Newsgroups: rec.boats.paddle
From: usenet@oracle.us.oracle.com (Oracle News Poster)
Subject: Re: Baja sea kayak destinations?
Organization: Oracle Corp., Redwood Shores CA
Date: Tue, 6 Oct 1992 23:29:37 GMT
X-Disclaimer: This message was written by an unauthenticated user
              at Oracle Corporation.  The opinions expressed are those
              of the user and not necessarily those of Oracle.

In article <1as81vINNhch@charnel.ecst.csuchico.edu> dickman@ecst.csuchico.edu (Bob Dickman) writes:
>Last winter, I took my first sea kayak trip to Bahia de Las Angeles in Baja.
>It was great!  We are looking to do a repeat trip this winter to a different
>location in Baja.  Does anyone have any hot tips on where to go?

I have been to a couple of nice areas, and have paddling partners who have gone
to others.  In order of distance from the border, I can recommend:

   1) Punta Banda/Islas Todos Santos  (just south of Ensenada on the Pacific)

      Beautiful sea cliffs, rocky islands, great diving and spear fishing.
      La Bufadora (the blowhole) is located near the put-in.

   2) La Bufadora to Erendira 

      From the put-in of (1) go south instead of north.  Big sea caves
      at Arbolitos a few miles south of La Bufadora, rugged coastline.  A Five
      day trip gives enough time to explore.  The prevailing winds are northers,
      so this is an easy trip if you can arrange a shuttle.

   3) San Quintin Bay/Isla San Martin

      I was just there over Labor day.  San Quintin Bay is about 5 hours 
      south of the border - a beautiful estuary surrounded by extinct 
      volcanoes.  A great campsite near the mouth of the bay in the dunes.
      Watch the tides and you can ride the tides out of the bay.  Also
      watch for south swells - they cause a good break over the sand bar at the
      mouth of the bay.  Coming back into the bay we caught breaking waves
      and surfed a continuous break for almost a half a mile.  What a blast!

      From the campsite among the dunes, it's about 11 miles to Isla San Martin,
      an extinct volcanic cone several miles off the coast.  The landings on
      the peninsula that forms the western border of the bay involve heavy
      surf, so you need to commit yourself to the paddle.  Also, because of
      strong winds, you need to get an early start and be at the island by
      11 am, by the time the usual marine cloud layer burns off.

      The island is a rookery for pelicans, gulls, sea lions, and is a good
      vantage spot to watch Cal. Gray whales during their migration.  There
      are also kelp beds to dive in, good fishing, some lava tube caves to
      explore, and some good hikes to the top of the old volcano.  Bring 
      sturdy shoes and pants, and some pliers to extract "jumping" cholla
      (if you don't know what I mean, you will) from your arms or legs,
      should you be so unfortunate as to brush against it.

      On our way out to the island, we saw lots of seals and a good-sized
      school of Pacific White-sided dolphin.  Too early for whales, but
      between Nov and March, the prospect of seeing whales should be quite
      good.  On a trip south of Arbolitos farther up the coast, we talked
      to a couple in a double kayak who watched Greys spyhopping in the
      bay just to the north of Punta Santo Tomas for over an hour.
      
      Spear fishing was good - we had halibut sushi and fish tacos almost
      every night.  Sure beats freeze-dried dinners.  Be sure to take
      enough water for drinking/cooking (about 1 gal/person/day); there is
      no fresh water on the island.

   4) Magdelena Bay/Scammon's Lagoon

      The usual whale-watching destination.  Strong current and surf at the
      mouth of the lagoon.

   5) Isla Cedros/Isla Natividad

      Just off the tip of the "spur" that juts out of the pacific coast of baja.
      A hard-core trip, as you have many miles of 4wd road to traverse to get 
      to a good launching spot (probably Bahia de la Tortugas).  Cedros is 
      60 miles off the coast, but it's only about 12 miles from the tip of the
      peninsula to Isla Natividad, then another 8 or so to Cedros.  Strong
      currents, winds, swell are all possible.  I'd love to do this trip,
      but it requires a big time commitment.

      There is actually a small town on Cedros with a couple of thousand 
      inhabitants, and some forested canyons on the NE side.  It's a big island
      that creates its own weather.  Another 16 miles west lie a couple of 
      smaller islands with a few sparsely inhabited fish camps.

      One option to doing Cedros is to fly down to it from Ensenada (there is
      a small charter service with regular flights on an old DC-3 that flies
      to the small airfield on Cedros).  Using folding boats, a Cedros trip
      becomes more logistically plausible (but more expensive).

There are also a number of good trips on the Sea of Cortez side, but I haven't
done those yet.  I understand the Midriff Islands are nice, especially Isla
Carmen.  Currents are quite strong, and the wind can be brutal.  As with 
Bahia Los Angeles, get an early start.

Another good trip I've heard of is the Islas Encantadas (Enchanted Islands),
just south of Puertocitos (north of LA Bay).  They are a chain of islands that
have easy 5-10 mile crossings between them, with currents not as strong as
around the Midriff Islands.

Good sources of information are the Baja Adventure Book (for road, landing,
and things-to-do info), and Ed Gillet at SW Kayaks in San Diego.  His number
is 619.222.3616.  Ed runs trips to most of these places, but he is also more
than willing to share his experiences with others.  He can tell you more
about these trips, and can also suggest many others.
      
My advice is to see Baja before it's gone.  It's a big place, but development
is progressing rapidly, and most of the coast from San Diego to Ensenada is
becoming "California-ized" with condominium developments, resorts and 
restaurants.  The development is beginning to creep south of Punta Banda
(surveyors have reportedly been working near Arbolitos recently), and it is
only a matter of time before it's gone.  The area around Cabo San Lucas is
a good example of what's in store for many of the pristine areas in Baja.
Areas like Bahia San Quintin are already severely overfished, and I've heard
that the Japanese have been permitted to drift-net near the Midriff Islands
in the Sea of Cortez.  Development is a two-edged sword - on the one hand the
country and the people need jobs, but at what cost?  Unfortunately, there is
not much respect for the environment in Mexico, so development is likely to
proceed unrestricted.

It's still an incredibly beautiful place.

[Kurt Bittner       ][   "I don't question our existence,                  ]
[kbittner@oracle.com][    I just question our modern needs."  - Pearl Jam  ]