EVERYTHING YOU WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT BAJA CALIFORNIA

But didn't know who to ask.

WELCOME.

.....I started this page to share some of the information and experiences of my travels over the last 30 years on Mexico's Baja California Peninsula. I love BAJA and have made over fifty trips down the peninusla, by land, sea, and air. I'm very gratified by the response this page has received and am surprised by the number of inquires I have had regarding Hotels, Beaches, and Travel information around the Loreto area. . So.....I'm redoing the page to give you the information you want about Loreto and the surrounding area. It will take a little while to get all the current information out of Loreto and on to the page, but feel free to visit the new LORETO GUIDE as it is under construction. It is divided into GENERAL INFORMATION and HOTEL and RESTURANTS

.....You may also wish to check out the original Home Page which has information on driving Baja's Transpeninsular Highway, insurance information and border crossing stuff, and some of my refelections on 30 years of Baja travel. Driving comments in this section are for the Northern part of the peninsula from Tijuana to Gerrero Negro.

Section 2 contains driving information for the Southern part of the peninsula from Guerro Negro to Loreto.

Section 3 covers the driving South from Loreto to Cabo San Lucas

SECURITY CONCERNS

It is against Mexican law and a Very Serious Offense. In all my travels to Mexico I have never had a situation that would have been helped by a gun. If you want to feel armed, buy some small spray containers of PEPPER SPRAY. They should provide plenty of protection and are easly purchased in the US. Besides, that way, if you dont find any banditos to spray, you can use the pepper spray on your tacos. April 27, 1998

INSPECTIONS ON HIGHWAY ONE If you are driving in Baja plan to be stopped and searched by the Mexican Army about once every one hundred miles. For the most part they are polite and do not speak much, if any, English. When you are stopped at a road block, They will ask you, " Tiene Ustedes Armas o Drugas?" It sounds like, " TEE-N-EH, U-STEAD-AYS, ARM-AHS OH DREW-GHAS?" Armas are guns, and drugas are drugs. The correct answer is, " No Senior, no tenemos armas o drugas." (No Sir. We do not have any guns or drugs.)"NO SIN-YOUR, NO TEN-NAY-MOS ARM-AHS OH DREW-GHAS" They will look through your car and may ask you to unload stuff so they may search. This is Mexico, Nepolianic code. There are no unlawful search or sezure laws. Be polite say, yes sir and no sir. Smile! Dont be a wise ass and the check will go quickly and smoothly. I have been stopped and searched many, many, times and look at it as a minor inconvience and a chance to strech my legs. If you think your really being abused there is almost always a Mexican Army officer with the detachment or a senior Sergent. The baby faced 17 year old draftee with the AK-47 who is doing most of the searching, doesnt speak English.

The US Government is paying Mexico to do these checks to try and stop the flow of illegal drugs into the US, so relax and go with the flow. These troops are stationed out in the middle of nowhere and would rather be doing something else also. If you have a extra cold beverage to share you will bring a smile to a lot of faces. July, 6, 1999

UPDATE 2002 Things in Mexico and in Baja are changing fast. Too fast for me to keep up with all the changes. Some of my information is fast becoming out of date so please except my apologies. However most of the comments are still valid but the tourist card process has changed and the Iduana (Mexican customs) has become a lot stricter about what you bring into Mexico. I have a trip south planned for this fall and will bring this site up to date at that time. Until then take advantage of the many excellent sites on Baja. To find them just put "Baja California", in quotes into any search engine. My favorite search engine is www.google.com . You can email me at Bajabob@nolehace.net and I will try my best to get the answers to your questions. June 2004

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