Dry Camping in Mexico!

Almot wrote:
Rocmoc, you've been to Mexico already. As people said, these days you can't just pull off the road and camp.

Yup and rarely pulled off the road my ourselves except a single night stay at Pemex.

rocmoc n AZ/Mexico

I would avoid La Paz area for a while. People are angry, lost their jobs and their homes after the hurricane. There is a lot more crime now in this area. Poor road access is a safety measure in itself though.

We so much want to go down the Baja and dry camp on beaches etc but since the hurricane hit Cabo last year (we postponed our planned trip for this past winter due to it) seeing the looting and reading of some of the events that have occurred since, we are now naturally very concerned about travelling alone.

Is there a good possibility and if so how, finding a group of folks from USA and Canada that might be interested in doing say an initial 40 to 60 day trip down the Baja stopping for 3 to 5 days on various beaches/locations. We understand the disadvantage of maybe one person wanting to move on whilst others want stay longer etc, but we'd rather spend an extra night or two longer in one location and feel the safety in numbers than feel susceptible on our own. I have heard of BajaNomads.com as a website, but just curious where is the best place when we are ready to enquire of possible informal groups looking to cross into the Baja for a couple of months +/-.

Thanks,

Would never advise anyone to do something they feel is dangerous yet boondocking in Baja is great.


A car came near during the night never heard them, but they were just to the right in the morning when I departed.


Neibours were some distance away.


Far shot


Closer shot. Site was like this every night. Others visited and used this beach on weekends. They always departed by shortly after dark.



Camped at this spot away form others and near La Paz. A knock on the door awakened me about 3:00 AM. It was two guys waving out side I pointed to my watch and went back to bed.
Next morning I found they had gotten their car stuck in the sand. I rounded up a beach walker and a nearby camper we helped them get the car unstuck.
Saw them latter in town they seemed most grateful.

we have to distinguish between dry camping & boon docking. On the caravans I lead we have at least a week in total of dry camping (Durango in a motel lot) Cuitzeo on a football field, the beach at Chacala. I do not consider that boondocking. Boon docking to me is sitting out alone in the desert or on a remote lake somewhere.

Winter of 1975. Conception Bay (Bahia de Concepcion) south of Mulege. 100 Airstreams 'dry-camping' near Posada Concepcion. Probably the first organized caravan to make the trip after the highway was built in 1973-74.



A nice dry-camping beach at Coyote Bay.






For a photo guide to dry-camping in all of Conception Bay, Baja Sur copy and paste this:

http://forums.bajanomad.com/viewthread.php?tid=78666

I have to add here that most camps in Central Baja - from Ensenada to Loreto, and in San Felipe corridor (past San Felipe) are "dry camps". So don't worry about not needing hookups now that you have a solar, as you are not going to have hookups anyway :)

This was the reason for me to install a solar - there is no shore power, and to my ear the crickets music sounds nicer than a generator.

Just go.

There are some places where one is required to pay a small fee to stay, with no real amenities provided. We saw those in Baja especially, open spaces where visitors might like to stop, locals would come and collect.

On Mainland, one was near the Presa Cajon de Pena, near the city of Tomatlan, where fishing for bass was good, the military macaws could be found; also, duck hunting was encouraged to keep them out of the rice growing area nearby. For instance, the Bay of Tenacatita was always a destination for us and, although it closed to the public in August of 2010, (at gunpoint, by state police) it just may be open again, according to recent reports. We did seven winters there, paid about 5 dollars a day to a Mexican artist from a nearby village who attended the beach almost everyday and filled an important position that kept us very happy and secure. We payed almost the same to have water delivered. There was no electricity on that part of the beach, generators were not used, a rule enforced by opinion of the majority of the campers. Everyone had solar or else moved on after a couple of days. A laundry man collected weekly, brought it back the second day after; the beer truck, Sol/ Dos Equis, came to the beach twice a week; propane got delivered to the beach about twice a season, for us it was used exclusivly by the refrigerator. Small propane bottles were filled at Cihautlan, about 50 kms south. Supplies bought in Melaque, 40 km south. Cooking was done outdoors by most, its heat was the problem; we showered outside in a shower enclosure, the water heated by the sun; black water was blue-boyed by vehicle to the back country; swam daily around the coral beach, bought from visiting fruit and vegetable vendors; bought warm, freshly baked items from the bakery lady who often brought them to the beach. Dined on tables set out on the dirt streets in El Rebelsito, ate periodically in the about eighteen palapa restaurants on the main beach (no longer there of course, bulldozed).

We once stayed in a Walmart in the city of Colima, and they seemed so happy to see us we stayed two days to take in the city and outlying area. Other than a couple of stays, maybe of two weeks total were at the now-closed Negrita Bay, on the Bahia Chemela just south of Perula, we always payed to stay in a park while we had time; maybe 2 or 3 Pemex stations a season while we were in a hurry. We had great times after staying on the beach when driving into the cooler, higher areas, Villa Corona, Patzcuaro were favourits. Never stayed in a restaurant's lot, although once in a Hotel's, in Perula. There was a rate for RV's.

We have also parked overnight in restaurant parking lots. Have a meal in the restaurant, give a large tip and ask if you can stay parked for the night.

Not true dry camping or boondocking but we have spent many nights in 24 hour Pemex stations after buying a tank of gas and tipping the attendants more than you would for just gas. Also we have parked overnight in Walmart and Soriana parking lots. If there is security, and there usually is, tip the security guy 50 pesos and he will watch out for you. Maybe make him a cup of coffee as well. As I said, we have done this dozens of times and have never been bothered.