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C205Driver
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ESCONDIDO to BAHIA DE LOS ANGELES
. . .Good Morning All. . .IF all works out we are thinking of driving from Escondido by way of a Calexico down to BOLA late September. . . EARLY start
& lunch / gas in San Felipe & couple beers with Coco then to BOLA. . Any idea on drive time?. Which hotels in BOLA have a useable pool?
Besides Ricardos who else does whale sharks? Have they improved the "road" to the houses at the South end of the Bay? Last time there was 2013 by way
of TJ with a couple nites @ Mikes Sky Ranch & then to PSFO by way of a goat trail towing a trailer. . .That is another story. . .Thanks for the
replies!!!
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larryC
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It takes me 10 hours to drive down there from San Diego through Mexicali and on down to Bola, your time will vary. The only 2 pools in Bola that I
can think of are the Villa Vita in town and Los Vientos out in La Gringa. Both seem to be usable. There are quite a few whale shark pangas in town so
no problem there. The road is paved now all the way out to La Gringa. Enjoy your stay.
Off grid, 12-190 watt evergreen solar panels on solar trackers, 2-3648 stacked Outback inverters, 610ah LiFePo4 48v battery bank, FM 60 and MX60
Outback charge controllers, X-240 Outback transformer for 240v from inverters, 6500 watt Kubota diesel generator.
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C205Driver
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. . .Thanks LarryC. . . I thought so on the hotels ; any idea on rates / which is more cost effective???. . .TIA
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larryC
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No idea. They probably both have web sites. Villa Vita being right in town gives you easy access to taco stands and grocery stores. Los Vientos is
about 5 miles out of town and right on the water so nice beach combing. The road is paved all the way out there so no big deal.
Off grid, 12-190 watt evergreen solar panels on solar trackers, 2-3648 stacked Outback inverters, 610ah LiFePo4 48v battery bank, FM 60 and MX60
Outback charge controllers, X-240 Outback transformer for 240v from inverters, 6500 watt Kubota diesel generator.
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pinchyelguapo
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Got back on Tuesday from a long weekend in Bahia. We traveled through Mexicali - San Felipe - Gonzaga Bay like you're planning.
It took 8 hours of actual drive time (not including stops) in a lightly loaded 2013 stock Wrangler. There are only 22 miles of off-road left between
the Hwy 5 and Hwy 1.
4h30m - Mission Beach to San Felipe
1h30m - San Felipe to Gonzaga Bay
50m - Off-road
1h10m - Chapala to Bahia
I've stayed at both Los Vientos and Villa Vita. Los Vientos was 7 years ago and never again. Then, it was a pretend "Luxury Hotel" with an empty pool,
your very own pet ants inside the room, and double/triple the rate of other motels in the area. I've stayed at Villa Vita 6 times and it is always
perfectly adequate. The pool is always full and the AC always works which is the most you should expect in Bahia. At $50-$70 / night, it works
perfectly for what you want. Mario is the Manager at Villa Vita, from Tijuana, and speaks English pretty good if that is a concern.
Whale Sharks were the best I've ever seen last weekend (7 years experience). About 15-20 in the bay right now including a "big mama" at 33 feet. She
has 2 vertical scars on her top side making her easy to recognize in addition to her massive-ness. There are many choices with pangas (I think there
are 20 licenses for the bay). I've been using Ricardo Arce's service for the last 4 years and it's a bit more expensive than others. The prices have
went up each year (this year was $200 for 6 hours) Mario (yep another Mario) is the captain that we always request. He doesn't speak English well (or
maybe not at all), but my girlfriend is fluent and I'm no slouch myself. Captain Mario has the eyes of a Frigatebird! He spots whale sharks under the
surface from 100 yards away. In addition, to whale sharks, we do some sight seeing, fishing, and clamming/"oystering". We met some new friends at
Villa Vita who hired a $120 boat from somewhere else and didn't even have half the experience we had.
We went out 2 days and had great experience both days, but the last hour of the 2nd day was mind blowing. 9+ whale sharks feeding up and down the
water column not leaving a 200 foot square. We slipped in the warm sea and didn't get out for over an hour. There were times during the hour that you
had to do your best not to get hit by a dorsal or tail fin, sometimes all 9 sharks were visible to us at the same time.
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AKgringo
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Welcome to the forum! Most people (including me) start out with a question, but you lead off with a timely, interesting and useful trip report!
Good on you....and keep them coming!
If you are not living on the edge, you are taking up too much space!
"Could do better if he tried!" Report card comments from most of my grade school teachers. Sadly, still true!
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pinchyelguapo
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Thanks AKgringo! I've been using this forum for several years as a visitor to glean whatever info I could get on road conditions, hurricane reports,
etc. I thought it was time to "payback" the community with the little knowledge I have.
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woody with a view
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Hey P-nche that sounds like a damn good time in the bay. We've got about 35 days before we launch, but who's
counting?😬🌴⛱
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pinchyelguapo
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Yeah Woody... I've been in early October several times before and always was able to find a couple - 5 whale sharks, but since 3 years been going
first weekend after Labor Day. It's a night/day difference with the amount of giant fish in the bay. I'll see if I can try to figure out how to post a
video. Looked like a mf-ing shark orgy at one point.
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pinchyelguapo
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250kb uploads? Whoa, no video for sure!
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woody with a view
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Load the vids to youtube and put the link here.
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C205Driver
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. . .Hey Pinchy. . .Nice report; I had that feeling about Los Vientos when we pulled in & looked around a few years back; it was deserted & NO
one around, but, had that expensive look. .. . . Depending on if life is good for us the next few weeks we should be down there near the end of the
month; hopefully snorkel with the whale sharks. . . Flew down about 5-6 years ago & when we went out the ENTIRE bay was flatter then glass; down
at the South end they stared popping up at 9AM & coulda walked on their backs it was so crowded!!!!! Used Ricardo's Dive Shop & they had a
nice boat & good help. . . Wife & my Jet Jockey buddy want it off the bucket list ( AND gotta celebrate a few B-Days ). . . Next day flew to
PSFO & had 60-70MPH winds & sand in everything for 3 days ( It was ugly ). . .Only redeeming thing on that was that after wind died down
walked out of palapa & came upon a turtle laying it eggs; got Juan, Mingo & Rosa to come out & look. . .They got all excited. . .Last time
there at PSFO it looked like the coyotes had dug up over 60 spots & raided the eggs. . .Sad for my wife & I to look at. . .After BOLA we are
hoping to hit the Hacienda in Mulege for our annual ritual. . . Thank you all for the input!!!!!!!
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pinchyelguapo
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Yeah, by the looks/sounds of it your girl and friend(s) should definitely have a bucket list item crossed off! Sooner the better though!
Sad to hear about turtles. C'est la vie. Good news is that we saw 100+ of really shy (because the locals still eat them!) turtles while in BOLA.
By the way, 4x4 recommended but not necessary for the off-road portion.
Have a great trip!
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mtgoat666
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Quote: Originally posted by larryC  | | It takes me 10 hours to drive down there from San Diego through Mexicali and on down to Bola, your time will vary. The only 2 pools in Bola that I
can think of are the Villa Vita in town and Los Vientos out in La Gringa. Both seem to be usable. There are quite a few whale shark pangas in town so
no problem there. The road is paved now all the way out to La Gringa. Enjoy your stay. |
Back in Early summer the los Vientos pool was murky and silty. Not sure they know how to operate the filtration system and cleaner,...
Never a good plan to expect a remote pool in Baja to be operational.
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Marc
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Henry Daggett took us out a few years back. We jumped in with this one.
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C205Driver
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. . .For those of you that have gone thru Tecate *AND* Mexicali . . .Which routing would you recommend & why?? One better than the other?. . .TIA.
. .
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mtgoat666
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| Quote: Originally posted by C205Driver | | . . .For those of you that have gone thru Tecate *AND* Mexicali . . .Which routing would you recommend & why?? One better than the other?. . .TIA.
. . |
For variety, we do southbound via TJ and 1, and northbound via 5 and Mexicali. Crossing via tecate is way slower route than TJ or Mexicali.
5 is a bit easier drive, as there or less traffic "stress". But 5 and 1 take about same amount of time, from San Diego area.
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DENNIS
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HEY WOODY...CHECK YOUR U2U...........
"YOU CAN'T LITTER ALUMINUM"
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woody with a view
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Thanks, D!!!
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larryC
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I have gone through Tecate and also through Mexicali. I prefer Mexicali but the La Rumerosa grade is something everyone should experience at least
once. The bottom of those cliffs must be littered with vehicles and big trucks. Makes the grade up and out of Santa Rosalia look tame by comparison.
Much better and wider roads going through Mexicali.
On another note the Los Vientos motel is under new ownership so a lot of what was seen in the past is changed.
[Edited on 9-18-2016 by larryC]
Off grid, 12-190 watt evergreen solar panels on solar trackers, 2-3648 stacked Outback inverters, 610ah LiFePo4 48v battery bank, FM 60 and MX60
Outback charge controllers, X-240 Outback transformer for 240v from inverters, 6500 watt Kubota diesel generator.
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