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!

Although it’s been over a week since the Shrimp Festival, I still remember just how good the food was, particularly on Saturday night when friends and I decided to eat at the Pavillion restaurant for dinner.  The Shrimp Festival is an annual event in San Felipe (which is considered the Shrimp Capital of Baja) and is well attended by locals and visitors alike.  During the 3 day festival, restaurants (like the Pavillion) are allowed to set up temporary eating facilities right on the Malecon which is the street that runs right along the beach.  Closed to vehicle traffic, people can wander back and forth, taking advantage of anything from sit-down restaurants to simply buying cooked shrimp, one at a time from stands. If you don’t like shrimp, don’t worry, there is a variety of food, including hamburgers, fresh churros and real cotton candy made on site.  Along with music from several bands, there is entertainment on the main stage and rides for the kids at the west end.
 
Getting back to the restaurants, they make their favorite recipes which are entered into a contest for best shrimp.  They have a great start because the Sea of Cortez is saltier than oceans and this gives the shrimp a little extra sweetness.  With San Felipe located right on the sea, the shrimp are delivered immediately from boat to town.  The Pavillion restaurant is located at El Dorado ranch, along with 2 others, La Palapa and Juanito’s.  I have eaten at all 3 restaurants and can attest to the consistent quality of food at all three.
 
Once again, El Dorado Ranch provides value to people who live there, or are just down for a vacation.  With the three restaurants on site, there is plenty of variety for people to choose from without having to go into town. But being located only 7 miles from town, it’s easy to participate in all the festivities that San Felipe has to offer. If you missed this festival, know there are other events happening and you can access the information to this through www.sanfelipe.com.mx.

El Dorado Ranch, near San Felipe, Baja is not just a retirement community. There are plenty of houses and condos available to rent, many of which are within easy walking distance of the beach making it a premier family vacation spot as well. The Sea of Cortez boasts some of the finest beaches in Mexico, but there are plenty of other things to occupy you and your family at El Dorado Ranch. There is a whole complex at the site, clustered around the olympic-sized, heated swimming pool, including a pool-side Bar & Grill, a Jacuzzi, and a restaurant for the evenings. It even has free Wi-Fi access at the pool-side bar for those who can’t stand to be parted from their blogs and emails! (Not me - vacation means vacation!).

Personally, I am not into golf, but they do have a tennis court I noticed, a game I do enjoy. They have a notice board which highlights the available activities for the week, which from what I saw, were very varied and would cater for most tastes. For instance, they have shuffle board and various pool-side games and activities; or you can rent a kayak and explore along the shore of the Sea of Cortez; and there is a volleyball court if you are feeling energetic.

There are also a variety of tours off site that you can book, including off-roading, dune buggy tours, or sea fishing trips. It is a great place for a family vacation and the great thing about El Dorado Ranch is that it is far enough outside the town of San Felipe that you are not going to be accosted by hawkers every minute of the day! Although the beach is open to the public, that distance is enough to prevent the hawkers from making the trip. Always a bonus!

If you want to request further information about vacation rentals at
El Dorado Ranch then visit -
http://www.sanfelipeinformation.com/San_Felipe/send_info.asp

One of the attractions of being by the coast at San Felipe, whether you are buying real estate there or just vacationing, is the opportunity to do some fishing. San Felipe, of course, lies on the Sea of Cortez and is, therefore sheltered by the mountains from much of the weather that rolls in from the Pacific side - that is why the weather is always so good down there!

Now, I have to say that I am not much of a fisherman myself - my brother is the fisherman in our family, but I do like boats. So, for the those interested in sports fishing and needing all the information about what goes on there fishing-wise, I am recommending that you visit a website called www.mexfish.com. The attraction of San Felipe, for both fisherman and boating enthusiasts alike, is that it has a marina - in fact San Felipe was founded on its fishing industry.

One thing I hadn’t realised before was the fact that the Colorado River, which runs for 1400 miles down through Colorado and along the California/Arizona border, exits into the Sea of Cortex just to the north of San Felipe, mexfish.com informs me.

“All that Rocky Mountain spring runoff brought massive quantities of nutrient rich, brownish-red silt to the waters around San Felipe that may have have been the source of one Spanish language name for the Sea of Cortez, El Mar Bermejo, or the Vermilion Sea.”

The constant silting has made the area around San Felipe itself quite shallow whereas most of the Sea of Cortez is pretty deep. The shallow waters, however, provide particularly good conditions for shrimp and San Felipe is well known for its shrimp - in fact I will be heading off for San Felipe’s annual Shrimp Festival in early November - watch this space for more details nearer the time. 

“While it is true that major offshore sportfishing quarries such as marlin, tuna, and dorado do not generally swim as far north as San Felipe, these shallow, nutrient-rich local waters actually have a surprisingly wide variety of fish species, including the now endangered totoaba, Totoaba macdonaldi, an amazing member of the humble croaker family that grows to the size of a very respectable billfish.”

Although San Felipe’s commercial fishing has declined since the 1950s, due largely to over fishing, it did spawn the birth of its own unique, what is called ‘panga mothership’ sports fishing industry which is still going strong.  These ‘panga motherships’ “started off as small commercial shrimp boats that were chartered for single sport fishing trips. Later, old wooden-hulled shrimp trawlers were refitted with superstructure modifications that allowed them to carry and launch up to nine “pangas,” Mexico’s ubiquitous artisanal fishing skiffs, about 22 feet long and powered by outboard motors of about 40 to 60 horsepower.”

Today’s ships have all the modern comforts one would expect on a sports fishing trip and range up to 100 ft in length. The fishing season at San Felipe runs from April through November and detailed information, including stories from recent trips by individuals, including what they caught and how big it was, can be found on the mexfish.com website. If you would like to regale us with your own experiences of fishing out of San Felipe we would be happy to share them with our readers - just use the ‘comments’ link at the bottom of the post.

How many people do you know head south in the dog days of summer?  There was a time when I thought that was crazy; until this summer.  Being an owner at El Dorado Ranch has meant more trips to the Baja and I have been surprised at how mild the summer can be.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s still warm and you can still sweat.  But having so much open space, and sea breezes which tend to kick up in the afternoons, it’s much more comfortable than you would think.  Leaving Thursday from Mesa, it took 6 hours to get to the ranch where I promptly headed down to the Palapa bar for a margarita!  The next morning, I played golf with a friend, then spent the rest of the day by the pool.  In the afternoons, there is pool volleyball for those who want to participate.  What’s really nice is that the pool is large enough to accommodate a game and still have room for people who just want to be in the water.

Each morning, I took my cup of coffee up on the roof of the house where I was staying and watched the sun rise over the Sea of Cortez.  This weekend was especially wonderful because of the full moon.  At El Dorado, there is a full moon party on the beach at night.  But if you’re not a night owl, then you can watch the moon set over the San Pedro de Martir mountains to the west in the morning.  The picture above is from Sunday morning and between the quiet desert and the setting moon; it’s almost a spiritual experience!  Now that the dog days of summer are almost over, the weather here gets even better.  This is a part of Mexico no one should miss!!

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to walk along a white sandy beach for miles?  This is something you can experience at El Dorado Ranch on the Baja.  Just 120 miles south of the US border is some of the most beautiful beach you’ll even encounter and with a tide that goes out 3/4 of a mile, there’s enough room to walk around for days without ever walking in the same place!