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Boshvideo
Nomad
Posts: 137
Registered: 6-12-2007
Location: Philly
Member Is Offline
Mood: chill
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Baja 101
Greetings to all,
I'm looking to get as much information I can on treveling by rental car from San Diego down into the Baja and back in about 8 days.
I'm open to any input on a creative itinarary for those 8 days.
I hope I'm not out of line by asking such a basic question but I need to start somewhere.
thanks for any help.
boshvideo
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bajaguy
Elite Nomad
Posts: 9247
Registered: 9-16-2003
Location: Carson City, NV/Ensenada - Baja Country Club
Member Is Offline
Mood: must be 5 O'clock somewhere in Baja
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Welcome to the board.
Check with various car rental companies....some may have a limit on the distance south of the border you can take the car. Also the Mexican insurance
they charge is somewhat steep....about $25 a day.
You may wish to rent a car in TJ....might be cheaper on rental rates and insurance, and possibly no mileage limits.
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amir
Senior Nomad
Posts: 559
Registered: 5-4-2007
Location: Todos Santos, BCS
Member Is Offline
Mood: chiropractic
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There are restrictions on driving off-road with rental cars, so that narrows down the route to paved roads. If you want to go off-road, rent an
appropriate car.
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Boshvideo
Nomad
Posts: 137
Registered: 6-12-2007
Location: Philly
Member Is Offline
Mood: chill
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Thanks for the welcome.
For some reason, I have a very strong pull to visit Baja. I'll be in LA first two weeks in August and I know I need to head down South. Is there a
down side to getting a car in TJ?
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Boshvideo
Nomad
Posts: 137
Registered: 6-12-2007
Location: Philly
Member Is Offline
Mood: chill
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For my first visit, I'd like to stay to paved roads. I'd like to get a good feel of different regions.
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comitan
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4177
Registered: 3-27-2004
Location: La Paz
Member Is Offline
Mood: mellow
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I would rent a car from someone like national in Tijuana and drive south to Cabo San Lucas and leave the car there where they also have an agency and
fly back.
Strive For The Ideal, But Deal With What\'s Real.
Every day is a new day, better than the day before.(from some song)
Lord, Keep your arm around my shoulder and your hand over my mouth.
“The sincere pursuit of truth requires you to entertain the possibility that everything you believe to be true may in fact be false”
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64858
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
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Welcome to Nomad...
There is only one paved road that goes down the length of the peninsula, so you will be limited in what you see. However, as there are paved side
roads, you will still see a lot! A few interesting sites are very near the highway and the short dirt roads to many are easily traveled by 2WD cars.
North to south sites on or near pavement:
La Bufadora blow hole (touristy but interesting) 10 mi. south of Ensenada.
El Rosario mission ruins... just a few hundred feet left of the highway... to give you an ideas of how large a complex mission sites were, yet how
liottle remains of the adobe built missions in Northern Baja.
Cataviña boulder fields (Valle de los Cirios)... cactus and rocks, everywhere!
Bahia de los Angeles, 41 miles on a paved side road... This should not be missed. Drive through intense cactus forests, wild view of the island filled
bay, restaurants, taco stands, motels, campgrounds, stores, Internet.
San Ignacio, 2 miles off the highway on a paved road... Do not pass by without driving in... A river comes out of the ground for a couple miles before
vanishing again and it is here the padres built a beautiful stone mission and planted date palms to create this oasis in the desert. Motels, camping,
food, stores.
Santa Rosalia, a former French mining town unlike any other in Mexico... Interesting exhibits. The church was designed by Eifel and shipped here in
pieces. World's longest smokestack, too.
Mulege, the second oasis you can drive through... stone mission, hotels, campgrounds...
Bahia Concepcion, just south of Mulege... beautiful large bay, campgrounds and a motel.
Loreto, the first mission in California established in 1697 started the chain... All services, hotels, etc.
La Paz, beautiful capital city of Baja California Sur... It is still 140 miles to Cabo San Lucas with MANY places to see... two highways make a loop
drive possible...
GET the AAA Baja map (and their guide too) from the Auto Club or from on line book and map dealers (bajabooksandmaps.com, mapworld.com,
discoverbaja.com).
Tons of photos here on Nomad, too!
Enjoy!
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Boshvideo
Nomad
Posts: 137
Registered: 6-12-2007
Location: Philly
Member Is Offline
Mood: chill
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I love that idea. How long would it take to make the entire journey with stops to enjoy what's there?
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Boshvideo
Nomad
Posts: 137
Registered: 6-12-2007
Location: Philly
Member Is Offline
Mood: chill
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What a wonderful helpful community you Nomads are. I appreciate you taking the time to help a newbie.
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64858
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
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2 weeks would handle it... letting you chill out a couple days at a few places you fall in love with!
Straight driving, allow 3 days for the drive from San Diego to Cabo San Lucas. No night time driving (you miss scenery and you risk hitting cows or
burros on the highway), and never pass a gas station if you are under half a tank as they are not all open... Top off at El Rosario going south or
Guerrero Negro/ Eagle Monument going north, as it is over 200 miles to the next sure gas... Bahia de los Angeles does have gas, so fill up there.
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DENNIS
Platinum Nomad
Posts: 29510
Registered: 9-2-2006
Location: Punta Banda
Member Is Offline
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This is your Nomad honeymoon. After 20 posts, your a moving target.
Just kidding Bosh.........Welcome to Baja Nomad.
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64858
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Boshvideo
What a wonderful helpful community you Nomads are. I appreciate you taking the time to help a newbie. |
That's what we do... and it's our pleasure! I only ask that you give us a full trip report when you return home... those are always fun and
informative to read... See the Nomad Baja Trip Reports Forum!
Here is a boojum tree (cirio), which you will see many of!
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Boshvideo
Nomad
Posts: 137
Registered: 6-12-2007
Location: Philly
Member Is Offline
Mood: chill
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Wow that's one hell of a tree David. I'm afraid I won't have the luxury of 2 weeks. I'm thinking 8 days max. Is there a good loop I could do in that
time?
Thanks for the welcome Dennis. I'll try and be brief.
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64858
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
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Make Bahia Concepcion you farthest point south then, IMO (in my opinion)!
Day 1 leave early, stay at El Rosario's Baja Cactus Motel
Day 2 Go to Bahia de los Angeles.
Day 3, free day at L.A. Bay (See the museum, turtle research facility, La Gringa (about 4 dirt miles after the end of pavement heading out that way).
Motels Villa Bahia, Raquel & Larry's and Costa del Sol are recommended.
Day 4 get driving and go to San Ignacio... see the mission and cave painting desplay at the museum next door. Stay at Ignacio Springs Bed &
Breakfast, on the river!
Day 5 get driving and go to Santa Rosalia, Mulege and Concepcion bay...
Day 6 Free Day at Mulege and/ or Concepcion Bay.
Day 7 Drive north to ? El Rosario or ??
Day 8 Drive back to U.S., shop in Ensenada or Rosarito for curios.
Day 9 write your Nomad Trip Report (post photos, too)! 
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Boshvideo
Nomad
Posts: 137
Registered: 6-12-2007
Location: Philly
Member Is Offline
Mood: chill
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David,
Many thanks for the obvious detail you put into your replys. I'm thinking of getting a rental in TJ and going all the way to Cabo San Lucas. I'll try
and get some extra days. Any suggestions on the best way to arrive from San Diego? Can I get the tourist card here in Philly or must I get it there?
Any car rental advise? Sorry for such basic questions but..... I'm a newbie.
Have a great weekend.
Bob
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Paula
Super Nomad
Posts: 2219
Registered: 1-5-2006
Location: Loreto
Member Is Offline
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Boshvideo, David's itinerary is good. The only thing I might change is in San Ignacio. Look at Ignacio Springs and also at Casa Leree, further into
town and a block from the plaza. Both are great hotels, very different from each other. Choose the one that suits you. If you really want to go
further south, you could skip Bay of LA and take in La Paz. It's a beautiful classic Mexican city, and nothing else in Baja is quite like it.
Research hotels there on the web, and find one that suits your style. The cabanas at Los Arcos are nice.
If seeing Cabo is really your goal, just fly down like Soulpatch says. While there is much natural beauty and some other things to see there, it is
minimized by the generic tourist development that begins before you reach San Jose del Cabo. If you have just 8 days and drive all the way there, you
won't have much time to find the good things there, and with the traffic it WILL take time.
Better to see the more relaxed parts of Baja and save Cabo for your second trip, or a fly-in separate trip. Most people do want ot come again.
Mexico 1 is not like a US highway-- the driving is slower.
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Wingnut
Nomad
Posts: 171
Registered: 5-5-2007
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Member Is Offline
Mood: Baja Pensive
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Bosh
If seeing Baja is your goal and you have only 8 days to do it in, follow David
s short trip from San Diego and enjoy it.
If your intent is to get to the party city of Cabo San Lucas, then I would fly directly there and rent a car at the airport. The airport is located
north of both San Jose Cabo and Cabo San Lucas. Once in Cabo SL you can enjoy the nightlife until you are partied out and take side trips. One of the
best is a day trip to Todos Santos, the site of the real Hotel California. Or a trip up to La Paz, the capital of Baja Sur.
Just so you understand, traveling and seeing Baja is a lifetime goal. It has taken a number of the Nomads most of their life to explore it and no one
has seen it all, it's just too grand. Get a map of Baja California, you can get them at Borders, and take a look. There is only 1 major highway down
the peninsula and it is a narrow two lane blacktop that is not maintained well in all spots. Some area's cross arroyos that rains or hurricanes wash
out and need repair. The average speed is 70 to 80 miles an hour and everybody drives halfway in the other lane around curves and blind spots. If you
drive at night, you are writing your own death certificate unless you have experience on the road. Even the most well traveled Nomad won't drive at
night. Thus traveling takes a lot longer. Certain areas particularily south of Ensenada are awash in traffic speed bumps slowing traffic through small
towns. Besides, you will want to take time and enjoy your trip. Just food for thought.
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Bedman
Senior Nomad
Posts: 523
Registered: 9-4-2002
Location: Orange County, CA.
Member Is Offline
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Only one thing I would add to the list of "Must Do's"
Get a visa IF your travelling beyond Guerro Negro.
Bedman
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64858
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
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Boshvideo, Cabo is a whole seperate place that is not really like anywhere else in Baja... and deserves to be saved for another trip (or avoided all
together, depending on what you seek in Baja)!
The visa that Bedman mentions is the 'tourist card' you obtain at the border, by pulling into secondary (something to declare) parking and walk into
the INM door facing the parking area. Show your IDs or passport, get the card, take it to the bank teller (almost next door) to pay the fee (about
$21), go back to INM office, request 180 days if you are coming back to Baja within 6 months and you are on your way...
As mentioned above, San Ignacio rates up there with 'real Baja' in my book, along with L.A. Bay, Concepcion Bay, Gonzaga Bay and a whole bunch of dirt
road destinations you will need to do after you buy your 4WD!
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Boshvideo
Nomad
Posts: 137
Registered: 6-12-2007
Location: Philly
Member Is Offline
Mood: chill
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Many thanks to David K, Bedman, Wingnut, Paula and Soulpatch for your insightful suggestions. I can see that a trip down the Baja is not an everyday
walk in the park. I was able to put together two weeks to travel from TJ to Cabo San Lucas. My plan is to start in LA and take a bus or train down to
TJ and rent a car from National. Drive the distance and then fly out back home. My questions are:
Is this a doable time frame?
Is National a reliable company to deal with?
Is there a better way for me to get started on this adventure then doing the bus/train idea.
I'm sure I'm forgetting many questions but I still have some weeks before heading off.
Many thanks, once again for all your collective help. This site is wonderful.
It\'s easier to get forgiveness then permission.
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