mooose29
Nomad
Posts: 201
Registered: 10-1-2008
Location: Encinitas/Punta Chivato, Rancho Partera
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Mood: All Smiles
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Birthday Trip with a whale shark
Baja Birthday trip 5/3/12 to 5/6/12
A quick but memorable trip down to Punta Chivato.
I decided some time ago that I wanted to spend my birthday at PC and when an old college couple of ours wanted to come and visit we convinced them
they should come with us. The only problem was they only had 2 days vacation so it would cut our trip shorter by a day and a half. We originally
thought we would go down Wed-Mon morning but changed that to Thursday-Sunday.
We left our house in Encinitas at 4:30 am. Knowing that the TJ boarder was no longer open 24 hours to get our friends visa’s stamped we went to Otay
Mesa as Carol at Discover Baja told us it was open 24 hours still. We also had our friends get set up with the visa’s ahead of time from Discover
Baja. I figured leaving that early the bank would not be open and it wasn’t so being able to pre pay was key to getting an early start and getting
the visa’s stamped and getting on our way.
We did almost get started off on the wrong foot. Not having ever cleared at Otay before we got all the way over in the declare lane which was right,
then were told to continue to the right to the back parking lot for the customs office. I asked about getting our visa’s stamped and they pointed me
to the customs office. We went in and I asked the nice young lady behind the counter about getting our visa’s stamped and she said OK lets go see
your car. Now I will admit I was a bit confused because I did not see the immigration logo and I was not sure we understood each other perfectly in
our mix of languages. She got out to the car and saw that we had nothing to declare and looked confused. When I again explained we just needed to
get our visa’s stamped she said they didn’t do that at this border and I would have to go to the airport to get that done. At this point I knew we
were in serious jeopardy of keeping to our plan of getting to PC by evening. I asked her if she was sure we could not get them stamped here and she
very nicely said she was sure and that the airport was very close and would not be a problem. At this point I was really confused as I had been told
by a ton of people that we could get this done here. As I started to ask her again if she was mistaken the other agent that was with her finally
caught on to what was happening and corrected her and told us that if we walked back towards the way we came (the border) that the office was the last
one on our left. Sure enough we walked backed about 100 M found the office woke up the officer that was in there laying on the couch got our visa’s
stamped and we were on our way, phew disaster averted. Interesting at this office he had a passport scanner never seen that at TJ.
We got on Blvd 2000 and hit the toll rd 35-40 minutes later after a couple of km of driving on the free rd.
We made great time never going too fast but always moving at a good clip. I say it almost every time the last several years but I am still amazed at
the lack of traffic on the roads these days. There were a fair amount of trucks but seemed like fewer than usual and we saw almost no motor homes or
Americans north or sound bound. We had to pass only a handful of cars all day. We did see a fair amount of police both municipal and federal but
never any issues.
The checkpoints were smooth and quick, having 2 large dogs in the back of the Suburban helps make them go a bit quicker and also having only a cooler
and a couple of bags helps. We stopped for gas at El Rosario, used the bathroom at Baja Cactus and were on the rd. Keep moving was my mantra for the
day. Another stop in Jesus Maria for food and Gas top off. We ate at the restaurant by the gas station and it was really good, have never eaten
there before but will definitely do so again. Next stop San Bruno for Groceries and we were at the house enjoying a cold one and sitting on the deck
at 7:00. A long day but well worth the reward at the end of it. All in all about 14:30 hours with a stop for groceries, 2 gas stops, 30 minutes for
lunch, and 4 quick inspections.
The weather was perfect mid to high 80’s with a breeze in the afternoon to keep things comfortable. It would cool off in the evening where you could
put on a sweatshirt or just keep you tee shirt on and were fine. The water is warming up nicely, probably mid 70’s I went swimming every day and was
very comfortable. Still a fair amount of stingrays so make sure you shuffle your feet at all times.
The highlight of the trip was on Sat afternoon we were sitting on the patio, enjoying the day when I noticed a commotion in the water about 100 yds
off the beach. At first I thought it was a dolphin, then a shark, then a shark eating/molesting something, etc… My wife said lets go out on the
kayak and check it out. As we were paddling to it we could see it getting bigger and bigger and she turned to me and said “Are you sure this is a
good idea????” I of course said yes and at this point I was pretty sure we were just looking at one animal a whale shark!! We got to about 10 feet
and stopped rowing and it turned right to us and came up and bumped the kayak and we both got to touch it. My wife was still a bit nervous as this
thing was about 5+ feet longer then our 12 foot Kayak and it was probably twice as wide. We were in awe I have always wanted to see a whale shark and
swim with one but I have never seen one let alone this close to shore. As we paddled next to it for a while my wife said to me” you are going to get
in the water with it aren’t you”? I said yup and just like that I was in the water and she was filming on our water proof camera, I will attach a
link once I post it. At first it swam away from me and I thought he saw me and did not want anything to do with me. He then turned around and swam
right at me with his mouth wide open feeding. I moved a little to the side, I could have fit in his mount and as he went by I was able to rub his
body. He passed me and then circled back for another pass this time I grabbed his dorsal and went for a ride. I am 6’2, 215 pounds and I felt
absolutely tiny. I would ride him for a minute drop off then he would turn around and we would do it again almost like he was playing with my or
maybe I was just in the line of where his food was, either way it was an experience I will never forget!!! We did this for 10-15 minutes then we
decided to let him be.
We enjoyed great meals, great friendship and few drinks along the way, Long walks on the beach and swims with the dogs, and a few Scrabble throw
downs, there is absolutely no other place I would have rater been those days.
Sunday came way too soon while 2 days was certainly worth it 3 would have been better as would have 4,5,6,7, etc… Normally we stay for at least a
week so after 2 we felt like we were just getting into the Baja groove.
We left at 5 am and motored home, again very little traffic for the most part the roads are in the best shape they have been in that I have seen.
Stopped for gas at the new Vizcaino station East end of town then stopped for gas a lunch at Moma’s in El Rosario. I had the burrito's de Jaiba and
everyone else had Taco's de Carne, they were out of langousta. I know the opinions are varied but my family has been going there for years (25+)and I
have never had a bad meal or been sick nor has any of the dozens of friends and family we have taken there. Just my opinion for what it’s worth.
We passed my parents heading south just north of Moma’s and stopped for a 10 minute chat to fill them in on the house, stuff, and just to say hi, and
of couse tell them amout the Whale Shark. We kind of knew from the timing of when we each left in the morning (them from Solana Beach us from PC)
where we thought we would see each other and we were very close.
Got to the boarder at 6:17 took the rd next to the fence rd and the normal street to get in line looks permanently blocked so we went up just past the
mall and got onto The main rd Paseo de los Heroes and found the end of the line. We should have gone through TJ as we have the last few times and
just dealt with the traffic. Unfortunately not coming in that direction before we did not know that would put us in the far left boarder lane which I
think is by far the slowest because you get the cars that get sent back across the border by the Mexican authorities when crossing south. In my
opinion the lane next to the vendors is by far the fastest. We debated using Blvd 2000 going north as well and crossing at Otay but thought since it
has fewer lanes that crossing on Cinco de Mayo weekend it might take longer.
Our friends had a plane to catch at 10:50 from SD so as the hours ticked by they were starting to get nervous. We were within about 15 cars of the
border at 8:45 and I was thinking we were good then it seemed like every car had an issue and it literally took us 45 minutes to move the last 100
feet. We crossed at 9:30 and dropped them at the curb at 10:00, they made their plane by 15 minutes.
At the end what an absolute crazy trip but it was worth every minute, even the driving and I would do it again right now.
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El Camote
Senior Nomad
Posts: 514
Registered: 9-7-2003
Location: Above the clouds
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Mood: y Blues
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Great report of a bullet trip. I'll be the first nomad to hound you on getting that whale shark footage up! 
Knowledge is good. - Emil Faber
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Marc
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 2802
Registered: 5-15-2010
Location: San Francisco & Palm Springs
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Mood: Waiting
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Unfortunately no underwater camera on board. We jumped in and as I touched the tail fin my buddy caught a short ride downward. Gentle giants they are;
and they don't seem to mind our intrusion into their world.
This was in BOLA. We were in Henry Daggett's boat. Later on Henry gave a clinic on catching fish; each cast=a fish.
Marco
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gallesram
Nomad
Posts: 384
Registered: 7-6-2010
Location: Laguna Beach
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We saw a bunch of them at Playa Burro and Santa Barbara last May in the Bay; we counted 4. We're going down next week and I hope that they make their
way back into the Bay for our trip!
Moose, I have made that "shotgun" trip several times myself and now that the road is in great shape, it's really not that bad. 2 things that have
really helped: 1) make it to San Quintin the night before so you can be up and on the road by 6:00 am which puts you in PC (or Mulege) by 3:30
without having to rush (but just stick to the mantra of "keep going") and 2) get SENTRI so the return border crossing is a non-issue; longest I have
ever waited is 20 minutes on return, even on "prime time" Sunday afternoons.
A "shotgun" trip is always better than "no" trip IMHO!
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