias) available on Amazon.com --

geoffff - 10-23-2023 at 09:55 AM

Quote: Originally posted by ftrphb  
Papar maps phone maps, do phone app maps work outside of coverage?


Some do! Check before leaving town :biggrin:

Even Google Maps has an option to download maps of an area for offline use.

[Edited on 10-23-2023 by geoffff]

geoffff - 10-23-2023 at 10:01 AM

Quote: Originally posted by John M  
We used on X off-road maps for Baja

https://www.onxmaps.com/offroad/trails/mx/baja-california

John M


I don't see much there in OnX for Baja. A few trails, but ... mostly just satellite imagery (?) Are you seeing more?



They do have Percebu as "Shell Beach" in there:

David K - 10-23-2023 at 04:10 PM

Geoffff: Percebu is 6 kms north of the Shell Island driveway...
bajaric: the AAA Baja maps were made to 2010. See nearly all of them here: https://vivabaja.com/automobile-club-maps/

Okay, I am done being a map nerd today! LOL

Mulege Canuck - 10-23-2023 at 06:59 PM

I use navionics app. I use it in BC for fishing. My IPad has GPS. I plot routes ahead of time. Works pretty well.

geoffff - 10-24-2023 at 11:27 AM

Quote: Originally posted by David K  
Geoffff: Percebu is 6 kms north of the Shell Island driveway...


Other than Shell Island, I've been referring to the whole area as "Percebu", but I suppose I should specify Laguna Percebu or Estero Percebu, etc.



[Edited on 10-24-2023 by geoffff]

David K - 10-24-2023 at 12:01 PM

Indeed... The campo is no longer named Laguna Percebu, but now Rancho Percebu... Seems like many campos have added 'Rancho' to their names... instead of Campo or ? Maybe some kind of taxation advantage... like leaving rebar sticking up on roofs (unfinished homes are taxed at a lower rate)??

BeachSeeker - 10-24-2023 at 01:31 PM

David, did you come up with the name "Shell Island"? I recently saw it listed as such on a Baja Real Estate website. They are trying to sell lots in the lagoon area for pretty cheap. The land isn't really all that usable after the rain, or during a big high tide.

JZ - 10-24-2023 at 01:46 PM

Quote: Originally posted by Mulege Canuck  
I use navionics app. I use it in BC for fishing. My IPad has GPS. I plot routes ahead of time. Works pretty well.


I run Navonics on my phone for boating. Have been using it for 10+ years and it is fantastic. Garmin bought them several years back. They have a Automated Route mode. Plug in start and end way points and it calculates routes that go around hazards. It shows your distance to the next way point. Kinda like Google Maps for the water.

On the boat I also run two big Garmin GPS's. They have the same technology and call it Auto Guidance. I assume they incorporated this from Navonics.


[Edited on 10-25-2023 by JZ]

David K - 10-24-2023 at 03:05 PM

Quote: Originally posted by BeachSeeker  
David, did you come up with the name "Shell Island"? I recently saw it listed as such on a Baja Real Estate website. They are trying to sell lots in the lagoon area for pretty cheap. The land isn't really all that usable after the rain, or during a big high tide.


Yes, I named it that in 1978... of course almost nobody else would dare to drive over the lagoon mud flats to get to it, so hardly a chance for me to share my idea for a gringo name. However, once I got onto the Internet, 25 years ago about, I called it that.

The gringos who moved into the area 20 or more year later, just called it Shell Beach... as it is a beach with lots of shells... a no brainer. Problem is, there is already a popular place in Baja, by Punta Chivato, called Shell Beach. My name keeps this beach unique. Also, it is an island! At the most extreme high tides, the sea water covers the mud/salt flats, surrounding the beach and making it a barrier island.

SEE THE PILOTS MAP:


SEE THE NAT'L GEO. MAP:


Looks more like an island than just a beach, does it not? LOL

Enjoy my my LOCATIONS page for Shell Island photos, 1978 to 2018: https://vivabaja.com/shell-island/

I also named the steep grade near Mission Santa María, 'The Widowmaker', in 1999. Now it is universal in both Mexico and the U.S. Facebook conversations. You can see my first webpage I made, in 1999 or 2000, about that trip and how Baja Mur and I both were tossed from our rides and shed blood on the rocks there. "Widowmaker" was a natural choice! Here is that page from our 1999 trip where I called it The Widowmaker: https://vivabaja.com/missionsm/

Going to the mission, it is down the Widowmaker:



Leaving the mission, it is up the widowmaker. Photos are from my 5th time going, last year with TMW and other Nomads:



VIVA BAJA!

advrider - 10-24-2023 at 06:54 PM

OSMAND is my go-to on my phone, download a head of time for use with no service. Also have E32 maps on my GPS, they have a phone app as well. Everything is color coded, so you know what kind of road it is. Easy to make a new route on the go.

ftrphb - 10-24-2023 at 08:36 PM

Any help for tried old abuelos that might try to use their phone to navigate? What if telephone navigation is new to me?
What are the best paper maps for a person with a 20 year old GPS?

JZ - 10-24-2023 at 10:31 PM

Quote: Originally posted by ftrphb  
Any help for tried old abuelos that might try to use their phone to navigate? What if telephone navigation is new to me?
What are the best paper maps for a person with a 20 year old GPS?


This atlas:

https://www.amazon.com/Baja-California-Recreation-Atlas-Benc...

BeachSeeker - 10-25-2023 at 12:44 PM

Quote: Originally posted by geoffff  

I don't see much there in OnX for Baja. A few trails, but ... mostly just satellite imagery (?) Are you seeing more?


I just abandoned Gaia for OnX. Gaia has always had problems with downloading offline maps, and now I can't get it to finish downloading any maps anymore. They are stuck at 100% but never complete. Functionally broken. Gaia has always been buggy, and customer support is nonexistent since they sold the app.

My two main requirements are offline satellite maps and Carplay compatibility. OnX has both, and does it so much better than Gaia. Creating waypoints and routes is just as easy as well. The only thing OnX doesn't have is topo maps, but with satellite, I never use topo anymore.

As far as predetermined trails, I turn all of that off. It might be good elsewhere, but there isn't much in Baja.

David K - 10-25-2023 at 03:30 PM

Quote: Originally posted by ftrphb  
Any help for tried old abuelos that might try to use their phone to navigate? What if telephone navigation is new to me?
What are the best paper maps for a person with a 20 year old GPS?


To have the moving Benchmark Maps Baja Road Atlas, on you phone, you go to the Apps store, and download Avenza (it is free). Then go here and buy the Benchmark Baja digital Atlas, for $19.99. That's it... good for as long as you have your phones and does not need cell service: The 2023 downloadable Benchmark Baja Atlas App from Avenza is now here!


Here is the website link for new customers: https://store.avenza.com/products/baja-california-atlas-land...


If the map is already on your phone, the second edition upgrade option will pop up ($9.99).

volcano3 - 12-3-2023 at 09:21 AM

So, we are about to order the Garmin gps, but had a thought ( tech idiots here too ).. is it possible that our iPhone with gps can provide gps to iPad that does not have it.? Did not seems to yesterday while out experimenting.

PaulW - 12-3-2023 at 10:06 AM

Never heard that a phone/iPad would do what you want.
Get one of these for your iPad and see how it works. There are many other choices for more dollars.
VK-162 USB GPS Dongle
Find it on Amazon for $15.97
Should work if you have a USB port.

4x4abc - 12-3-2023 at 01:57 PM

Quote: Originally posted by BeachSeeker  
Gaia has been a game changer for me. Offline satellite maps are a huge advantage when exploring remote areas.

The only complaint I have with Gaia is that it takes FOREVER to download offline maps. A 100MB map can take 15+ minutes.


the speed depends on you wifi speed.
don't blame GaiaGPS

larryC - 1-9-2024 at 02:18 PM

I realize this thread is a couple of months old but I thought maybe I could get some info from you smarter guys. I have a newer Ipad w/gps and was wondering if there is a app for off road gps that works here in northern baja. I have used Gaia but it is kind of a pain in that you have to download area maps in advance. Any suggestions?

David K - 1-9-2024 at 03:19 PM

Benchmark Baja Atlas 2023 from Avenza.
You can zoom in for a closer look than your eyes will allow on the paper map.. I like that!