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viabaja
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Posts: 277
Registered: 10-6-2003
Location: Georgia
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Shell Island/Beach Percebu/Bahia de Santa Maria
For those who are wanting to camp at Shell Island/Beach - be aware that something has been going on recently. Met a lady there who was camped on the
beach last Fri. She imparted this info from 2 weeks ago - A Mexican national came up to her and her kids and said " You do not want to camp here
tonite" Her response was yes I do. He said again - You do not want to camp here tonite - for your health" The light came on & she understood that
something illegal was coming ashore that night. She prudently packed up her stuff and moved on. Please note copy of previous e-mail on subject.
This stuff appears to go in waves during certain seasons & years. I have seen & heard pangas with no lights in the dead of night right off the shore
line. One just closes the tent flap & goes back to sleep.
Again, more info to make one's trip more enjoyable & hassle free.
"I would think access was all the time to the beach, even when it gets wet. People need to understand that is not so. The access (there are 2) and I
don't count crossing at Percebu or from Santa Maria as part of it, does get water at a 16'7" high tide. The higher the tide, the more water it holds
that equates to soft clay mud that will suck the uneducated upto the floor boards! It takes a week or more to dry out - depending on the tide height.
I pulled out a 4x4 (2) weeks ago who misjudged. His comment was he heard that it was accessable all the time, even when wet.
Just info for those wanting to camp on Shell Beach/Island. Also & unfortunate, the stretch of beach is a "zoo" during holiday weekends. I was down
over Memorial weekend and because the tides permitted access, there were (I'm not joking) at least 100+ people up & down the beach with all their
trash, loud music, & noisy ATV's! It is becoming too well known and like everything else in Baja, getting trashed. I've been down on weekdays and have
been surprised by the amount of people camped.
One other comment. The locals call that area "drug beach" due to the pangas coming in at night dropping off their loads. This is because there are no
houses there, it's not too far from San Felipe, access is reasonable with a 4x4 on low tides, and is not watched alot by the Army. For those who are
camping, keep to yourselves at night and don't put alot of interest in lights off the water."
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jrbaja
Ultra Nomad
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Tis the season
so to speak 
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JESSE
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La Mota is coming.
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jrbaja
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For some real excitement,
go remote camping along the coast anywhere between Loreto and El Centenario during the harvest season.
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David K
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That's good info Chris. If I wasn't clear on the radio, it is an ISLAND, a barrier island that does (at extreme tides) get seperated from the rest of
Baja... makes the place all the more special. That elevated causeway put in about 1984 is pretty much toast, so the original track is probably best...
the one Bob and Pat Hale use to drive their motorhome (2WD) onto the beach. Here is a photo I took Memorial Day, 2003 of some four wheeler who tried
to drive to the island... across the (at low tide) empty lagoon! This was directly across from where I was camping in my Toyota.
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David K
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Here is where I spent the night after exploring with mcgyver... this was a holiday weekend, but the higher tides may have limited traffic from
Percebu... That stuck Bronco is the opposite direction from the camera, across the lagoon of Percebu.
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MrBillM
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Shell Beach (Island ?)
Boy, it sure makes me want to avoid the place.
As far as being an "Island" as opposed to being
part of a tidal estuary, doesn't an ISLAND have
to be surrounded by water at all times ?
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David K
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Bill it is just my romantic name for this beach, since 1977... "Island" sounds more exotic, it is a barrier island, Capt. Mike's giant pilot's wall
map shows it as an island, and there already is a "Shell Beach" in Baja (at Punta Chivato).
Actually, here in San Diego we have at least three 'islands' not totally surrounded by water: Shelter Island, Harbor Island, Coronado Island.
In this satellite image, the long thin beach appears as a barrier island backed by lagoons and salt flats/mud flats with Percebu to the north and
Bahia Santa Maria to the south.
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David K
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Here's a closer aerial view, looking south from the north end of the island... just east of Rancho Percebu. Photo by BajaMur
in Doug Bowles' Cessna 206 enroute to Alfonsina's.
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David K
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We meet 'Via Baja'
Here is Mike Humfreville and Via Baja on Shell Island, Feb. 2004.
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MrBillM
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David : Another Ersatz "Island"
The most "odd" Island of all is NORTH ISLAND which is simply
the North End of Coronado Island.
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viabaja
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Stuck Bronco
Dave,
In regard to the stuck Bronco, I met the owners group last July 4th. They were camping on the north end of the beach. This time they were driving a
beautiful kicked up Ford Excursion. They were all from S. Africa, working in L.A. They said that Bronco was stuck for 3 days!
Long story short - I drove my CJ5 through some mud & salt water and misjudged the water depth (yes, I erred despite my knowledge of the area)! It was
a very high tide that weekend. The CJ died with water upto the floor boards. Not stuck, just wet. Could not start it! These guys were kind enough to
winch me out and tow me back to Percebu when we couldn't start it. What a great group of people! Their story of the Bronco, being stuck for 3 days
came out during conversations.
Took the CJ home for the summer and refurbished it. Saltwater is not kind to a 24 year old machine nor my checkbook! MrBillM, who is my Percebu
neighbor couldn't beleive it!
Chris
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synch
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So does the tide ever fully submerge the barrier island there?
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viabaja
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Normally no. However, the water can at times (high wind, high tides, storms) creep over the top of the beach by the dunes and go over into the back
estuary.
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Herb
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Does anyone know this guy...
A few years back, I was camping with my daughter at Percebu during a high tide time, and I encountered this guy who lived in the area and obviously
new the tides well. He would drive out to this spot during low tide (dry all the way) and launch his boat from a trailer. He would then go out fishing
until the next low tide when he would return and hook up his boat and tow it back across the dry sand. The first time he parked there, I watched the
tide coming in and thought, "OMG he's out at sea and he's going to be really bummed when he comes back!" But he obviously knew what he was doing as
his car stayed high and dry on it's own little "island".
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MrBillM
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Local Knowledge
Back in August, I drove out on that very same sandbar
In one of my Samurais. It was about an hour before
high tide and I GUESSED that I would be OK. As the tide
came in, it got closer and closer, first covering the
middle of the bar. I got more and more concerned,
however it stopped INCHES short of my wheels to my
relief. When I drove back up the hill later in the
afternoon, a neighbor couple said "Boy, you sure know
those tides". Right ! I just said that it took
experience and didn't mention that I was sure I
might have screwed up.
It is pretty easy to guage approximately if you've
been there the day before and you've consulted the
tide calender, but it's not an exact science,
especially if the wind comes up.
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viabaja
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Bill said it right!
If the wind had come up , even on an out-going tide, the water could have come up another 3-6 inches. The wind could be blowing 30-50 miles south of
there and you wouldn't know it. But you'd find out when the tide exceeded the chart numbers! The guy in the picture was pushing his luck!!
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jrbaja
Ultra Nomad
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That would be a cool picture
1' wind chop and a truck sitting there.
Who's first ?
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synch
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Mood: wandering...
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Cool photo!
The blue-green water behing the truck sure makes it look like there is some depth right off the sandbar island
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HotSchott
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We were there in July / August. Tides were at 19' 5" and the island was an island from all directions. The levy is still the best approach even in
it's current condition. The "Slot" right before the beach is usually 6" to 8" of mud and gets torn up with each high tide over about 16'. If there
is any wind the levy is at least three feet deep and you are not leaving or entering the island for three or four hours. If you stay on the
"two-track" as Neal Johns calls it and you have 4x4 traction I believe it is passable at its worst. After the high tide fills the Slot there will be
a fresh layer of mud, but it is compacted sand below. There was at least five feet of water over the the end of the levy on July 30 and 31st. I had
the truck backed up on the dunes and the water was over the island in a couple of spots just north of where we camp. The high water mark was about
10-feet from our camo net / palapa.
I am curious about the original thread here. Who was the woman camped with her kids? Has she ever owned a Rottweiler? I am guessing she was camped
right near the entrance (a place we usually avoid because of the traffic). She should have told the clown that there would be sixty girlscouts camped
there in a couple of hours.
All told I have camped there 14 or 15 times in the same spot over the last few years. Even during the busiest holiday weekends I have never seen more
than 25 or 30 people on the island and few stay overnight. As beautiful as the place is, it can be inhospitable. Daytime temps over 100 and 85 - 90
percent humidity and no shade that you didn't bring with you. It can be extremely windy with absolutely no notice. No kidding, zero to sixty MPH
wind in 30 seconds! It gets cold in the winter at can be cool anytime. I have spent time there and seen noone for days at a time. We did not see
one person for three days at the end of July. I have never seen anyone other than the fish camps leave any trash on the beach. I don't believe that
anyone should ever be threatened into leaving there. It is one of the few, beautiful open access beaches I have seen that are as clean and offer
potentially mesmerizing days and nights. The big tides on days with little wind and a full moon - or new moon with a trillion stars make this place
one of the most unique camping locations this close to the USA. There are still fish to be caught from the shore too.
I can't even count the good things about a trip to shell island. It is truly a special place.
Steve
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