The wonders of Baja California

Crystal clear water, pristine beaches, colorful birds and vibrant marine life; Baja has it all! When crossing the border at Tijuana, we immediately entered a different world. The next stage of our pan-american journey has started and we’re excited to share a few of our highlights with you in this travel update exploring the wonders of Baja.

What's in this update

• Crossing the border
• The wonders of Baja
• Agua Verde: we found paradise!
• What's next?!

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Crossing the border at Tijuana

First things first, our Land Rover hadn’t had a proper maintenance job since we started the journey in Halifax. Now with over 35.000 km driven, we only had done 3 oil changes and replaced a ruptured hose in Dawson City, the Yukon. We crossed the border in Tijuana and everything went so extremely smooth (crossing took only 1 minute) that we almost missed the immigration office. After getting our temporary import permit and our tourist cards, we headed to the garage of Ricardo (garage Versalles). Here, we immediately were introduced to the very friendly and open Mexican culture. Ricardo invited us for dinner and brought us to some of the best places to eat in Tijuana, surprised us with some delicious Mexican breakfast and let us sleep in his garage for the duration of the maintenance. With Ricardo we replaced our four injectors and changed nearly all the oils and fluids so that we have a fresh start for our next stage of this journey.

Pleun replacing the latches of our tent (our previous ones hadn't survived the Dempster highway)

Our first night in Baja after leaving the garage of Ricardo

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The wonders of Baja

Before entering Mexico, we got almost daily warnings from the Americans about the safety of Mexico. But in all fairness, we also got similar warnings from the Canadians when we headed to the USA ;). Now we sort of understand where this feeling comes from and after talking with some locals, our personal feeling was that things are getting a bit more intense in recent years. Especially in Baja Norte, there were places with a strong military presence and we witnessed a preparation for a raid with a tank that made us realize that the cartel is not far away. However, we never experienced anything disturbing and were welcomed with open arms everywhere. Especially a bit further away from the USA border, things were very relaxed and people opened up more, allowing us to get a bit more insight into their culture.

Camping next to the wild Pacific Ocean

Camping next to the calm Sea of Cortez

As Baja is a rather narrow peninsula, we could easily drive from the calm Sea of Cortez to the Pacific Ocean in only a few hours. This meant that in the morning we saw the sun rise from the Sea of Cortez with dolphins swimming in front of us, while in the afternoon we drank a beer to watch the sun set in the ocean with humpback whales breaching; a surreal experience. It’s therefore no surprise that we stayed 5 weeks in Baja to take it all in. During the day we would drive through the dry desert sprinkled with cacti reaching 5-6 meters and in the evening find a spot to stay near the ocean or sea where wildlife was abundant. To name a few, we were staying on a beach when the humpback whale migration was in full swing, counting at least 50 whales pass by, were sometimes surrounded by dozens of curious hermit crabs at sunset, swam with gorgeous pacific eagle rays just at the beach and had some very special moments on our favorite place of Baja: Agua Verde. 

One of the many beautiful camp spots at the beach

Humpback whales swimming in front of us

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Agua Verde: we found paradise!

Agua Verde is a beach located in the Sea of Cortez. It’s not a 'normal' beach, as it connects the mainland to a little island, meaning you have the sea on both sides. To reach this place, you have to drive 40km on a rough gravel road with some washed out sections through the mountains. The entrance to the beach, however, is a very steep and rutted section only doable by 4x4, meaning it’s not very crowded as it’s impossible to reach for 2WD and the larger RV’s. Initially we were planning to spend two nights there, but stayed 7; our longest stay at one location since our departure in May 2023. And for a good reason! The second day on this beach, we got a visit from ~30 dolphins that were playing and jumping out of the water, a true spectacle!

Our camp spot

Pleun approached by some curious wild dolphins

The next day, we heard a loud ‘smash’ on the water. We figured it were the dolphins again smashing their tails on the water surface. We quickly went to the beach edge and saw a true wonder unfold in front of us. Hundreds of mobula rays were ejected themselves out of the water in the bay and landed with their bellies on the surface, which created this loud smashing noise. We were awe-struck… we stood there when a group of 20 rays jumped out of the water almost instantly only 30 meters away from us, a spectacle we couldn’t have wished for! We quickly grabbed our cameras and lenses and ran to the end of the island to which the beach was connected. For over one hour, we saw mobula rays jump from only 5m away from us to 3km away, an unbelievable sight. 

Mobula ray jumping

The group of dolphins from above

The next morning, we decided to put the drone in the air and search for dolphins or mobula rays. Again, nature surprised us as the rays had been clustered together in a large group, creating a beautiful view from above. When we scouted another section of the bay, we suddenly saw a whale shark feed close to another beach in front of us and was heading our way… we couldn’t believe our luck! Pleun immediately jumped in the water and Martin guided her to the location of the shark. When Pleun had found the shark and followed this massive fish, Martin brought down the drone and jumped in the water as well. Unfortunately, Martin was just too late but still the sight of it through the drone was exceptional. 

The final few days consisted of more dolphin sightings, mobula rays and eagle rays. If you’re ever heading to Baja Mexico, make sure not to miss this beach; a memorable place!  

Hundreds of mobula rays clustered together

A lone whale shark foraging

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What's next?! 

The adventure only grows! We hop onboard a 16 hour cargo ferry to mainland Mexico where we drive through the high mountains and humid jungles. We visit the colorful villages and ancient temples, and have some loud, colorful and new wildlife encounters!

Until the next!