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Checking out the surf at Santa Rosalillita - bummer, no waves!
We departed early in the morning from Bahia de los Angeles on the quest to find great surf on the Pacific side of the peninsula. After driving the 40 miles back to Highway 1 from Bahia de los Angeles, the exit for Punta Santa Rosalillita is just about 20 miles further south on Highway 1. The exit is easy to spot because there are numerous large road signs alerting you of the Santa Rosalillita exit.
Santa Rosalillita was supposed to be a major tourist destination, so a marina was built and there are supposed to be plans for multiple hotels, restaurants, etc. When you arrive, you will find a ghost town marina - not a single boat in it, and only a small primitive fishing village. The good news, is the 8 miles of highway to Santa Rosalillita is completely paved and in excellent condition. Also, there are hardly any tourists which means more waves for you when the conditions are good. Unfortunately, when we arrived, the waves were barely knee high at all of the breaks around the bay. So we just drove around a bit and snapped some photos, then took off with plans to visit 'The Wall' - a popular surf spot a little further south.
Checking out the waves at The Wall
A little over 15 miles south of Santa Rosalillita on Highway 1, there is a great surf spot with tons of free beach camping - there is no one but surfers and beach campers around. The point is called Punta Rosarito, but most surfers refer to this as The Wall. As you drive south on Highway 1, you will pass through a small town called Nuevo Rosarito. A few miles past this town, start looking for the KM 60 sign on the side of the road. At KM 61 (currently there is no KM 61 sign, so just measure 1 KM south of the KM 60 sign), you will find a large dirt turn off with the ocean appearing in the distance. This is your turnoff for The Wall. There are some other smaller dirt roads within a kilometer of this turnoff, but the biggest turnoff is the correct one to use.
Before embarking on the quest to The Wall, I must warn you that you will need a vehicle with some clearance. A standard car or minivan will have difficulty making the trip because there are hundreds of rocks sticking up out of the dirt road, and sedans and minivans will end up scraping the bottom of your car and possibly puncturing the oil pan! The first few miles of road are fairly easy, but as you get deeper in, the rocks start protruding more. 4 wheel drive is not required, but clearance is needed. If it has rained recently, BEWARE, the mud can get thick and is happy to consume 4 wheel drive trucks up to their axles.
We were driving a minivan on this trip, so we were only able to make it about half way to the point where the waves break the best. If the conditions had been better, we could have probably made it out to the point, but it would have taken hours to navigate the rocks. But, the waves were hardly knee high here as well. After speaking with a surfer who was on his way out, he confirmed that today The Wall was not putting on much of a show. We had planned to camp over night here because there is unlimited free camping, but with the rough road conditions and tiny waves, we decided today was not our day to camp at The Wall.
If there was no surf at The Wall - one of the most consistent Winter breaks, we concluded there was no surf to be found. So we decided to head further south to Guerrero Negro to go pet the whales!
Driving south to Guerrero Negro
Guerrero Negro is on the state border between Baja California (north), and the state of Baja Sur. The state line is just about an hour drive south on Highway 1 from the turn off for The Wall. As you approach the state line, you will find a Desert Inn Hotel just north of the border. If you wish to stay at a hotel, this is probably your best option for this area. At the state line, there is an agriculture inspection area. Don't panic, it is usually just one guy standing there asking if you have any produce with you. I showed the man my bananas and some carrots, and he told me those were fine, and that I could keep them. I have heard that citrus is what they are mostly concerned about, but who knows. You also need to pay a fee here of, I believe 10 pesos (about $1 USD), for crossing the border.
Guerrero Negro will be the largest town you have seen in a while if you are coming from the north. There are plenty of Pemex stations, and there is even a bank with ATM machines! The town was created around the giant salt processing plant which utilizes the surrounding shallow lagoons, but the tourists come here to see the whales! Laguna Ojo de Liebre is one of the favorite birthing areas for gray whales, and the lagoon is brimming with happy whales between the months of January through April. If you have any interest in whales whatsoever, you absolutely must stop here for a whale watching tour. The whales literally chase the boats here (playfully), and it is quite common for whales to lift their heads out of the water to allow you to pet them - seriously!
Where to to stay in Guerrero Negro
If you are RV or car camping, one of the easiest places to stay is at Malarrimo RV park and hotel. I did not say this was the nicest, but it is the easiest. Malarrimo is located near the beginning of town, and there is a parking area behind the hotel where RVs and cars can camp for the night. NOTE: Malarrimo is in the middle of town, so you are not near water or whales here. The place is safe, but expect to hear traffic and possibly smell burning trash if the town happens to burn trash that night. Malarrimo is also easy for catching the whale tours the following morning because the shuttle buses leave from Malarrimo or other tour operators located within a few blocks of Malarrimo.
Perhaps the coolest place to camp for the night is at the Laguna Ojo de Liebre Campground. Here you can camp right on the lagoon, and you will be able to watch and listen to the whales frolicking in the distance. You can also hire a boat tour panga directly from your campsite in the morning for a better price than most of the tour operators charge. So why doesn't everyone camp here? The campsites are primitive, and the only facilities are outhouses. FInding the campsite takes a little bit of work as well. To get here, you need to head south of town on Highway 1 for about 5 miles. When you see the sign for "Parque Nacional de la Ballena Gris", turn there. You will then drive on a dirt road for about 15 miles past the saltworks facility. Finally, you will arrive at a gate. The gate is usually open, but it may be closed if you are arriving after dark. If you make it in, the price is currently $5 USD per vehicle. Make sure to bring your own food and supplies if you plan to camp here.
Booking your whale watching tour
Tours can fill up quick, so the first thing you should do when you pull into town is book your whale watching tour for the following morning (if you haven't booked in advance). Just look for tour operator buildings that have pictures of whales or the word 'Ballena' on them. If one company is full, go check with another company. Make sure you book a tour for early in the morning, as the afternoon tours tend to be windy and the water can be a lot choppier. If you are camping at Laguna Ojo Campground, you can simply hire a panga operator in the morning.
I will discuss whale watching in much more detail in tomorrow's Baja road trip log!
6:00 AM - Packed up early at our Bahia de los Angeles camp at Daggets. Filled up with gas on the way out of town from one of the Bahia gas stations.
8:00 AM - Arrived at Santa Rosalillita. The highway is completely paved all the way into town. The waves were very small and unsurfable, so drove around looking at the empty marina and drove around some of the dirt roads looking for decent surf breaks. This can be a great surf spot, but there was no swell in the water today.
10:30 AM - Arrived at the turn off for Punta Rosarito (The Wall). The first 2 miles of dirt road down to the ocean were fairly easy going in our minivan. There was one stretch of dirt road that had about 6 inches of water covering the entire road for about 15 feet. I got out my shovel and probed the water, and the dirt underneath felt solid. We floored it, and breezed right through the water - thank goodness! Once we arrived at the ocean, the waves were small. The Wall is a few miles north along the dirt road that skirts along the beach, so we began driving north towards the point. After 3 miles or so, the road started to get rough, and small boulders were protruding out of the road and would scrape the underside of the van. It was getting risky driving this road with the minivan, and the waves were not looking any better as we headed north. I checked out the break with my binoculars, and nothing seemed to be going on - so we decided to turn around and head back out.
3:00 PM - We arrived in Guerrero Negro after taking our time departing The Wall. Guerrero Negro was about an hour south of The Wall turnoff along Highway 1.
3:30 PM - Malarrimo had plenty of space for car camping, but their whale tours were booked up for the following morning. We walked a block to Laguna Tours, and they had plenty of space on their whale tours the following morning, so we booked with them.
4:00 PM - Went to the bank at the end of town to replenish my dwindling peso supply.
5:00 PM - Decided to try eating at the Malarrimo restaurant. I got scallops. They were OK, not great, but at least I didn't get sick from them. The food seemed safe, but don't expect to be blown away by the flavors.
6:30 PM - Walked to the internet cafe in town - finally, an internet connection! Checked email and caught up on a few things.
8:00 PM - It was dark, and the campground was nearly empty. We'd had a long day, so we went to bed.
