Northern Baja

[Abeer]

Baja is sick.

On Thursday, my friend and I left LA to go to Baja for our first time. It was meant to be a surfing trip as well as a scouting trip to a place we'd never been before but often dreamed of going. Living and surfing in LA leaves a person dreaming of what life was like before crowded coastlines and crowded lineups. Baja always seemed like a trip into that dream world.

On Thursday, we took off from LA to San Diego. We would stay at my brother's place and take off for Baja in the morning. On the way to SD, we took a break from traffic to surf in Encinitas. The waves were okay, the wind was non-existent, and the setting sun was bright. After a few great waves, we got back on the road to San Diego, excited for the Mexican surf in our near future.

The next day we set off at 7am. We wanted to see some of inland Baja and also wanted an easy border crossing so we decided to enter in through Tecate. Easy is an understatement. At the border in Tecate, we stopped at the light and were immediately waved in. No passports or ID's shown. No questions asked. Boom, we were in a different world. Immediately after the border everything changed. We were transported to a different world. We were clearly in Mexico.

We made the long drive from Tecate through Baja wine country. Wine country was full of winding beautifully paved roads, gorgeous vineyards, and breathtaking desert views. Unfortunately, I was so concerned with not getting crushed by the 18 wheelers that I didn't get any pictures. After wine country, we found ourselves in Ensenada. Ensenada was a nice and felt very safe. However, we were only passing through.



From Ensenada we headed another 30 miles south before we turned off onto a dirt road towards our destination for Day 1.



After about 25 miles of farm roads, we arrived at our destination. We had a bluff all to ourselves.



After we set up camp, we pulled the surfboards off the defender and headed to what we came for.



You might notice in that picture the spray coming off the top of the wave. Offshore winds were incredibly strong here. So much so that it made surfing incredibly difficult. Even more difficult was keeping things from blowing off the bluffs. My sleeping pad fell victim. Luckily, the tide was out and I was able to walk down to the rocks below and retrieve it. Along the way I made a startling discovery. The severed head of a hammerhead shark. No pics sorry. I'm guessing local fisherman caught it and left the head to wash up on shore.

We surfed that afternoon and set up camp. Having the bluff to ourselves was awesome but unnerving at the same time. Neither my friend and I had ever been to Baja before. Camping in a desolate area where we were the only people for miles sounded amazing. However, the rumors and stories we had heard about Baja definitely creeped into our thoughts. The wind and crashing waves combined with survival instincts made for light sleeping that night.

However, light sleep was all worth it. In the morning we woke up to this incredibly beautiful view. This was sunrise in our campsite. It was exactly what we dreamed of. A California coastline without the Santa Monica crowds.

 

[Abeer]

During breakfast, we checked the surf. The tide had swung more than we thought. There was not going to be any surfing at this spot today.


Disappointed, we realized we had to move spots. We pulled out our Baja Almanac and looked for another surf spot close by. We found some more farm roads that should take us to another spot just down the coastline. After packing up camp, we took off down the road again. Along the way, we ran into a few roadblocks.


After about another 20 miles of dirt tracks, we found ourselves descending down a series of twisting dirt roads. Along this descent were incredible views of the Pacific ocean.


It wasn't long before we found spotted another place to surf. A few forum members here definitely know this place.


The surf wasn't amazing but it was better than nothing. It was a beach break with a nice sandy bottom. If anything, this beach was reminiscent of our local Zuma beach. Except here, we shared the beach with a few other people rather than the few hundred that are at Zuma on a given day. I took a few more pictures before we got in the water.

 

[Abeer]

After surfing this new break, we weren't satisfied. We read about another break that was just another few miles down the road. We took off down the road and found ourselves going through a small town with some gorgeous gringo owned homes. We mad our way through town and across a riverbed. From there, we found a sandy path that could take us to another surf spot. The trail was tight with shrubs ready for pinstriping on both sides. At the end of the trail we were greeted by a gorgeous sandy beach.



We were happy to discover another beach but decided we would be better off camping that day on the beach we surfed at earlier. We took off back to our Zuma-esque beach. On the way we stopped in at a popular Baja 1000 hostel called Coyote Cal's and had much needed beer break. Once we got back to the beach, I pulled the defender over a little dune and we set up camp with a great view of the ocean. There's nothing like sleeping on soft sand!





These photos were from sunset over our beach camp.

After setting up camp, we made a bonfire and got dinner ready before bed. I don't have any pics of food because I doubt anybody wants to see turkey sandwiches or chili and rice. We also didn't have anywhere near the cool camp kitchen set ups I see on this site. After dinner, we lightened the cargo load in the defender by finishing all of the beers. Sleeping was easy that night.

The next day we took off back towards the border. It was an easy drive to Tecate but it was damn hot. 95 degrees with a hot breeze in a soft top defender can be a grueling experience. By the time we got to Tecate, we were ready for home.

Unfortunately, our adventure didn't end there. About 3 blocks from the border I mistakenly turned left instead of the right towards the border. An enterprising Tecate police officer noticed that we seemed slightly loss. That helpful guy decided to pull us over. Apparently I ran 3 stop signs! Incredible. Luckily, this nice cop said we could just pay him the 100 dollar fine rather than going to the station. To say I was annoyed at this BS would be an understatement. However, the last thing I wanted was to deal with some Tecate bullcrap when we were only 3 blocks from the border. After some negotiation, we were on our way. It took about half an hour to cross the border. When we did, we were happy to be home.

Our first trip to Baja offered the adventure we were looking for. The surf may have been off but we found the desolate solitary coastlines and beautiful views we were looking for. We even got a taste of the Baja police hospitality. Overall, it was a successful first Baja trip. It will definitely not be the last!

 

[pmatusov]

By the way, crossing into Baja in San Ysidro is just as quick as in Tecate.
The reentry to the U.S. may be vastly different - but on several occasions the total wait time between Tecate and on Hwy 94 towards El Cajon was about the same as in San Ysidro.

 

[SDDiver5]

Awesome write up. Its nice hearing about good adventures in Baja. The media seems to only bring up the bad ones...partially the reason I don't venture down there that often. I wish I did tho.

Where in Encinitas did you surf?

 

[Abeer]

Awesome write up. Its nice hearing about good adventures in Baja. The media seems to only bring up the bad ones...partially the reason I don't venture down there that often. I wish I did tho.

Where in Encinitas did you surf?

Thanks! Besides the bogus stop sign fines, everything went well. We felt safe travelling through Tecate, wine country, Ensenada and in the little fishing villages we found ourselves in. Everyone we encountered (mexican and american) were all very nice. Next time, we'll probably skip Tecate and just go through San Ysidro as Peter M. noted above.

We surfed at Swami's in Encinitas. Awesome place with some fun waves.

 

[DocWhiskey]

Looks like an awesome trip, I'm jealous. You should try the Big Sur area for your next trip, some really great lonely beaches and views up there and you can camp in the Los Padres National Forest.

 

[con kso]

Yes! Looks like you had a really fun trip- stoked for you. San Jose looked pretty good in that shot.

Sucks to hear about that Tecate cop. Tecate is notorious for having a cop or two waiting along that hill that has all the stop signs for Gringos going home. There's a lot of stop signs so you need to carefully stop at each one for a couple seconds. OR try to hit Tecate around 7am, it's so sleepy at that time there aren't many people out and about.

If you do get stopped I have a little advice: First, understand that by asking you for the 100 he was asking for a bribe- so he's breaking the law. Second, the longer you can draw out the whole process the better for you. Next time, maybe try some of my technique.

First, if he tells you you broke a traffic law just tell him follow him to the police department and pay the fine.

Don't ever try to speak Spanish when dealing with the cop- in fact, just keep smiling and saying goofy things like, "Wow, Tecate is such a cool place." goofy things like that. Speak slowly and loud, smile the whole time. Don't be intimidated and act like you have all the time in the world. Don't worry when he asks for and takes your license say, "no problem, sir". At the worst, you'll have to get a new one at DMV- so what, big deal. You can't use a driver's license to cross the border anymore so it doesn't affect that- AND I've always gotten mine back anyway.

Just keep smiling and speaking English- this is my favorite tactic. More and more English- act like you don't understand what he's saying... prolong the whole interaction. The whole time it's going on he knows more and more people are driving by looking at what's going on- believe me, he's feeling more and more uncomfortable with the whole thing.

He'll tell you to follow him, no problem- tell him that's great. I assure you he WILL stop and say, just pay me 20 now, smile some more, say, "I don't have anything except a credit card- I spent all my cash at Hussongs".

Run through the whole goofy thing again. Smile more, ask him how he's doing. Offer him a bottled water. Ask him his name (they hate that because they think you're going to report them to the Sindicatura which is their internal affairs division). Ask him out loud, "Did you just tell me to pay YOU now?". Stuff like that- kind of moronic sounding I know but believe me, I've dealt with this many times.

Here's another good one: If you've got a pad of paper handy, write down things while he's standing there. Always do it while smiling- don't ever lose your cool- don't act tough. Just write things down continually. Look back in your mirror at this car- write something on the pad. Look at your watch, write something on the pad. Ask him his name in a friendly way, smiling, write something on the pad. Just keep talking to him over and over. The idea is that he starts to worry that you're recording and logging all kinds of information about the traffic stop AND that you don't care how long it takes.

If you do end up going to the station, they'll open a book of fines and you'll pay there- I promise you it will not cost you much, much less than $100. Probably like 20 bucks at the most. Traffic fines are really low in Mex. They like to take advantage of the fact that gringos are usually in a hurry to get home- if you act like you have all the time in the world it works to their disadvantage.

And remember this- IF they get caught taking a bribe OR if you report it to the Sindicatura and follow through with a report about the cop- they will lose their job and they know it. So just act dopey, play the dumb game, tell him you have no money and wait him out.

Now if you ever go to Baja Sur- all bets are off for the town of Ciudad Constitution. That place has crooked cops, crooked station cops and crooked judges. If you follow them to the Juez (judge at the station) he's just as crooked and will nail you for even more. That town mostly sucks. None of my ninja mordita techniques work there.

 

[Abeer]

Man, I was dying laughing reading your ideas. I think I was laughing more at the fact that it all probably works. Next time I go down to Baja I'll be a lot more on my game. This last time, I just couldn't bear dealing with the police in 95 degree heat with no a/c in the defender. We just wanted to be back over the border and done with.

If this happens again, acting dopey is the game plan.

Yes! Looks like you had a really fun trip- stoked for you. San Jose looked pretty good in that shot.

Sucks to hear about that Tecate cop. Tecate is notorious for having a cop or two waiting along that hill that has all the stop signs for Gringos going home. There's a lot of stop signs so you need to carefully stop at each one for a couple seconds. OR try to hit Tecate around 7am, it's so sleepy at that time there aren't many people out and about.

If you do get stopped I have a little advice: First, understand that by asking you for the 100 he was asking for a bribe- so he's breaking the law. Second, the longer you can draw out the whole process the better for you. Next time, maybe try some of my technique.

First, if he tells you you broke a traffic law just tell him follow him to the police department and pay the fine.

Don't ever try to speak Spanish when dealing with the cop- in fact, just keep smiling and saying goofy things like, "Wow, Tecate is such a cool place." goofy things like that. Speak slowly and loud, smile the whole time. Don't be intimidated and act like you have all the time in the world. Don't worry when he asks for and takes your license say, "no problem, sir". At the worst, you'll have to get a new one at DMV- so what, big deal. You can't use a driver's license to cross the border anymore so it doesn't affect that- AND I've always gotten mine back anyway.

Just keep smiling and speaking English- this is my favorite tactic. More and more English- act like you don't understand what he's saying... prolong the whole interaction. The whole time it's going on he knows more and more people are driving by looking at what's going on- believe me, he's feeling more and more uncomfortable with the whole thing.

He'll tell you to follow him, no problem- tell him that's great. I assure you he WILL stop and say, just pay me 20 now, smile some more, say, "I don't have anything except a credit card- I spent all my cash at Hussongs".

Run through the whole goofy thing again. Smile more, ask him how he's doing. Offer him a bottled water. Ask him his name (they hate that because they think you're going to report them to the Sindicatura which is their internal affairs division). Ask him out loud, "Did you just tell me to pay YOU now?". Stuff like that- kind of moronic sounding I know but believe me, I've dealt with this many times.

Here's another good one: If you've got a pad of paper handy, write down things while he's standing there. Always do it while smiling- don't ever lose your cool- don't act tough. Just write things down continually. Look back in your mirror at this car- write something on the pad. Look at your watch, write something on the pad. Ask him his name in a friendly way, smiling, write something on the pad. Just keep talking to him over and over. The idea is that he starts to worry that you're recording and logging all kinds of information about the traffic stop AND that you don't care how long it takes.

If you do end up going to the station, they'll open a book of fines and you'll pay there- I promise you it will not cost you much, much less than $100. Probably like 20 bucks at the most. Traffic fines are really low in Mex. They like to take advantage of the fact that gringos are usually in a hurry to get home- if you act like you have all the time in the world it works to their disadvantage.

And remember this- IF they get caught taking a bribe OR if you report it to the Sindicatura and follow through with a report about the cop- they will lose their job and they know it. So just act dopey, play the dumb game, tell him you have no money and wait him out.

Now if you ever go to Baja Sur- all bets are off for the town of Ciudad Constitution. That place has crooked cops, crooked station cops and crooked judges. If you follow them to the Juez (judge at the station) he's just as crooked and will nail you for even more. That town mostly sucks. None of my ninja mordita techniques work there.

 

[el_topu]

Great adivce guys, and con kso is true what he's saying, just act like you have all the time in the world and that you don't understand spanish, as long as you don't have alchoholic breath 20 usd is too much, trust me I live in México and 100 pesos is usually the correct amount for a bribe


Enviado desde mi iPhone con Tapatalk

 

[con kso]

Ha! Classic.

Senor Taco and Mr. Suave- are on it! Love it when the locals chime in.

I was talking about the police in TJ to my students (I'm a high school teacher at a school so close to the border that I can see the Plaza del toros from the 50yd line of our football field) they were laughing, they told me to give the cops no more than five bucks EVER.

I've got a pretty hilarious story about an encounter with a traffic cop in Sinaloa- I don't want to poach your thread but the short story is he went from cruising the highway in an air conditioned patrol car to standing outside a shrimp farm sweating his balls off in a 12 hour span. He was new on the force and pulled over the wrong guy (not me, the hombre driving our van).

Cheers to you abeer for going for it in your Defender- those things are bad ***.

 

[con kso]

Mr. Suave... jeez dude, we're probably related. Benny Holt- the Jedi Master of the IB Life Guards... he just retired... he can still kick the asses of 3/4 of the guards down on the beach. Legend. I'll be in south Baja this winter... see you there!