Exploring Baja - Week One: Tecate to Bahía de los Ángeles
Beach south of San Quintin accessed by El Pabelllon Campground
First seven days - Tecate to Bahía de los Ángeles, approx 440 miles
We are figuring out things as we go. We have been living full time in our truck for six months but this is our first international trip in our truck and our first trip to Baja! We felt hesitant about embarking on this trip, the global pandemic looms large and rumors of unsafe drug activity abound. But as Dawn’s favorite bard says “you can’t lose a game if you don’t play the game.”
Our trip preparations included:
Finding and purchasing an inexpensive two person inflatable kayak (Amazon $120)
Buying deep sea fishing gear in Phoenix
Filling out and printing FMM forms for both of us
Purchasing Mexican car insurance
Purchasing camping book: Traveler’s Guide to Camping Mexico’s Baja by Mike and Terri Church (this book has been awesome and highly accurate, helped us make many of our camping choices, especially in urban areas)
Purchasing the Moon series Baja Travel book which gave us great information on things to do and places to see
We decided at least initially to cook most of our own food (had basic supplies when we entered Mexico) and stay in designated camping areas. A couple of weeks into the trip we felt more comfortable and began selecting more wild sites, using iOverlander for camping resources outside of towns, and using Mike and Terri Church’s book to select in-town campgrounds. We have a Garmin Overlander in the truck which has been really helpful with satellite maps when we don’t have coverage. In the US, we are well equipped with knowledge and maps related to public lands and regulations – BLM, USFS etc. In Baja, we felt reliant on a source like iOverlander to make sure we are sticking to the rules.
We were also committed to trying to keep daily driving times down to less than 3 hours and to find campsites well before dark.
We listed prices in US dollars, at the time of writing, the conversion was about 19-20 pesos per dollar.
Day 1– Tecate Border crossing, drove MEX 3 to south of Ensenada – 90 minutes driving time
We crossed the border at 10am. We were super prepared with our clean folder with our printed FMM cards, proof of Mexican insurance, passports and vehicle registration. With no line, the guard waved us through and over for inspection. He popped his head into the camper, asked where we were going, and if we had wine or beer (yes, two Tecates and an open bottle of white wine in the fridge, no problem). No paperwork was reviewed. We were in Mexico by 10:10 am.
No lines
Sometimes you just have to be a tourist
With a desire to avoid population centers and head south as soon as possible our Tecate explorations consisted of buying a cup of coffee, visiting a bakery (El Mejor Pan, completed overwhelmed us with the choices among amazing array of delicacies but we managed to fill a brown paper bag of delights for $5) and using an ATM to get some pesos. We were impressed with the COVID precautions, stores were taking customer temperatures and asking patrons to use hand sanitizer before entering. People were wearing masks.
We drove out on MEX 3 through the wine country – Valle Guadalupe- toward Ensenada. Dawn cannot resist a good winery so we stopped at Lechuza – a lovely family run winery right off the road. Again, temperature checks required before distanced outside seating.
Driving time to Ensenada was about 90 mins (not including the winery stop). Road is excellent, wider than many with pull over lanes, beautiful drive.
Our stop in Ensenada was also brief, we gassed up, bought some groceries at Soriana Super (deciding to skip the local Walmart in hopes of finding more local products) and went for a waterfront walk. Once again, masks and temperature checks were the standard for businesses.
Waterfront in Ensenada
For our first night we stayed at Centro Recretivo Refugio on the road out to La Bufadora south of Ensenda. A small family run campground right on the estuary, with an interesting pink castle, we had the whole waterfront area to ourselves. Fee was $5/night per person.
Waterfront campsite at Centro Recretivo Mi Refugio
With the castle backdrop
We visited La Bufadora and felt a bit like we were running the shopping gauntlet to reach the main attraction. But the blowhole is impressive – we went at medium tide and later learned it is best to go at high tide.
As a bonus at the campground we met a lovely woman named Nomad who introduced us to her favorite Mezcal – so now we too are fans of 400 Conejos.
Day 2 – Ensenada to San Quintin – 2 ½ hrs driving time
Drove to south of San Quintin on MEX 1. Great, mostly empty road. Beautiful agricultural valleys and the old wine country.
View from the drive from Ensenada to San Quintin
We camped at El Pabellon RV park, south of San Quintin. It was beautiful and we mostly had it to ourselves. We went for a gorgeous evening walk for miles. Cost was $10 for the night. Clean bathrooms with showers (water a little salty but it did the job). Great cell coverage on Verizon which was important for Andy’s next day of work.
Our private site by the dunes
Beach drive
Empty campground at El Pabellon
Day 3 – San Quintin to Cataviña - driving time just under 3 hours
Continuing on MEX-1. Along the way we stopped at La Lobera, a side trip which involved driving a couple of miles on a rugged four wheel drive road – at the end there is an ocean side crater which attracts seals. Having lived on the coast of Northern California, Humboldt County for decades we agreed that for us that the highlight was not watching the five seals napping in the sun, but it was a beautiful area of the coast.
Road to La Lobera
Seals at La Lobera
We topped up our gas at El Rosario as recommended, although we did see open gas stations later on the route. The drive through the mountains and desert was beautiful, once again, great road with minimal traffic. We loved the combination of cacti and rock formations for scenery.
Desert on the way from San Quintin to Cataviña
Our second stop on this route was at the cave paintings just before Cataviña - they were fascinating, gave you a sense of the history of the area and well worth the short walk up a hill.
At Cataviña we camped at Rancho Santa Inez, cost $7.50. Nice big flat area by a small ranch with basic restrooms provided.
Rancho Santa Inez
Day 4 - Cataviña to Bahía de los Ángeles - 2 hour drive
Another beautiful drive. In general we found the roads to be empty with the exception of commercial trucks. With our heavy rig we drive slower than most. Andy is becoming adept at pulling right and signalling left so that people can pass.
Our first view of Bahía de los Ángeles
As Andy needed wifi for work we camped at Daggett’s for a night, we thought the only wifi in the area– the cost was the most we had paid to date at $20. The sites were set back from the beach and the seagulls kept us company.
View from our campsite at Daggett’s Beach Camping
Day 5 and 6– layover in Bahía de los Ángeles, Campo Archelon
We moved down the road to Campo Archelon (lots of construction at Daggett’s). This was the best developed campground yet - $6 per person, camping right on the beach. Clean and pleasant restroom facilities with showers. And, even a café with espresso (Dawn was excited.) Andy was happy to break out the inflatable kayak and try his hand at fishing. We even found that although we didn’t think there was wifi anywhere but Daggett’s, Campo Archelon also had wifi available.
We made a brief trip into the small town to a mercado to pick up a few groceries (cheese, bread, sausage, cookies and a bottle of wine - $22)
Campsite at Campo Archelon
View across the bay on morning walk.
Day 7 - Playa La Gringa
Much as we loved Campo Archelon, we left after two relaxing nights to head out to the more remote Playa Gringa. Out a well graded dirt road past Campo Archelon, Playa Gringa has free dispersed camping along a rocky spit with incredible views of the mountains of La Bahia. Andy spent a day shore fishing and Dawn wandered the coast listening to podcasts and Norah Jones.
Playa La Gringa dispersed camping
