This detailed report describes our personal travel experience from Los Angeles (USA) to Bahia de Los Angeles (Baja California, Mexico). I'll start with some background information, then some general information on roads, money, gasoline, etc., and finish with a citylog -- a city by city description on what's hot and what's not.
Background Information
We (my wife and two kids ages 1 and 3) had traveled to San Felipe on two other occasions, but this was our longest trip ever. We were concerned that kids wouldn't handle the trip well or that we would get stuck in the middle of nowhere. As a result, we packed my wife's 1995 Toyota 4Runner with tools and fluids for the car as well as books and toys for the kids. We also carried our own food like bread, cereal, milk, water, etc. We left on Friday, 12/27/96 at 7 AM.
Roads
For the most part, the roads are in good condition. There is some repair work going on right before Ensenada and after San Quintin. In two places, we had to wait 10 minutes to go through the construction area because only one lane was open.
The side road from Hwy 1 to Bahia de Los Angeles was rough. The first half was much better than what I had heard, but the second half was much rougher. However, I managed to average 60 miles per hour on my way back, so it only took 40 minutes to get to Hwy 1.
Money
We exchanged some dollars for pesos in San Ysidro just before crossing the border. Pesos are best used at gas stations and places where the exchange rate is unfavorable. However, keep in mind that some motels, restaurants, and shops prefer dollars, so they will have a much favorable rate than banks and exchange houses.
Another way to get pesos is to withdraw money from an ATM in Tijuana or Ensenada. My credit union does not charge me a transaction fee for taking money out in Mexico, so I have used the ATMs in Mazatlan and Ensenada without any problems.
Yet another way to pay with pesos in Mexico is to use your credit card. Mexican retailers post the transaction in pesos and your bank converts it into dollars at the going rate. This sometimes happens a couple of days after your purchase, so you may get a favorable rate. However, your credit card is only accepted in large cities, so you will be out of luck in most small towns including Bahia de Los Angeles.
Gasoline
There is one stretch of road (about 221 miles) from El Rosario to Guerrero Negro on Hwy 1 where gasoline is scarce, so make sure you have enough gas to make it to either of these two towns. I'm speculating that the only other place to get gas in this stretch is Catavina, but they run out of gas frequently. If you look at a map, you'll notice that the Bahia de Los Angeles Junction off Hwy 1 happens 141 miles after El Rosario and 80 miles before Guerrero Negro (GN). Thus, I don't know if there is a gas station from the junction on to GN. [ftm: There is one - at Jesus Maria, 25 miles north of GN.]
The gas station in Bahia de Los Angeles closed soon after the owner died because the surviving children could not settle their differences. The gas station is still closed and there are rumors that a new one is going to open. In the meantime there are many entrepreneurs in town who sell gas for $2 dollars or more a gallon. In fact, there are so many people selling gasoline that there is more gasoline in town than when the gas station was open. Either take your own gas, or be prepared to pay a premium.
Mexican Insurance
You need it, so get it. However, there are some things you should be aware of. First, if you are leasing or still paying for your car, you must get a written notarized permission from the lien holder to take your car into Mexico. If you don't have such letter, the Mexican insurance company can fight your claim on technical grounds. Most places north of the border don't tell you this, so now you know. If anyone out there has a personal experience filing a claim with a Mexican insurance company, please share it with me. I got this information when I bought my Mexican insurance through AAA.
Also, full coverage insurance only covers full theft of your car. If someone steals your stereo and personal belongings, then your losses are not covered. Furthermore, if you go off-road, then damages to your car are not covered. Just read the fine print on your insurance contract.
Checkpoints
The Mexican army and federal police have moving checkpoints. We hit 4 checkpoints from Bahia de Los Angeles to Ensenada. If you don't have firearms nor drugs, then you are fine. These checkpoints were forced on Mexico by the American government to help fight the war on drugs, so don't be upset at those young Mexican soldiers with rifles.
Driving At Night
Here are my top eight reasons for staying out of the highway at night:
Restaurant Service
We have 2 small children, so quick service is a must -- especially when the kids are tired and hungry. However, we found out that in some small towns time is not of essence. We waited over an hour to get our dinner in two restaurants (one in Bahia and the other in San Quintin). It also appears that orders are cooked in random order. Another family we met said they waited 2 hours for their lunch in Bahia de Los Angeles.
Expectations
You need to set your expectations to the right level to enjoy your trip. The small beach towns in Baja are best suited for those that enjoy camping out or love fishing. Hotels La Pinta at $65 per night are probably the best bet for the hotel-oriented traveler that wants to explore the middle of Baja. However, I only ate at the one in Catavina, so I don't really know what they offer. The tourist places with fine hotels are in Cabo, San Felipe, Ensenada, and Rosarito. The rest of Baja is for those with a purpose such as fishing, camping, research, racing, etc.
Citylog from North to South
San Ysidro (USA)
We exchanged some money and we filled up with gas. The closer you get to the border on the main street, the least favorable the exchange rate and the more expensive the gasoline. Thus, head north after you exit on San Ysidro Blvd.
You can bypass this stop if you plan better. Get your Mexican insurance before you leave home, fill up with premium gas in Ensenada, and get pesos out of an ATM in Ensenada.
Puerto Nuevo -- Lobster Village
We stopped here to get an early lunch. We had lobster and shrimp with all you can eat beans, rice and flour tortillas. The food was just okay. There are so many restaurants that I couldn't figure out the one that was recommended on the net. I need to find the best restaurant in town because I have been here several times and I have not been too impressed with the food. We paid about $22 for our lunch.
El Mirador - View Point
We stopped to take some pictures of the coastline and the loud looking building. Those colors are something else.
Ensenada
We didn't stop in our way in, but on our way back we spent the night. We ate dinner at Mariscos Bahia Ensenada. The shrimp with butter was okay and so was the mixed seafood soup. I also had the shrimp ceviche. Not very expensive, so a good value. We paid about $20 for dinner. Credit cards accepted here.
We stayed at the Hotel Paraiso Las Palmas on Sunday night for $38. The rooms were okay (much better than anything else in San Quintin or Bahia de Los Angeles). AAA gives this place a single star, but grounds are at least 3 stars. You can park your car in front of you room in a gated parking lot with 24-hr security. The pool area is nice and very well maintained. The hotel also has a large sand lot with several small manual carrousels, swings, slides, towers, etc. It's also very well maintained and very clean. Our kids didn't want to leave this area. Credit cards accepted here.
We had one of the best breakfasts in a long time at Poncho's on the Boulevard Costero at the Corona Hotel (1 block from La Pinta Hotel). They make their own corn tortillas and serve quesadillas and sopa de chicharron as appetizers with your breakfast. The Machaca Mojada is excellent and their prices are very reasonable. I highly recommend this place. In fact, I'm thinking of inviting some friends to Ensenada so they can try this great breakfast. Great value. We paid about $20 dollars for breakfast, but we ordered way too much food. We didn't realize you got so much food with the main meal. Cash only.
La Bufadora
I remember coming to La Bufadora in the late 1970s and the place has changed quite a bit. There is a row of vendors that stretches 3 or 4 blocks. Everyone charges $1 dollar for parking, so don't go into the first parking lot. The man directing traffic into the first parking lot wears a costume that resembles a police officer.
This was a side trip that added 90 minutes to our travel time.
San Quintin
If you need gas, do it at the first gas station you see. If you wait until after you stay in a hotel, you have to drive back into town or drive 30 miles forward to El Rosario for gas. Motel Chavez is on Hwy 1 and it looks okay on the outside. We stayed at the Cielito Lindo for 2 reasons - the restaurant was supposed to be good and the hotel price was cheaper than the nearby Hotel La Pinta.
The restaurant was half-full when we arrived. However, the roving white-board that serves as a menu didn't get to us fast enough, so we waited 30 minutes for our order to be taken. Some customers came and left and we still hadn't received our order. By this time the restaurant was full, so it took over an hour to get our food. The best part of our meal was not the food, but the trio that was singing. We bought two songs for $5 dollars and our kids really enjoyed the show. After dinner we found an unsupervised children's room that was partially lit and our kids played there for 30 minutes. Dinner was about $17 dollars for chicken mole and garlic fish. We didn't try the famous cracked crab.
Someone else posted a message saying that the rooms were a bargain for the area at $35 a night, but it was no bargain to us. The water was brownish, the toilet water smelled, the faucets were rusting out, the shower head was semi-working, and the water temperature was difficult to control. The mattresses were old and squeaky, some paint had fallen off the bottom of the walls and more was on its way off, and there was a current of air coming from under the front door. However, we had our sleeping bags, so we slept in them on top of the beds and we had a good night sleep. I was the only one brave enough to take a shower in the morning. Cielito Lindo only accepts cash.
El Rosario - Gas Station
I filled the car with gas and filled one of my 5 gallon containers as well. No premium unleaded gas, so I bought the standard unleaded gas at 2.76 pesos per liter (or the equivalent of 1.34 dollars per gallon at 7.781 pesos to the dollar on 12/28/96). The price is that same at all PEtroleos MEXicanos (PEMEX) gas stations.
Catavina - Rock Garden
We parked at the Hotel La Pinta and we hiked for about 45 minutes south of the hotel. We took some pictures and enjoyed the view. We ate lunch at the hotel. My wife had the Mexican combination plate and she really liked the shredded beef soft taco. I had the Baja puntas (fajitas with bacon bits), but the shredded beef soft tacos were much better. We paid about $15 dollars for lunch. Credit cards accepted here. There was no gasoline in town and they had been out for several days. We missed going to the cave paintings on our way back.
Bahia de Los Angeles Junction
Gas station closed, so there is no gas here. Rumors are that sometimes a truck sells gas here, but we didn't see it.
Bahia de Los Angeles
Pretty much all cash here. Gas station is closed, so buy gasoline at 90 pesos for 5 gallons (or about $2.31 dollars per gallon). Places to stay include Hotel Hamacas $25 per night, spacious rooms, nice bathrooms, 10 units, cement floors, across the street from a dirt field that's next to the beach. The Restaurant Hamacas is supposed to be okay, but we didn't try it.
Another place to stay (or not) is the Villa Vitta Motel. We went into the parking lot of the motel, but we left because there were no cars parked there. Later on we met a family, whom we spent the morning with on an excellent boat tour of the isles, and they told us that they left the motel after one night because they couldn't stand the smell from the bathrooms.
We stayed at Guillermo's campground which has a motel (5 rooms with 3 queen sized beds each) that was built in 1993. The rooms are nice and clean and on the beach. We paid $45 dollars a night, but the water was clean and the bathrooms were nice. The key to our room did not work, so we returned it and got our $5 dollar deposit back. The water temperature in the shower was also difficult to control, but the room was much nicer than our previous motel.
We ate at Guillermo's restaurant, but we didn't enjoy the food. We were the first ones in the restaurant (by 15 minutes or so), but we go our food an hour later after half the restaurant got theirs. The seafood combination platter with fish and garlic shrimps was lukewarm, but we were so hungry we ate it. The shrimp had a good flavor, but the fish was not very good. We paid about $22 dollars for dinner.
We asked around for information on boat trips around the isles and we ran into Ruben Daggit. He owns Campo Daggit about 4 miles north of Guillermo's camp. You have to take a dirt road to get to Campo Daggit which is near one of the camps where sea turtles are studied. The rates for camping, using the boat ramp, boat tours, and fishing trips are much less expensive here than at other places. Moreover, Ruben Daggit is a very nice and friendly person. Others wanted $85 dollars for a tour of the isles, but Ruben only charges $60 for 4 adults and 4 kids (ages 1, 3, 5, and 7).
Ruben took us on a 4 hour trip on his "panga." We got to see most of the isles up close and personal. We saw one whale, a school of dolphins, sea lions, several birds' nests, pelicans, and some fish in very clear water. We stopped in Isla La Ventana and we hiked up a small mountain view and he took some pictures of us. Ruben has a wife and kids who help him run the camp. His great grandfather was English and the local museum talks about his family history.
His camp is very nice, but it's mostly geared for RVs and people that want to camp out. The camp has showers and bathrooms. Other popular activities here in town include fishing, kayaking and camping in the nearby isles, off-roading, and camping out.
Disclaimer
This report contains my personal biased experiences from my recent trip to Bahia de Los Angeles. If you go on a trip, you may have a totally different experience. Thus, the only way to find out is to take your own trip and share your experience with others.