ray … the pissed off construction worker with the white truck that bought the lot on top of the hill? that guy was threatening to literally kill us and the guys camped next to us (happened to be the closest ones to the trailer) - said he was going to bring his ‘vigilante brothers’ to beat the shit out of us if we were still there when he got back. we had already gotten a session in and it was terrible, so we decided not to push our luck and headed for scorps. funny thing is, some buddies of mine went down a couple weeks later and were basically the only ones. their run in with ray (if we are talking about the same guy) was completely different. apparently he had set up a bar since our trip, and he invited them in for some drinks. who knows what you’ll get down there. some good news though (though bad in a number of ways) is that the road is now completely paved, all the way from the highway to ojos.
Paved??? What the…?
First trip in '74, we hit GNegro at dusk, and got to desal at 1:30AM! Stuck twice, ruts deeper than 16", helped one set of Mex fisherman out of the hole they were stuck in ('70’s Ford 3/4 ton pickup), us in Plank’s Jap pickup, slept at the car graveyard with cow skulls staring us in the face when we woke up from our bags.
Caught a rising swell up to around arm’s reach over…
Best trip was sailing/surfing, when FatDave’s NEW Jeep Wagonner sheared it’s motor mounts at low tide doughnutting. Prolly '84, the FedMarines helped us cut up sections of roof posts to sit as wedges, stayed 2 weeks sailing and surfing FM base, those Secos looking waves, and drove into SanDiego at 3PM, motor fell out AT the dealership! Great surf and winds like clockwork.
ray is the developer who built the first house looking out over the bay, his son has a house next to him.he bought thta chunk and divide it up-gave us opening crack at a lot-then going for $1,000.00.he told us to get on it 'cause the price would rise.thing is, all those guys will try and kick ya out of their, tell ya no camping.problem is, where you camp is public domain, nothing they can do but yell .if they don’t like looking out there front door at a bunch of camps,then they should have done their homework first.anyhow, that’s how we first met ray-tried to boot us from our usual spot-too bad…it use to be a great place to go, but with all that stuff going on it just ruins it for me, thus i go elsewhere…
There are plenty of spots between Punta San Jose and Camalu Point. It’s only a 4-5 hour drive from the border (on the old road) and you CAN find uncrowded surf if you look. A week is plenty of time to find a spot. Cuatro Casas has two really fun breaks however, it WILL get crowded on the weekends. It sounds like you have plenty of time to research before you’re trip. If you’re in So.Cal., your local surfshop should have a variety of books on Baja. Head down, use your imagination and common sense and you’ll have a good time.
Did I say common sense? Yeah, I thought so. Also, stay out of the tidal flats! Very dangerous quicksand that will eat your vehicle no matter what you’re driving. A few years ago we spent four hours digging/towing out a group rich kids from S.D. that thought it would be a fun place to do donuts in the flats. Luckily, they were close enough to the burm that they could be rescued and didn’t lose they’re brand new Land Rover. Common sense, try not to lose it in your bottle of mezcal.
Enjoy your trip.
Sr Pato