Listing of Campgrounds

[Belgique]

Getting excited about the first trip south in about 5 years. With the aging of The Church Book, I'm not seeing an alternative to a locator of CGs. Rvparkreviews.com has a pretty good Mexico section but its dated too (not their fault...we RV'ers need to provide input).

What sources are good for planning CG stops? We want to explore, not stay in one CG. Thanks in advance.

[briansue]

Yep - and another place we have found out on the road in Mexico is . . . http://www.italiancoffee.com/ubicaciones.php . . . and then there is VIPS . . . http://www.vips.com.mx . . . and some Pemex stations where truckers say also have WiFi. Lots of free internet but not always when you want it and where you want it. We do the same in the states when it is time to update the computer - free WiFi - big downloads. Our Verizon plan in the US now gives us some flexibility where we can change our base any time during the month - 10GB($60) - 12GB($70) - 14GB($80) - etc. - but if we go over even one MB we pay an additional $15 per GB. That is with our JetPack for our laptops and in-dash computer. So when I find useful info I Copy & Paste to save so I have it anytime I want/need it. I continually update my Mexico files with much of the info coming from posts here. Now all that info is available whether we can get online or not. Being old we much prefer working with laptops with large screens and big letters and big pictures than trying to figure out what is on a little tiny screen we can't see. We all do whatever works best for us.

[qtla9111]

The internet sticks from Movistar and Telcel are slowly disappearing. If you have one, take good care of it. With smart phones, the stick is going by the wayside.

[tony_lee]

Yes Brian, most travelers have the same problem. I'll be paying US$10 per GB but only for the data I actually use, so of course I have to be careful as well. That seems a lot, but it is about the same as we normally pay for prepaid data in many countries anyway.

However, we don't pay for bandwidth we use when logged in to WiFi networks in campsites, Home Depot and as I found out yesterday, even Walmart, so all our big stuff gets done then. The settings are such that if we are using the Google Fi as our modem, no updates and attachments and photo uploads are transferred and the system waits until we are on an "unmetered" service (meaning unmetered for us) As for the smart phone, that is even smarter and individual apps can be ordered not to use my paid service. Roaming itself is not an issue as the Google data rates are the same all over the world and the phone rates only vary by a few cents as well.


If you ever get bored, just buy a smart phone and then you can spend hours and hours going through the thousands of apps and trying out all the interesting ones and customising your phone to there and back, and you will finally realise why everyone else in the world just can't stop messing around with the darn things. Just have to watch the data figures though - nearly 12GB just to set up the phone

[briansue]

Briansue, using the app gets you a heap of extra info just by tapping an icon and then tapping the text box again.

Tony,

Unfortunately we are not smart enough to use a smart phone. We barely use flip phones. Not into phones at all. So no tapping going on here. We do use computers and do understand that smart phones can be useful and that we will eventually have to get with the program. But for now we continue to resist.

As far as downloading programs - we pay for our internet use by the GB and therefore by the MB and the KB - which means we have learned to be careful with how much we use. A couple of years ago we thought we would use the cloud so signed up but as we took pictures and put them on our computer our months worth of access was gone in a week and we had to pay for each additional GB. We have friends who take pictures with their phones and send them all to the cloud before any editing so they have huge monthly bills. Not having a steady and inexhaustible flow of funds we watch what we spend and save for fuel and food. For many years my method has been to Copy & Paste relevant info to files so I now have many years worth of info for all areas of Mexico I can access directly from our computer without going online - I can do the same with info I find useful on Overlander and keep adding to our files for each area. That way all our info is edited down to our needs and not everything someone has to say. We just have to find the time to keep going through the available info. I do take the info found on this forum and add it in the appropriate files we save.

[tony_lee]

There are other ways to get off-line access to online resources such as On the Road.

Using Firefox, there is an Add-on called 'Scrapbook" and this allows you to save a web page and store it on your computer and access it via a list similar to bookmarks.
It also allows you to save an entire web site down as many layers of links as you want to go. Can be huge files of course but the download process is automatic and then you can browse that site off-line just as if it was on-line. Obviously it is a snapshot at that moment but as has been pointed out, these sites don't change month to month let alone daily

iOverlander, with a bit of help from us, would be hard to beat though

OK, OK, no more spruiking from me.

[tony_lee]

Briansue, using the app gets you a heap of extra info just by tapping an icon and then tapping the text box again. Then you can see all the checkins as well even off-line. Photos too if you set it up, but maybe only on-line. Apps are free.
I've finally given in and bought a android phone - S6 - but mainly to be able to have Google Fi which gives me phone and internet in 150 countries and should save me having to go through the major hassles of buying SIMs and dongles in every country. Getting it in Mexico was bad enough, but imagine trying to get it in Turkey without being able to speak Turkish. Supposed to be seamless from country to country and uses available wifi services or if nothing, automatically switches to a telco service.

[tony_lee]

Belgique wrote:
Tony: great input! I had not seen ioverlander. Very user friendly. I tested it on some CGs I used years ago and it had recent input. Thanks!

Yes, if each of us updated a couple of places and added a new place each time we went down, we wouldn't need to have this conversation. We are heading down in a couple of days and I will be doing what I can to update the info.

BTW I help out a bit with keeping the database in order and as far as I know, even the founders of iOverlander aren't making a cent out of their efforts over many years. They saw a need - mainly in South and Central America - and it has gone from there. When we spent three months in Turkey recently there were 3 places listed in Turkey. Now there are about 60 and growing. Mexico has 956 listings and growing daily
Of course quality of entries is a continuing problem although now with the smartphone apps it is a lot easier to add and update places on the fly, and of course the more people use it, the better the info will be.

[briansue]

I went to the Overlander website and wanted to see if it worked with Streets & Trips - though S&T is out of date it is still a decent map of Mexico - I first tried the .csv but could not get it to work - then tried the .gpx and it works - limited info show up but it does tell something about the place and puts it on the map by GPS - could be very useful. I had not heard of this one before. Lots of places besides just RV and camping locations. We would have to be able to go online to find detailed info. Maybe Copy & Paste info ahead of time as I have done with info from many other sources over the years. I now have extensive files for each state. I'll try to spend more time working with this to figure out how to use if for our style of travel.

Went on the Moon website - never heard of this one before - can't figure out how to find RV parks? Extensive travel website but doesn't appear to be geared toward RVers. Can anyone explain how to use this website to find RV specific info?

I wrote to Churches asking if they still do updates but have not heard back from them yet. I did see updates from Nov. 2014 but none more recent. Many people buy one edition of the book and never buy another so as years go by their sales became to low to justify new issues. If we do not support these things they cease to exist. There is also a great deal of competition from online resources.

The same with On The Road In - none of these things work if those out on the road do not keep sending in what they learn so the information is up to date. Neither the Churches nor the Bells continually roam around Mexico trying to find out what is going on everywhere. It is up to the users to keep informing them of what we experience out there.



.

[tony_lee]

They dont' need a book.

which is why Churchs don't update it. They are only going to sell books to new travellers and I'd say there aren't so many of them nowadays. In the case of Baja, maybe you don't even need a map to find a safe haven for the night.

When we were on the mainland a couple of years ago someone, maybe BrianSue, said Churchs were in Mexico getting updated info. Did anything come of that or did they decide then there was no money to be made so didn't follow through.

One thing that book was useful for was to navigate through cities and avoid places where bigrigs shouldn't be, but now everyone has fantastic databases and maps and navigation in the palm of their hand, plus on-line lists of millions of points of interest and the ability to pre-drive routes on your computer so the demand for this sort of publication is fast approaching zero.

[4X4Dodger]

The notion that there arent enough people going to Mexico to justify the update of the church book is less than convincing.

For one thing the Mex Govt own tourist arrival numbers show that travel is greatly increased for the last two years. (these are border crossings not just airline arrivals)

Californians alone make up tens of thousands of trips to the Baja every year in their campers and MH's...This has been going on since I was a kid. They dont' need a book.

I think the real reason is the cost to update the book vs the sales just doesnt make sense for the authors. I think they may have their eyes on other destinations.

As for going to their site for updates: for the Baja there were almost none and those were old (this is when I looked about three months ago)

Many of the other Baja web sites are VERY out of date or worse yet they dont attach a date to the site or say when it was last updated.

I bought the Church book despite it's being so out of date, It may be useful as a baseline. But frankly I'd rather use the Moon book as it includes so much more information.

Self publishing can be tough and expensive, updating the book can be very time consuming and also expensive. I would like to see them do an update but I am not holding my breath.

Meantime, by using all the sources available to me I gathered enough names and websites of RV parks the entire length of the Baja to know that there will not be a shortage of places to stay.

[Belgique]

Tony: great input! I had not seen ioverlander. Very user friendly. I tested it on some CGs I used years ago and it had recent input. Thanks!

[tony_lee]

Still think the ioverlander.com site could serve as a reference source simply because it already has a heap of RV parks listed - and there is provision for photographs - as many as you like and subsequent visitors can add more, plus comprehensive descriptions plus what facilities are available AND the ability for recent visitors to add their comments AND update the primary listing.

At the moment there are 288 listings for established campgrounds and going down the list, I'd say half or more have "RV" or "Resort" in their name and possibly a lot of the others could be OK for motorhomes. After all, it doesn't take much in the way of facilities to be considered an RV Park in Mexico. Bit of spare ground, couple of wires draped through the trees hooked to outlets nailed to the trunks and water if possible. voila!

IPhone and Android aps are available and selective searches of the database (or the whole lot) can ge downloaded as a GPX file and loaded onto any Garmin so all the info is available OFF_LINE and viewable on a map with all the details available under your index finger. Apps can be set up to update automatically if you want, or do it manually, but either way, what you have available off-line can be right up to the minute.

What other source offers that sort of accessibility. Anyone can log in and supply information or download the files - all at a cost of ZERO.

Granted, some of the info is likely to be out of date, but all that it takes to make it up to date is to check in to that page and update it. Too easy.

Couple of examples

http://app.ioverlander.com/places/125-yax-ha-resort

http://app.ioverlander.com/places/205-los-coyotes-bahia-de-concepcion

http://app.ioverlander.com/places/103-rv-park-san-lucas-cove

http://app.ioverlander.com/places/200-kiki-s

This is similar to what you see on your smart phone and touching any symbol brings up whatever details others have provided - OFF-LINE



Did I mention the cost - gratis! Costenlos, libre, free

[qtla9111]

Rving has always been a niche business in Mexico. It just hasn't caught on with Mexicans. We're not there yet, we still or they still prefer resorts and beach hotels along with ecotourism which has really taken off.

Rvs have to be imported and the cost for a new one is 22%. You can get a 10 year old vehicle imported but we all know what happens to most used rvs that are 10 years old and on the rv dealer lot.

I think between On The Road In and the Church book with an email or phone call we can still find out what's open and what's closed.

Has anyone talked to Bill and Dot about their website and asked them how up to date it is? Belgique that would be a FB question you could send them. I say that only because I no longer participate in their FB page. Worth a try.

[Belgique]

Hi Moisheh! The easier way is to bug you and Chris with questions:-). As has been said, any system needs input from travelers. On The Road has an excellent frame work to accept and catalog our inputs. Promise to do my part. Maybe folks from last year can populate it with their more current experiences?

As it stands, you'll be on the tail end of our journey since we plan to aggravate Chris first and then do the circle around to your territory.