We begin our travels from San Diego unusually late due to surfing our local break early in the morning. After crossing the border, we noticed the conditions remain good for another go out. It is glassy, and uncrowded, this swell being a combination of south and northwest. We stop at one of our favorite spots south of Rosarito. My two friends paddle out their short boards; I decide to paddle out my stand up paddleboard. We have a great session, waves head high plus.
After a few beers with some friends, the rain begins. We start off south after dark, with the forecast of heavy rains. The weather is coming via Pineapple express, forecast of 2 days of rain. The three of us arrive at San Quintin, around 11:00 pm. We pull up to the recently remodeled El Jardin. El Jardin has always been known for the great food. Guillermo the owner has built 12 new hotel rooms. The rooms are large and very clean. The new restaurant is larger then before, and quite beautiful. Grand opening February 5th; the wonderful food is worth pulling over from the main rood, one exit past the old mill and west for 2 kilometers, you cannot miss the large oasis. Established large palm trees and many different species of plants.
Our second day starts at 6:30 AM, with some coffee and a sip of
tequila. After 2 hours of conversation with the very gregarious
Guillermo, we begin heading south once more. It has been raining all
night and continues in the morning. Our many journeys in Baja are
generally getting up early and driving hard all day. Depending on our
destination, one day for Baja Norte, 2 days to the tip. Due to the
weather we take things a little slower than usual. The forecasted
swell is for south swells, 196 degrees, as well as 210 degrees late in
the week. Being February, we generally anticipate north swells and
surf the points along Baja Norte. During the drive we decide to go for
the south swells in Baja Sur. It is very early for southern hemisphere
surf, but if true to forecast, we will get uncrowded quality surf. The
rain continues all the way to San Ignacio, our destination for the
day.
We pull into the La Pinta, the hotels new name, is The Desert Inn. The
Pemex station in town is out of Diesel, we are told tomorrow-late
morning. Translating to most likely tomorrow later in the afternoon.
We get some information we can get Diesel 20 kilometers south at a
restaurant that sells fuel across the street. We plan on getting up
early and filling up my truck. For now, I am going to eat and have
some Coronas. After our meal, I need to look in the camper for some
earplugs. Both Bosco and myself are anticipating another loud snoring
night from CJ.
We wake up the next morning and find out we have no electricity in our
room. We want to get going after a nice hot shower, but that is not
going to happen. The thing is, when you need a pump to get the water
to your shower and sink, as well as the john. You need power in order
for this to happen. Next thing on the agenda is coffee, which is
readily available, thank God. We have our coffee and decide to head
south for that diesel mentioned earlier.
After driving 15 minutes we reach the small town rumored to have some
fuel. Turns out this is not the case at this time. We begin driving
back to San Ignocio to pick up Bosco and figure out our next plan of
action. We return to the hotel and decide to have breakfast. Part of
the hotel has power; the circuit breaker that is not in service feeds
only half the hotel. We talk to the waiter and explain our
predicament; he makes some calls on our behalf. Turns out his cousin
have some fuel at his llantera shop, (tire repair). We drive to the
shop to find out he only has 10 gallons, this is not nearly enough fuel
to get us to Punta Pequena.
We decide to buy the fuel and drive south to Santa Rosalita, where our
waiter called and found out they had fuel for sure. We did not ask
Rene, the waiter’s cousin how much this was going to cost. We assumed
a little more than the price at the Pemex station. Turns out the 10
gallons cost 50.00. Always better to ask how much something is before
giving the green light. Unfortunately a lesson not remembered from past
experiences. Rene was willing to take additional fuel for us from a
tractor-trailer on site, but we declined his generous offer. We get in
the truck and drive south to Santa Rosalita; we arrive after 45minutes
to the gas station. After fueling up, we stop at the Cervezaria for
some chips and water.
While relaxing by the truck we decide to collect some of the Obsidian
sand along the beach. We collect the sand with some old plastic gallon
jugs on the beach. The sand has a unique sheen as well as being pure
black with some miscelaneos small shells. With a full tank, we head
back north. We arrive at the west end of San Ignacio lagoon around
lunchtime. Out of the cooler we pull out some yellowtail salad that is
mixed in a zip lock bag. Yellow tail caught a few days earlier in La
Jolla. We begin our journey south and stop at the south end of one of
the many estuaries for the night, we want to fish before it gets dark.
We decide to camp on the backside of a large sand dune. After not
catching any fish, we start cooking dinner in the camper. Dinner
tonight is Boboli pizza, with some left over Prime rib from La Fonda on
top.
The prime rib served that night was huge, looked like something from a
dinosaur. The next morning when we woke up it was gale force winds, the
tail end of the storm. We tried to fish again to no avail. Best
decision so far was to pack up and get away from all the sand blowing
off the dune. We arrive at third point at noon, the tide is going out
and the waves we anticipated come through every 20 minutes. After
deciding what board to ride, I cannot get in the water fast enough.
Including myself, there is 3 of us out. Bosco and CJ watch for 2 hours
and wait for the tide to get out some more. We all have great time
surfing, and very happy we arrived when we did. At dark we head to
CJ’s property at the south east side of town. After getting everything
out of the camper and organized, we connect up to some electricity.
This is always an adventure; we have an extension chord spliced into
the neighbor’s meter and ran to the trailer. After only getting
shocked once, we now have power. We barbeque some steaks, drink
cocktails mixed by Bosco, rum with a very little coke. The next
morning it is already Wednesday, where did the time go? We surf the
next 3 days, the surf gets smaller each day, and the boards get bigger
each day. Thursday we head south for the day and fish the beach and the
entrance to the estuary. We catch some halibut, corvine and some
bass. Close to dark we head back to camp going over sand dunes and
driving along the long empty beach. CJ saw a washed up dead turtle on
the drive down. I told him we can pick it up on the way back, knowing
that was not going to happen. He does not have a problem putting
stinky dead things in the truck, but both Bosco and myself do. I
figured he would forget, I was wrong. CJ mentions looking for the
turtle on the drive back. I nod at Bosco and say sure thing. I do see
it half way back, so I distract CJ telling him to look over the water
at that beautiful Osprey.
It is time to head back north; we decide to leave on Friday so we
can stop at the wall. It was a good plan, if we left early enough
arriving at dark is possible. After cleaning up the camp, organizing
all the surf boards and items to be loaded in the camper. CJ decides
to pay his property taxes and look for some shrimp, as well as some
other errands. Needless to say, a couple of hours have now passed. The
departure time is now noon. After driving an hour or so we come upon a
gate. I stop so we can open this gate, while opening the gate, I
noticed someone over the cactus and shrubs running towards us. I am
handed a note: We have very little water, and having a rough time. Any
donation given would be a great help. We donate some money and decide
to check out the rancho. After meeting all of Roberto’s very nice
family, and eating some tangerines, we head back to the truck.
While leaving we are given a large block of goat cheese, the cheese
taste great with the crackers we have in the truck. We get back to the
main road and fill the truck up for the drive up north. It is late by
the time we arrive at Guerro Negro, and decide to stay there for the
night. The next morning we start for the wall once again and arrive
around 10:00AM. The wind is blowing on shore, which is not unusual.
We surf around the corner at the point; surf is 4 foot and side shore.
After 2 hours plus and plenty of waves, we load up and begin driving
along the beach, and dirt road up to Santa Rosalita. I have not been
there for a few years and wanted to see the new jetties and boat
removal crane. Next destination is back to San Quintin and El Jardin.
We are running on fumes when we arrive at El Rosario, we fill up and
still have over 100 Kilometers to go. The next morning we have coffee
again with Guillermo, and talk of our adventures.
After spending a few hours with Guillermo, it is time to head
home. We listen to the Super Bowl on the way home. After Ensenada, we
are on the toll road-heading north; I notice a larger presence of
Federal police and army trucks during the drive to Tijuana. This is to
increase the protection of travelers in Baja. We arrive safely home in
time to watch the last quarter of the Super Bowl. We all agree this
was a great trip, and plan on doing it again very soon.
Baja Traveler (names were changed to protect the
surf)
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