As promising as the set up at the hostel is, south of Ensenada, there is just one small problem, the water temperature. I didn't come half way across the globe and spend all of my student loan to wear a full suit! A deep ocean trench runs down the pacific coast of Baja from San Diego to Guerrero Negro, whichkeeps the water just below English summer temperatures (65F?) pretty much all year round. A stark contrast to the 75 - 85 F in the sea of Cortez on the other coast. The cool water comes as more of a shock since it is surrounded by desert like air temperatures.
Spurred on by the promise of warmer water we left the hostel for Guerrero Negro, a town that marks the border to Baja Sur and a time change forward an hour. Armed with our Mexican insurance, tourist visas and rental car papers we were ready to face the random checkpoints and blockades that we had been told to expect.
As promised we were confronted by a group of men - no more than 18 years old and in full combat gear about an hour into the journey. They all had fully automatic guns that wouldn't look out of place in Doom 2, although the most unnerving was the guy in the sand-pit keeping watch with a rocket launcher! Fortunately being white, English and driving a sporty red chevy with go faster stripes we were the causeof much amusement and after a half hearted search of our bags we were waved on.
We sorely regretted not having a four wheel drive and although it was OK doing 90 on the straights it was always going to be difficult going off-road to check any surf spots. There is really only one road in Baja -the Mexican Highway One running down the entire length of the peninsula. There are certain rules that must be followed to ensure survival; Don't drive at night, do fill up the tank when ever you can, make sure you have enough supplies for the foreseeable future, and don't take any hopeful side-roads unless you are confident about your vehicles ability. Ignoring the latter we decided to find a surf spot called 'The Wall' at Punta Rosarito near Santa Rosalillita. The Lonely Planet Guide says it all:
'Santa Rosalillita...an overgrown fish-camp on the
pacific coast. The road is graded but unrelentingly
washboarded, and resembles nothing so much as an eternal progression of speed bumps'. After the long drive we failed to find the break that is supposedly the most consistent on the peninsula!
Once again we wished we had a different vehicle. A
camper van would make life so much easier - allowing longer excursions.
We finally arrived in Guerrero Negro tired and hungry, ending up in the cheapest hotel we could find. $10 between three - with holes in the roof, cockroaches, crickets and 60 cable channels all included. Its nice to get a flavour of the real Mexico.