posted 03-04-2011 01:15 PM ET (US)        

The campground is inexpensive and right on the water, with easy beach launching and the ability to anchor out as this is a shallow protected bay. Camping is primitive, no hookups, but with hot showers and flush toilets, and there is an interesting collection of characters in the campground who are social and helpful (most of whom lease their spots on a yearly basis and have installed semi-permanent trailer). I personally use my pop-up camper. Santa Rosalia is nearby, so there is easy access to supplies, gas, ice, and restaurants (where I usually watch the NBA finals which are finishing up at the time).

As I indicated, I am a knowledgeable guide, in all aspects of Mexico and Baja travel. I am not offering a service, there is no charge, just the offer of company for serious fishermen. My wife usually does not come, but you can bring yours (or kids, dog, etc.) Please post any questions you might have, and for great reading, I recommend "The Baja Catch," by Neil Kelly and Gene Kira, which describes the area. I can send you photos if you are interested.

posted 03-04-2011 07:30 PM ET (US)            

Tomol, out of So. Cal., goes down with a bunch of guys diving in the Sea of Cortez yearly and posts some really nice photos.

I will tell you this, many of my friends who used to cross the border for fishing, sailing and diving in Baja have backed off. The violence is daily and there have been increasing hits on tourists.

posted 05-07-2011 10:48 PM ET (US)            

This is a later version of the newspaper version of this morning. As of 2012, NO cruise companies will be doing the Mexican Riviera cruises. The annual loss to San Diego tourism annually + $100 MILLION. The reason stated= increasing violence in Mexico. I would caution anyone planning a trip into Mexico to do more research. Coastal communities are increasingly impacted due to drug trade sorts using waterways in lieu of roadways.

posted 05-16-2011 02:48 AM ET (US)            

Hey Lizard, I think that if you care to check, you will find that more fishermen die doing what we did this past weekend at Bodega Bay, either diving for abs (at least two so far this season nearby) or in boating accidents while fishing for salmon, than die as tourists victimized by criminal drug gangs while visiting Mexico. The link you supplied only shows that many potential tourists are shying away from traveling to Mexico on cruises because of the negative reports, and that has caused the touring companies to change routes for economic reasons, not because of any actual violence against tourists. Most of the problems have been in the Northeastern border areas, notably around Ciudad Juarez, although admittedly there have also been some problems in Mazatlan and Acapulco, where the ships port. There has also been violence against immigrants from Central American passing though (presumably riding the rails) on their way to the U.S. border.

posted 05-18-2011 07:12 PM ET (US)            

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2010/10/02/ sheriff-body-of-american-shot-by-mexico-pirates-still-missing/

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/04/05/ americas-war-americans-killed-mexico-border-crossing/

[urlhttp://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/07/us/07border.html?_r=1[url]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39998294/ns/world_news-americas/t/ americans-killed-mexico-past-week/

http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-02-08/news/ 28550568_1_northern-mexico-dealership-ciudad-juarez

From Wikipedia: 92 Americans were killed in Mexico between June 2009 and June 2010 (associated with the drug cartel war). During the same period, 448 Mexicans were killed in drug cartel associated killings in Baja alone.

posted 05-19-2011 10:54 AM ET (US)            

The figures in the April State Department Travel Advisory http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/tw/tw_5440.html show the actual level of crime. 150,000 people cross the border daily. That's 54,750,000 per year with 111 deaths. I have to think the murder rate in the U.S. is close to that.

This is a letter reprinted from "Western Outdoor News". I'm unsure of the date. It provides a little perspective. http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j19/Tomol_2006/CrimeinLaPaz.jpg

Finally, and just because I can't resist an opportunity to show off a fish, here's my biggest yellowtail to date. http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j19/Tomol_2006/IMG_9194.jpg The picture was taken in San Lucas Cove. The fish came on the backside of nearby Isla San Marcos. The more observant may notice a wind whipped surface. That's common in winter when the picture was taken. June will be beautiful.

posted 05-19-2011 12:44 PM ET (US)            

People go down there with no understanding or planning and find themselves in dicey situations. You are different in that you live locally and therefore get more news than folks in other parts. You are seasoned in travel to the same destination almost yearly. You've got it.

The purpose of my posts is to provide a head's up for those considering a trip, so that they can be informed, not scared, and plan for a successful and safe outing.

I have friends and colleagues, with family still in MX, who do not travel to their own family homes anymore. While the violence is largely random, there is gunfire in the streets, on an almost daily basis.

The latest "thing" is that people are being called in the U.S. and told that a family member is being held hostage. In this woman's case, her elementary school- aged son. He attends a private school in Chula Vista (north of the border for those unfamiliar with the territory). He is a legal U.S. citizen. She rec'd a call stating he had been taken hostage.

The callers hope that you will forward the money immediately, given the violence and the inability to obtain clear and immediate answers from MX authorities. Fortunately, he was in school and had never been approached. I know two people who have had this happen in the past year.

posted 05-19-2011 08:21 PM ET (US)            

When you open a thread in an OPEN forum, you should expect responses, even if they are not the responses you might have wished for or offend your sensibilities.

Calling someone a troll is rude.

posted 05-20-2011 10:49 AM ET (US)            

Launching there was an adventure with any south swell, but it was usually doable. http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j19/Tomol_2006/141_4168copy.jpg . That 9 mile dirt road from the highway made for an unbelievably dirty boat. http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j19/Tomol_2006/TheBoat06.jpg .

That whole area is still very rich with sea life. From Isla Tortuga to the north to Conceptsion Penninsula to he south, there's a little something for everybody.

posted 05-21-2011 01:54 PM ET (US)            

Back in the early '80s my brother-in-law introduced my to Cabo Pulmo on the East Cape, where he had a close friend. We went there in August, blazing hot of course. So, a few years later when I sold my little ski runabout (kids off to college) I bought a used 12' inflatable with a 25hp Tohatsu, and started going to Pulmo. This continued for a few years, often in winter, even flopped a few dorado into my dad's lap when I brought him down there with me. Got introduced to Chivato in the late 90s, visiting a friend there, and after I purchased my first Montauk and made one last trip to Pulmo, switched locations. Over the years I also had visited Papa Fernandez' in Gonzaga Bay several times, as well as L.A. Bay (Daggett's). I probably hit Chivato about five times, always in June when the dorado were making their way north, then stopped going during some years of RV travel, and by the time I was ready to go back the beach had been closed to camping. Loved that place, loved being able to launch at the ramp over by the hotel and airstrip (is that launching photo you posted really old, before all the houses were built?). Also loved being able to anchor the boat out behind the protective reefs.

I did my research, had heard about San Lucas Cove but never stopped there, and decided to check it out in '09. I had for the previous several years been trailering my second Montauk (got cancer, sold the '77, got well, bought my '85) all the way down to a Chacala, a small fishing village in Nayarit where we had been spending time in the winter). I found everything about the campground welcoming including the old timers, who immediately taught me the ropes, launching, tides, routes in and out of the bay, bait locations. Plus, this was a lot closer to the north end of San Marcos than Chivato, easier to get to the Yellowtail for the early bite. Of course, I don't miss that dirt road out to Chivato either, washboard unless scraped within the previous few days. Plus I enjoy being close to Santa Rosalia.

I have never gone all the way out to Isla Tortuga, should probably do it one of these days when the seas are glassy.

I have never been to San Francisquito, just took out the Baja Catch to read about it, sounds like November is the best time to get surface running yellows on lures, that would be a lot of fun since getting them off the bottom with live bait is just plain backbreaking work. I am not sure I would be up for the boat access though, I wasn't even too thrilled when I drove the first five miles south out of L.A. Bay as far as Dr. Abraham Vazquez' place at Campo Gecko. I have just about had my fill of Baja back roads after numerous trips to Gonzaga via Puertocitos, and one run up the coast from Mag Bay to Bahia San Ignacio, even more of a nightmare. I'm just getting too old for that.

Here are some Facebook links to my Baja photos from the past two years, hope they work for non-members:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1194417375809.31628.1089665024
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1433230585990.61499.1089665024
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1475970534462.65928.1089665024

posted 05-22-2011 12:03 PM ET (US)            

Great pictures. I particularly liked the ones of San Ignacio.

In answer to your questions, the launching picture was taken in '04 or '05.

If you want to go to San Francisquito, do it soon. An enormous copper and cobalt mine ($1.7 billion capital investment) is about to begin operations at El Arco. Plans call for them to haul the ore to San Francisquito and put it on barges. To do that they're going to build a pier and marina off the point, since it's the only deep water access around. All this means is that our bucolic little haven is probably going away.

Like you, I'm no longer a fan of long, bumpy roads, so the approach of choice is the road in from Mex 1 that goes through El Arco. It's much much better than the nightmare down from L.A. Bay.

posted 06-30-2011 01:03 PM ET (US)            

I have posted the photos on my Facebook page, with access to all. The link is: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2084966118971.122008.1089665024

The trip down was uneventful except I didn't leave home here in Northern California until Sunday afternoon at 4 PM. I spent the night in an Anaheim Walmart lot, then headed for my daughter's place in Chula Vista. I finally crossed the border Monday (June 6) around 2:30, and drove until night was setting in, stopping at a back country restaurant because I didn't want to drive the last hour in the dark to Rancho Santa Inez in Catavina, and figuring I could have a meal and park for free. Unfortunately, I didn't account for the truckers who would park next to me with their engines and compressors running while I tried to sleep. Lesson learned. Lucky I wasn't asphyxiated.

I made it to San Lucas Cove after 4 PM Tuesday, still enough time to get semi-set up, and to launch the boat and get it prepared for fishing early Wednesday. There was a Montauk already there, and a family with a third Montauk (both are shown in my photos) arrived the next day. Of note, there are two or three others in storage at the nearby village, for folks who spend part of the year here. This (along with aluminum boats) is the most popular and most practical choice in this shallow bay.

The fishing was not as good this year as I had hoped, sort of in between the best yellowtail fishing and the start of the dorado run. Over the course of eleven fishing days, I got only two yellowtail, and had one take-up from a dorado, and one from a sailfish, without hooking either. Another nice yellowtail was caught on my boat by a friend. I was still able to eat yellowtail (hamachi) sashimi every day, I got plenty of bay bass, triggers and snappers to keep the frying pan active. We watched the NBA finals in a restaurant in Santa Rosalia, a town that is experiencing a rebirth since the copper mine has reopened in the last year. The seas were cooperative as usual, many glassy mornings, limited swells and plenty of sea life, including many whale sharks, two sperm whale encounters, pilot whales and dolphins. A negative was the illegal incursion of a large fleet of trawlers into the Craig Channel seeking the squid, and the local panga fishermen were not happy with this criminal act seemingly avoiding any government enforcement.

I headed home Sunday the 19th, made Santo Tomas, then L.A. for the afternoon and evening Monday and home on Tuesday. Again, uneventful driving, other than discovering (and changing) a trailer tire that was showing uneven wear.