I Want To Be In Baja

I really enjoyed Dick’s story on his July 18th post on his San Felipe Talk blog. He was relating his experiences of visiting the marina at San Felipe just as the crab fishermen came in, and buying some very fresh, and very cheap crab! This was a story I could relate to from personal experience.

Years ago, my wife and I made friends with a lobster fisherman on the south coast of Devon in the UK. He took us out at first light and we helped haul in the lobster pots, re-bait them and set them back again. On that trip we caught a few lobsters and several crab. That evening we had fresh crab for dinner - being a seafood lover anyway, fresh crab has always been one of my favorites - even better than lobster in my opinion.

I knew the Sea of Cortez around San Felipe is famous for its shrimp but I did not know they fished for crab there as well. These particular crab are blue crab and Dick picked up 19 crabs for the grand sum of 150 pesos (less than $12! USD) - that, my friend, is a bargain! As Dick says, back in Virginia, he paid $30 for just 6 crabs. Not that I need another excuse to go to San Felipe and El Dorado Ranch but, next trip, guess where I will be heading!

I have been asked about camping in the San Felipe area. Due to the construction of developments such as El Dorado Ranch and others, camp grounds and RV parks have been disappearing over the years. However, right in San Felipe, there is a campground
just south of the Malecon, next to Bandidos bar and restaurant. Called Campo San Felipe, it doesn’t have an office to pull up to, and I was not able to find a phone number or web site. There is a woman who is available around the grounds and all one has to do is pay her $30/night for a place right on the beach, or $25 just off the beach and they can stay as long as they like. There is a bathroom and shower on the premises and it appears to be clean.

Most of the spots have a shaded picnic table and there are trash cans around for waste. I didn’t get a count of the number of sites available but the day we checked it out (weekday) there were plenty of sites available and this was in April when the temperature is ideal.
The Malecon is only a block away and can be accessed by beach. Once people are settled in the campground, there is no need for a car to get around town. San Felipe has a wonderful Malecon that runs several blocks along the beach and there are many restaurants and shopping within easy walking distance.
For those looking to rent a house or condo, there are many available at El Dorado Ranch which is just 7 miles north of town. People who rent here have access to the pool, tennis courts, private beach and the golf course.

In spite of the media coverage, those of us who travel back and forth to the area realize that Mexico, and particularly the area around San Felipe area, continues to be a gentle and quiet area with no shortage of outdoor things to do.

For those of you heading down to San Felipe this weekend it should be a lively one! The 2009 Tecate SCORE Baja 500 off-road race takes place this weekend and is one of the premier family events of the year down in Baja. It certainly doesn’t seem like a whole year has gone since the last one!

The race itself starts and finishes in the northern Baja town of Ensenada and covers a total of 432 miles with San Felipe as its most southerly part of the circuit.  It is an international affair with entries from UK, France, Germany, Austria, Denmark, Hungary, Portugal, Japan, Mexico and Canada joining representatives from 25 American States to compete in the race.  There are also several different categories of race including motorcycles, ATVs, cars and trucks, giving plenty of variety and color for every kind of motor-vehicle-racing fan!  It is always a lively, good-natured, family event and it is certainly going to give the business community of San Felipe a much needed boost after what has been a dreadful first half of the year. And you can check out the great facilities at El Dorado Ranch while you are there - sweet!  I only wish that I could be there but, unfortunately I already had other commitments. But if you are going to be there we’d love to hear of your experiences - and send us some photos!  Have a great and fun weekend!

All you fans of off-road desert racing will no doubt be packing your bags and gearing up for the latest in the SCORE racing calendar, SCORE Baja 500 - June 5th - June 7th, 2009. It doesn’t seem all that long ago when we were down in San Felipe for the SCORE Baja 250 race back in March. Although both fan and entry numbers were slightly down this year, probably because of the bad press about the ‘drug wars’, a great time was had by all who did make the effort. El Dorado Ranch is always a popular place to stay on such occasions!

San Felipe is one of the main observation points along the 232 mile race and large crowds come to the town to soak up the desert racing ambience. It is always a well organized, family event and is always good natured and a lot of fun. Hopefully, race fans will not be put off coming to San Felipe - at least the whole Swine Flu thing seems to be fizzling out. San Felipe businesses could certainly do with some tourist dollars right now. It hasn’t been the best of years for them so far.

The San Felipe Rowing Team

If you are a fan of olympic rowing then you might want to plan to be in San Felipe, Baja on the weekend of 7th - 10th May, 2009. The local San Felipe rowing team (pictured above) has performed so well in recent Mexican Olympiads that the town was chosen to host this prestigious rowing event. The event is expected to draw as many as two thousand spectators, which will certain provide some welcome economic relief to the town after a poor Spring Break showing due the reporting on the border drug cartel violence.

The rowers will compete over a two kilometer course which must be in waters that are two meters in depth, according to event rules. In order to achieve this 5 million pesos (just under $400,000), are earmarked to build the course 400 meters offshore between El Machorro and the El Cortex Motel. At the end of the event this course will remain in place so that it can be used for future sporting activities. What with hosting the Regatta as well, San Felipe is becoming as well known for its water-sports as its off-roading!  Way to go San Felipe. Thanks to blueroadrunner.com for the story and picture.

I pondered long and hard over going down to San Felipe for the 3rd Annual Tecate Blues and Arts Festival last weekend.  It was one of those situations where we had had busy weekends in the fortnight before the festival and a couple of events planned in April and we just needed a weekend to catch up with normal chores and therefore decided not to go.  But with the combination of good music, great art, great weather, great beaches, great beer, and great fish tacos, it was a very difficult decision to make I can assure you!

By all accounts it was a great festival and I am only sorry that I have to report it second hand, as it were (Hopefully Nancy will give her account here shortly).  Check out http://www.blueroadrunner.com/bluesfest2009 for a good account of the proceedings and will show you why you need to pencil this event in your calendars for next year.  There is also a couple of links to two great  slideshows of both the blues performers and the arts displayed at the festival which really gives you a great flavor of the event.
Darn it! I knew we should have gone!

The annual Hobie Cat Regatta at San Felipe, Baja seems to have been enjoyed by all who attended last weekend’s event, despite the ongoing scare-mongering by the U.S. mainstream press over the ongoing drug violence along the Mexican - U.S. border. Although I have heard reports of some Regatta-goers being put off from traveling to San Felipe for this year’s event, every comment I have seen says that a great time was had by all and that no-one had any problem, either at the event or in their journeys to or from San Felipe.

By all accounts the citizens of San Felipe were eager to make the Regatta-goers feel welcome and did everything they could to help with the event. Many local business owners are upset that the bad publicity has made a considerable impact on visitor numbers, especially in respect of students visiting for Spring Break. Don’t let the press put you off going to the Blues Festival there this weekend!

Tiki Bar Seed

Excitement is a-building for the Blues Festival in San Felipe, Baja Ca, Mexico, around the 28th of March!
Just mentioning it to friends up here in AZ has generated some major hype!
Unfortunately we’d love to get the seed for the Flip Flops Tiki Bar to sprout a little so we can provide some refreshments to Blues fanciers over that weekend, but we’re afraid there just isn’t time for all the pieces to be put in place.  Even a temp set-up on the Beach at El Dorado Ranch using two 10ft barrels bracketing a 5 X 5 “hut” would be a good start, if we could get them brought together, (along with required paper-work), in time!

Regardless, the Blues Festival is gonna happen on the 28th and for now there are some quality venues of refreshment available in town, like the V-Lounge.  Meanwhile the “Flip Flops spirits” and we “Tiki pushers” are gonna be trying our best to become the prime fun-venue on the beach, as soon as we can make it happen!

Meanwhile, whoever can make it, look around for Flip Flops on the beach and the Tiki Seed.  They’ll be sprouting soon!!  When they show up, everyone will be told!