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SteveD
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San Ignacio Recommendations
We are planing on driving to San Ignacio next February for some Whale Watching. Can anyone recommend a good place to stay? (no camping-our old
arthritic bodies need a minimum of comfort now!)
Thanks
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mtgoat666
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| Quote: | Originally posted by SteveD
We are planing on driving to San Ignacio next February for some Whale Watching. Can anyone recommend a good place to stay? (no camping-our old
arthritic bodies need a minimum of comfort now!)
Thanks |
best place at the lagoon is Kuyima's cabins.
in town, the desert inn is nice and an easy walk to town square. there is a cute B&B on town square, but don't know name.
kuyima runs best day trips from village to lagoon
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shari
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Ignacio Springs is lovely but make reservations far in advance or Casa Leree is sweet too close to the town square.
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David K
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| Quote: | Originally posted by shari
Ignacio Springs is lovely but make reservations far in advance or Casa Leree is sweet too close to the town square. |
Ignacio Springs: http://www.ignaciosprings.com Stayed there last July.
Casa Leree: http://www.murrietawebdesign.com/test/leree/index.html
Motel option: Ricardo's next to Rice and Beans restaurant: http://wikimapia.org/10205849/Ricardo%E2%80%99s-Hotel-and-Ri...
[Edited on 11-21-2009 by David K]
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Udo
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I agree with Shari and goat666.
Ignacio springs B&B offers yurts or small cabins with shared bath facilities. As part of your stay, you get free use of the kayaks to paddle
around the lagoons.
Casa Leree is in a class all it's own. The owner, Juanita, owns a very old building that has only a handful of rooms, but the aromas and history of
San Ignacio make the stay worthwhile. Juanita will fill you with San Ignacio's history when she visits with you in her library. This is my choice if
you like history as well as rustic with your B&B.
The advantage to Kuyima's cabins is that you are staying right at the lagoon's edge and are listening to the whale's moanings all night. Food is also
available. The other advantage is that there is no 45 minute ride on a small tour bus to take you to the lagoon.
The other alternative is to join the Discover Baja Club (and get your insurance and FM-T's while you are at it) and you will be allowed to stay at
their tent cabins near the point of the peninsula. You can also caravan with them on the way down. All this is for a fee, of course.
The tent cabins are an experience of a lifetime, therefore bring the kids!
You can google all the places for reviews, but you may call Juanita at 01152-615-154-0158, or www at janebames@prodigy.net.mx.
The Desert Inn is a regular motel, Baja style. Food is OK but you are better off eating at the cafe's near the plaza.
Note: If you cross Tecate 6:30 to 7 a.m. and you already have your insurance and FM-T's for everyone, you should be able to make San Ignacio well
before dark. And that includes a lunch stop in San Quintin or El Rosario.
Enjoy!
p.s. Thanks David for the www's. I forgot to include them. I am guessing we both were writing our posts at the same time, huh??
[Edited on 11-21-2009 by udowinkler]
Udo
Youth is wasted on the young!
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Bajahowodd
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I concur with just about everything posted. Since you aren't looking to camp, you should pass on any of the facilities around the lagoon. They are
fairly primitive and it does get quite chilly at night out there. Both Ignacio Springs and Casa Leree are quite unique and comfortable. They both have
a very limited number of rooms. Even at the Desert Inn, which is decent, with 28 rooms, it can fill up that time of year, as tour operators tend to
use their facilities for large groups. As for Ricardo's Rice & Beans, I can recommend it for a meal, but the accomodations are very basic. That
said, we've only stayed in rooms in their main building. If anyone out there has stayed in the newer building across the lot, I'd like to hear if the
rooms are any better. In an absolute pinch, there are a couple of other places out on or by highway one.
Udo, I guess you don't follow the posted speed limit. Border to San Ignacio is a
doable, but strenuous haul. Forward progress is very dependent upon truck and bus traffic on the mountain stretches. We usually make one overnight on
the way down, preferably at Jardines in San Quintin, especially for the restaurant.
[Edited on 11-21-2009 by Bajahowodd]
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Barry A.
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I personallly would never attempt it in one day-------that would be torture, it seems to me, especially in the winter when the days are short.
Baja Cactus beside the PEMEX station in El rosario would be our choice for a night in route, or the hotel & restaurant in Catavina in the midst of
the beautiful "rock garden".
Just me, of course.
Barry
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woody with a view
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12 hours border to san ig. no big deal, if there is a big south swell in the water.......
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Udo
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| Quote: | Originally posted by woody in ob
12 hours border to san ig. no big deal |
That's right!
Udo
Youth is wasted on the young!
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Barry A.
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-----Yep, right you are--------I am good for about 6-8 hrs per day, period, and I prefer 6. (yes, it's great to be retired)
--------but what ever 
Barry
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mulegemichael
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san ignacio b and b was our host last year and it was one of the most pleasurable times in our 60ish lives...great hosts, fab food, and our time on
the lagoon was off the charts
dyslexia is never having to say you\'re yrros.
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David K
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Well, the sun rises about 6 am in the winter and is dark around 4 :30... So as to not drive in the dark through Tijuana... You would need to be at the
border about 6 (where are you stating from?)... and have 10.5 daylight hours... The best you could hope for on Hwy. 1 with stops for fuel, etc. is 50
mph average... It will be close if you don't stop long for long to eat or stretch your legs, and can drive over the 80 km. speed limit frequently!!.
It is 535 miles to San Ignacio from Tijuana (10.5 hrs at 50 mph).
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Bajahowodd
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Probably could start a new thread on this. There are a number of reasons people travel extremely long distances at a stretch, such as having limited
time off work. And I must confess to having made the trip from Cabo to Orange County with a single overnight at San Ignacio. But, as a number of older
farts on this board have come to realize, there are so many great places to stay, places to eat, and wonderful people to meet up and down the
peninsula, if one has the luxury of time, there are so many things to enjoy. Case in point- I still recall the first time I encountered Guerrero
Negro. Many years ago,was headed South for the first time past Ensenada. I was actually disappointed after all those miles traveled through empty
spaces. Bleak appearance. Dusty. No trees. Anyway, over the years, I have come to know the town and its people. I actually look forward to stopping
there.
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David K
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Bajahowodd
Probably could start a new thread on this. There are a number of reasons people travel extremely long distances at a stretch, such as having limited
time off work. And I must confess to having made the trip from Cabo to Orange County with a single overnight at San Ignacio. But, as a number of older
farts on this board have come to realize, there are so many great places to stay, places to eat, and wonderful people to meet up and down the
peninsula, if one has the luxury of time, there are so many things to enjoy. Case in point- I still recall the first time I encountered Guerrero
Negro. Many years ago,was headed South for the first time past Ensenada. I was actually disappointed after all those miles traveled through empty
spaces. Bleak appearance. Dusty. No trees. Anyway, over the years, I have come to know the town and its people. I actually look forward to stopping
there. |
Very true... typical company mining town years ago... Santa Rosalia was the same (ugly, dirty, etc.)... How much things have changed! Now both places
are much more interesting and enjoyable to go to!
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woody with a view
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we time our driving to coincide with sun up around maneadero. if you're afraid of the dark on the toll road then you might as well stay home.
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David K
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The toll road in the dark is the BIGGEST area where crime against innocent people has been happening... I am very relaxed driving south of Ensenada in
the dark, and have done so frequently to get to El Rosario on a Friday evening... It is the Tijuana-Ensenada 'corridor of crime' that has had the most
warnings! Remember the friends of the McMillins after the start of the 2007 Baja 1000, who drove back north towing a McMillin trailer, in the night,
who got car-jacked and lost everything in a night of terror at gunpoint? McMillin Racing boycotted Baja racing for a year after that. That was very
near Rosarito, on the toll road.
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Hook
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David, that was an isolated incident, in retrospect.
The biggest danger on the highway is the HIGHWAY. Since it is much better north of Maneadero than south, I agree with Woody. Dark driving as far as
there, is much preferred to the area from Maneadero to ER. The road is much narrower and very windy until you get to the coastal plain north of SQ.
And there is a much greater likelihood of getting stuck behind some slow moving vehicle. No fun as you begin to nod off cause you still have3-4 hours
of night driving to go to ER.
SI from the border on a winter day isn't recommended, IMO. Even leaving from Maneadero at gray light is a grind.
In the summer, it's very doable; provided you can put up with the wife's grousing about the length of the drive.
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David K
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Agree Hook as I have driven from San Ignacio to home years ago... and even from Mulege to home in one drive (2007).
But Winter has short days and you lose an hour going south, too.
I was just trying to give someone cautious advice... and everyone who comments about safety in Baja with the narco-terrorism says DON'T DRIVE at night
in Tijuana/ Ensenada corridor...
Anyway, he was asking about a place to stay, not driving times...
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Barry A.
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I really concentrate and stay focused when I drive that road------and that is a lot to ask of my poor brain-------after 6 hours I am pooped, mentally,
not physically.
I love to relax before I go out for a great dinner, or when camping prepare my meal in the light of the evening------
Life is too short to "press on", it seems to me, and there is so much more to see when driving at about 45 or 50.
Yeah, I know, I am a wooooooose.
Barry
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Udo
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| Quote: | Originally posted by woody in ob
we time our driving to coincide with sun up around maneadero. |
I agree with woody. And I am sure he also gets his paperwork in order prior to crossing.
Udo
Youth is wasted on the young!
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