Tuesday, July 12, 2011

So you wanna do a Baja Paddle Surf trip? Here's what to expect...

I always receive a bunch of email about surfing in Baja. If you've never done it before- or if you live far from the border, a Baja surf trip sounds like a major expedition to exotic, wild lands. This is especially true if you've hunted around on the internet and read all the semi-fantasy accounts of banditos, run-away diesel trucks and barren, desert point breaks. You can find all the craziness you want down there- the place is still wild and there are adventures and all sorts of wackiness around every corner- that's what I love about the place (in addition to the people and the great food). But, for the prepared surfer the place is totally do-able, you don't need balls of steel and a military grade Hummer to find great waves and good times. Here's a play-by-play account of my latest trip down- read carefully and you may find some good info to help you out on your trip south of the border. 

Entering Mexico at the San Ysidro station.... busiest border crossing in the world. Interestingly, it's become congested going into Mexico. In the old days, there was nothing but a couple of concrete posts at the crossing into Mexico. Now there's a Mexican Secondary inspection area. When you cross into Mexico there's a light that either flashes green or red. Red means you need to pull into the Mexican inspection area, green usually means proceed into the country but lately, every time I drive over, when the light flashes green, a little guy blocks traffic and makes me pull over for the inspection. It was true this time too. For some reason, they don't want you bringing firewood into Baja. I had mine in an empty trashcan- no problem. Kiwi had his filling up the bed of his truck... big problem, senor. We both ended up being able to bring the firewood in... but who knows, next time we may have to dump it.
Just past the border you'll see a sign for the Rosarito cuota. The cuota is the toll road that runs from just outside of Tijuana to Ensenada. The cuota is well maintained, fast and relatively cheap to use. This is the first toll station as you leave Tijuana. I think the fee for my truck was close to three dollars. The toll collectors are friendly and honest and will take bills as large as twenty dollars.
Ohhh, my favorite hangout spot: The Meat Market. There's always something cool to see down there- keep your eyes peeled and your camera ready. No this isn't a bar- it's actually a carniceria... or meat market in Engish. I just thought it was funny- you know, "Meat Market" as in, "this place is a Meat Mar..." okay, I think you get it. 

More to come!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

great stuff John!-CD Kinley me and my wife want to go with you one trip!-K58 would be fun on a high tide to kind of slow down a very fast wave!-great writing-cant wait to hear the rest!

John Ashley said...

Let's do it! I'm ready when you guys are... I've got a couple of other spots up my sleeve that I think would be very wife/girlfriend/family friendly... and tons of fun to stand up paddle surf!!!

Anonymous said...

yeah lets throw a sesh at Dpatch next chance you get and we can hablo!

John Ashley said...

I might be there this Sunday look for the silver4x4 tundra!