Anyone have the scoop on Baja safety these days? I’m going to try to convince a friend to drive down in a couple of weeks for a trip (he has the truck.) When I mentioned it to some people today they raised safety concerns, saying that it has been pretty rough this year. Anyone have the facts on the ground?
Thanks.
Pat
Good luck.
Pretty Rough is an understatement.
The media refers to North Baja as the wild west.
Endless crazy stories from many SD folks, some friends.
I still have a few buddies that go down regularly. Travel during mid day and hang low at night.
The crime wave violence is on everyone’s mind. 3 friends and myself made a trip last month and we had to do homework to get some details to reasure all concerned that things would be normal. During that trip 3 persons were murdered gangland style in El Rosario, yes!, hamlet south of San Quintin, is no place sacred! We were thinking that the out of control situation with big gangs would embolden home growm small time bandits, could be, we didn’t see it, we did hear a few stories of dumb and “ugly” americans getting hit by bandits in semi out of the way places. No camping beside the road amigos, must be in established, paid for, camp or RV sites. We had a good trip.
There is a war raging between the police/military and the drug cartel. Especially in TJ and Rosarita. In TJ on Tues they found 6 cops without heads (the heads were found later). They aren’t going after tourists, but it isn’t hard to get caught in all the cross-fire. Farther south around Cabo it’s fairly safe, but getting there by car isn’t. If you drive past Ensenada, there’s going to be random check points with searches by ski-masked federal cops toting machine guns. If the cartel ID’s them, they and their families are dead. Sometimes they aren’t wearing regular uniforms, so it’s difficult to tell if they’re really cops or just a bunch of bandits with ski masks on. Also keep in mind that lesser criminals arrested here and deported wind up in TJ and Rosarita. I won’t go anymore unless it’s way, way south and I’m flying there.
Ditto - Go way south and fly down. It’s tempting to pack the car and road trip it but it’s WAY to dangerous right now and even the smallest “Bordida” will scare the holy crap out of you. They don’t hesitate to shackle you and toss you in the wagon for only the smallest of infractions leaving all your stuff on the side of the road to get pillaged. 5 hrs later you’ll be begging for them to stop at an ATM. And you just had to wear that Omega that your wife bought you for your anniversary! Be safe and fly down!
well ok then.
December in Santa Cruz is a good option too.
Thanks everyone.
Pat
Easy guys… My family have been long time land owners/leasers in Northern Baja since 1965. We travel the strip (as we call it from TJ to Ensenada) quite often. In my 46 years of growth I have only been pulled over twice. And both times it was pulling a boat at 4:30 am. I’ve never been shot at, kidnapped, or gang raped by 3 mexican teenage girls in tiger strip bikini’s
The gangs are killing each other off. The gangs are kidnapping rich Mexican Nationals family members. The Mexican gangs are not messing with American tourists. But with that said, there has always been a degree of risk for the American “Just heading down the coast to camp and surf”. Most surfer campers are easy targets, they tend to camp by all alone on some deserted point break (or they dream of that) and they got all sorts of interesting shit to steal hanging all over there car, and they have a degree of “Whoo Dude, like do you think we should, like… lock the car or something…whooo dude”
These rules have alway held true ever since the begining of Baja trips. 1) Load all your stuff inside the car. 2) Take car that looks like it belongs in Mexico…not the new 2009 F-350 crew cab diesel cab over with gen set. 3) travel only during the day 8-5. 4) Camp with a roup of people. If not in a camp ground area, then close to a house of village. But always with other people camping. 5) Nothing you own is worth risking your life, and nothing you take to Mexico, ie Surfboard, wetsiut, car…is worth taking back. 6) Mexico is a 3rd world country with stricter laws than the US, treat it like that. i.e. If your caught walking down the street with a beer, you will land in jail.
Use common sense, don’t stick out like the dumb American, and lay low. You’ll have a great time. If not don’t go, the waves in Mexico will still be there for me any my buddies. And lately they have been really empty, and really good.
Oh one more thing. My trip would hinge on which jackass friend / friends I was going with. You know some guys seem to always get in trouble, or are always getting into fights etc… I’d stear clear of those guys in Mexico, the drug guys like to hang out in the bars, and are always looking for something fun to do.
go to bajanomads.com lots of good, up to date info on what’s happening in baja.it’s not just gangs and cops, tourists have been shot at , robbed of everything at gunpoint and killed.it is best to travel during daylight and be quiet and polite.even some of the more remote areas have some not so nice people frequenting them now.i’ve been going there for 40 years now and love it, but right now i don’t feel it’s worth the risk of putting myself and loved ones in harms way.i’ve had friend who drove to tip and spots in between for a two week honeymoon. on way back they stopped at la fonda mid morning for some breakfast. no sooner did they get ou of their truck than shots started ringing out. two -what appeared to be methed out guys- took their truck with everything in it.left them standing there with nothing.needless to say they are over it.the meth and related crime wave is all over , not just isolated in th border regions.
It adds some drive time, but you can always go east first… cross at Mexicali and drive south through San Felipe to Mulege. There’s a good road across the peninsula at that point that pops out right about at Scorps. Roads are 100% safer and either San F or Mulege will provide a very nice, cheap place to eat & stay overnight.
On KFMB News, San Diego, this AM, ‘‘four thousand drug war related deaths in Mexico this year.’’ Think twice.
I can put you in touch with a dude that has a place at a well-guarded, gated community
just south of Rosarito that has exclusive access to a consistent right point and a couple
other spots on the property.
There is a nice restaurant across the street and a market.
Drive during the day and keep a low profile at night (if you leave the development at all)
and you will score an epic trip.
There’s a small down just a hair south with a strip club (stay for the Rain Dance!), lobster
restaurant and pharmacia too if you want to get out.
PS. I went down a couple times this year with no problems.
NOT worth the risk right now in my opinion.
from National Public Radio Dec 1 2008 story on Mexico:
In October, the city [TJ] ran out of space at its morgue as the coroner picked up more than 100 murder victims in two weeks.
“It’s totally out of control right now,” says Roberto Quijano Sosa, president of Coparmex Tijuana, an employers group in the city. “We have to recognize that. Right now, it’s totally out of control in Mexico.”
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97457815
What are you afraid of??
Just bring the 1st air cav
“CARLOS don’t surf”
SuperFat,
I drove down to Loreto Bay and back recently stopping all along the way and had no probs but I consider myself lucky in that regard. I’ve also been down to TJ and Ensendada a few times this year. It’s really bad. There’s always the common sense stuff Resinhead mentioned but then there’s luck. I’ve got family who work in TJ and they travel in packs, in unmarked cars, and in fear. These people are as careful and smart as they come and they are scared to death.
But I’m not saying don’t go. Tourism is the lifeblood of Baja. They really need and want us and this will work in your favor. The waves are going to be empty.
So if you go, the check points are pretty much no worries (the state tourism board doesn’t want them wasting time bothering surfers anymore: I give them batteries and duct tape if I can because they have nothing). Speak Spanish well, really well, otherwise don’t go. Avoid El Rosario altogether. Don’t let your boards/surferness be visible. (I packed a fish in my trunk on my trip and that’s all.) Have your tourist visa all ready to go so the consulate knows you’re there and have insurance. And don’t pay mordidas! Take it to the station or you’re doing us all a disservice by making the cops even more brazen. Only pay the mordida if it gets you out of a really bad situation (remember, you speak Spanish, right? And be super respectful, speaking formally). Oh and get the hell out of the border region (while driving the speed limit) as fast as you can!
But if you go to Hussongs, tell em hi.
Baja’s a beautiful place, that’s for sure. Another casualty of the drug war.
C
There is a nice restaurant across the street
A friend of mine spent a weekend at The Seagulls with his surfin’ buddies a couple of months ago. On their way back north on the toll road (about 1:00 in the afternoon) they got pulled over by the “Cops” and robbed. Not the typical Mordida thing but scary ass robbed. They doubled back from the canyon they were told to lie in and got in their car (apparently all they wanted was money, cards, and ID’s. They had to cross in Tecate where the B.P. guy just smiled and let them back in after hearing their story. No, they didn’t report it. Who wants that nightmare.
Who wants that nightmare.
http://www.latimes.com/…dec02,0,908456.story
MEXICO UNDER SIEGE By Richard Marosi
December 2, 2008
Tijuana drug violence unabated Despite a recent military offensive, at least 38 people have been killed in the city’s drug wars since Saturday, nine of them decapitated.
Reporting from Tijuana – At least 38 people have been killed in Tijuana since Saturday, nine of them decapitated, in escalating drug-related violence that appears to have left in tatters a Mexican military offensive launched two weeks ago.
The killing spree marked the end of the tenure of the city’s top law enforcement official. Secretary of Public Security Alberto Capella Ibarra was removed from his post Monday evening after a year marked by upheaval in the police ranks and increasing violence.
Dozens of soldiers and federal agents patrolling the eastern part of the city have failed to stop the killings between rival drug cartels, which continue brazen and brutal attacks across Tijuana.Three of the nine decapitated bodies discovered in an empty lot Sunday were those of police officers, according to the Baja California attorney general’s office. On Saturday night, two brothers, 4 and 13 years old, were gunned down along with their father outside a grocery store, authorities said.
The nephew of Baja California’s tourism secretary, Angel Escobedo, was found fatally shot inside his car Saturday morning. In nearby Rosarito Beach, police over the weekend discovered a dismembered body in a car outside a taco stand, and another outside a small church.