February 2, 2024
Playa La Fortuna, BCS, Mexico
The area from La Paz south to “Los Cabos” is generally refered to as Baja’s “East Cape.” Much of it is moderately remote, with sandy beaches, warm winter temps and mild breezes. What’s not to like?
One of my main destinations in Baja had been Los Barilles, on the coast SE of La Paz. I had originally thought I would spend some time in La Paz on the way down, but decided at the last minute to skip it other than stocking up on groceries.
I had originally intended to stay in town at Los Barilles at a place called Martín Verdugos, but it was full. In any case, rigs were jammed in there tighter than any KOA I’ve ever seen. Also, while it would have been very convenient to walk a few blocks to most anything in town, it would also have been noisy. So I ended up about a mile north of town at Playa del Norte, which served nicely.
It had full hookup, reasonable space between rigs, nice bathroom, genuinely hot showers, and laundry facilities. It was about a 2-minute walk to a pleasant beach, a mile walk to the edge of town, and a 2-mile walk to a decent market. It was pleasant enough that I spent nine uneventful but warm days there.
Not far below Los Barilles, the paved road turns to dirt and I aired down (yeah, baby!) There was a nice free beach there at Playa Miramar. There were maybe 6-8 rigs camped there at any one time, with several coming or going each day. I found a spot slightly in the lee of a hill, which helped with the afternoon winds. You could walk about four miles north along a beach that had numerous expensive looking houses or places for rent, most of which looked abandoned. Not overly exciting, but a pleasant place for a few nights.
Playa Miramar
Playa Miramar
I had thought about saying at a private campground at Cabo Pulmo, but the whole place had a strange vibe. Perhaps a dozen scuba operations, but hardly anyone diving. The main camping option seemed to be the campground on the edge of the tiny down, which definitely seemed divish. The only market was so pathetic that I bought only a couple of apples and a sorry banana. There were restaurants and bars, but little else. I kept going.
Next on the trek south was Los Frailes. I had seen photos and thought it was mostly camping in the arroyo on the other side of the road from the beach, but there was a wide area of firm sand to park in closer to the beach. This spot is very popular (and free) and there was a rotating cast of about thirty rigs there, including a few of the big European overland style. I parked about 50 feet from a Colorado couple and asked if that was too close. They were cool, so I offered to share my Starlink internet, which they appreciated.
After entering Baja I discovered that my cell service (Visible, a subsidiary of Verizon) doesn’t work in Baja, though they market it as working in Mexico. That’s not entirely correct, as it works along the U.S. border, in La Paz, and Cabo San Lucas as well. So Starlink has been a blessing. It seems that about 1/3 of campers down here have it and I’m told that is a dramatic increase since last year. I converted it to 12v before leaving home, so it is slightly less of a hit on the batteries, but it is still a little greedy on power. While pricey, it gets 50-100MBs almost anywhere. As I’m not a gamer, that is so much more speed than I need to stream video that I’ve been regularly sharing it with anyone camped near me.
The other concession to no cell service is that you can download/cache whole areas on Google Maps on your phone. It works pretty flawlessly and you can even search businesses just like if you were online. Navigation works great. I also cache Gaia topo maps for better navigation off paved roads.
Los Frailes
Los Frailes
After Los Frailes, I had been without two things for five days: a market for resupply and a shower. I drove into San Jose del Cabo and found they have huge grocery stores with selections that put to shame anything in Spokane. Huge artisan bakery sections, prepared food, extensive wine selection, large butcher section. I was blown away. I may have overspent.
Freshly resupplied with comestibles, I drove to El Pescadero, a big surfing destination. iOverlander showed about six campgrounds in the somewhat bohemian are SW of the town, but it didn’t impress me. The campgrounds were either full, sketchy, or at least a mile from anything. I ended up spending two nights a nice little place in town, so a bit of road noise, but it had spotless bathrooms and, most welcome, nice hot showers.
As the SW coast didn’t really rock my world, I thought I would head back the way I had come and camp at one of the many free spots near La Fortuna. After (ahem) another stop at the marvelous market in San Jose del Cabo, I drove about forty minutes to La Fortuna, a popular surf destination. Maybe a dozen rigs with a couple of small restaurants within walking distance, though I’m really not eating out much. Super pleasant with a gorgeous long beach and numerous surfers each morning who seem more hopeful than successful.
La Furtuna
Candian Friend Shiela Amused By a Buro
La Furtuna
From here I’m not sure what’s next. While I have loads of notes of potential places to visit, I’m trying hard not to plan anything.