Driving Baja California, Mexico - August, 2023

In August, we joined Rocky Point Scuba Dive on an 8-day diving/snorkeling excursion in the tiny village of Bahía de Los Angeles. Located on the eastern shore of the state of Baja California, Mexico, it is about a 7 hour drive south from Yuma, Arizona.

On this excursion, you provide your own transportation. You are REQUIRED to have Mexican car insurance if you are driving your vehicle in Mexico. Also, it's highly advisable that you prepare your car for travel. Get a quick tune-up and inspection prior to the trip. There are several LONG stretches of road with no cell service or….. anything! Be prepared as you can be. There are 1 (or 2) military stops to go through on the way. We'd been advised that no one on these trips had ever had an issue there, and to "just tell them we were driving to Bahia to swim with the whale Sharks, they will know exactly where you are going." Turns out, that was exactly the case!

The drive from northern AZ was a long one, so we opted to cross the border in Algodonas, and stay overnight in San Felipe, a small fishing town that is directly across the Sea of Cortez from our condo in Puerto Penasco. For all the years of gazing across the sea at the mountains around San Felipe, we had never visited there, so this was a perfect opportunity!

San Felipe, with a population of about 20,000, is primarily a fishing town, but has a growing tourism influence. It is much more quaint than Puerto Penasco, with more modest accommodations and a bustling, vibrant community of hard-working, friendly people. It actually reminded us of what Puerto Penasco "used to be", back when we first started visiting there over 30 years ago.

We stayed in the charming Las Palmas Hotel, with its hacienda-style architecture, complete with a lovely courtyard populated by cats lounging around, trying not to exert during the humid summer days along the Sea of Cortez.

While our time in San Felipe was short, we did take a trip down to the Malecon, which fronts along the sandy public beach on the Sea of Cortez. August isn't high tourist season because of the high heat and humidity, but there were both tourists and locals out enjoying a dip in the sea. We had some shrimp tacos and margaritas, and did a little walking before heading back to the pool at the hotel.

(Our dear friends Jill and Joel joined us on this adventure!)

The 4-hour drive from San Felipe to Bahia de Los Angeles (BLA) is best done with friends. Not for safety reasons, but simply because it's so hard to describe or capture in photos, that you need to experience it with others!

The drive from San Felipe to BLA takes you on often winding, narrow roads which pass white sand beaches, stunning views of the beautiful Sea of Cortez, rugged mountain ranges, and the amazingly diverse Sonoran Desert. There aren't really services on this route, so make sure you have a reliable vehicle, and your gas tank is full when you leave San Felipe!

The Baja California desert is filled with vegetation that is adapted to this harsh, often drought-stricken environment. You'll see Palo Verde, Mezquite, Agave, Yucca, Acacias, Creosote and over 110 species of cacti on the peninsula. We'd never seen a Boojam Tree, as they are only found in this region. As we saw more and more of them, we felt like we were in a Dr. Seuss book. As it turns out, it is widely believed that Dr. Seuss got much of his inspiration from the Sonoran Desert!

While quite narrow in some places, the roads were paved the entire route and in very good condition. Even at that, it did cross our minds that in bad weather, or in the dark, this route could be a lot more challenging. More thought on that would come later in the week...but that's part of the next blog post!

It ended up being a beautiful drive, half along the coast and half in mountains. The most beautiful desert landscapes were found in the second half of the drive. When we eventually crested a hill and had our first view of BLA, we knew we were in for an extraordinary week!

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