Kathy and I decided to stay a total of 3 nights at the bay. I started swimming in the sea on day 2 because it was a bit warm on the shore and the water was really nice and refreshing. Kathy was a bit nervous for me since we had seen a couple of Portuguese Man of War that were beached. That day when I decided to go out, it was high tide and the wind had been pushing the water all morning so the waves were 3-5 feet tall. It was a nice swim/float in the water and felt really nice and I did not see any of the dangerous floaties in the water.
The wind on the bay is famous for wind surfing, kite boarding, and wind sailing and in the afternoon, sitting out in it feels somewhat exhausting. There are numerous schools in La Ventana that will teach you how to do any or all of the three, but I decided this was not the time for me to take this one. We were sitting and relaxing and averaging out our travel expenses on this lovely beach. It was actually quite busy here despite how lonely it looks when driving up. Quite a lot of bikers, hikers, 4×4’s, vans, and regular cars come out here to take pictures or just enjoy the scene. There were dozens of mountain bikers on the trails out here, which extend all the way to the lighthouse at the end of the bay. One of the trails is named in a funny way, caca de vaca, as evidenced by the small herd of cows roaming out here. They walk right past Howie in the evening to graze on the berm.
I watched an interesting hour of night time activity on the last night where a large F250 backed down to the actual waterline. I was sure he would get stuck. The driver and passengers hung out in the cab for a while smoking something as I watched the lighter glow followed by clouds of smoke. Then the donned head lamps, emptied the back of their truck and put the contents on the roof. They proceeded to use buckets to scoop sand into piles, with two of them selecting the sand while the other fished a bit. Then then lined the truck bed with a plastic sheet and scooped the piles of sand into the back. I was sure they’d get stuck now, but they ended up pulling it out and moving it 50 yards down and doing it again. I wondered if it was legal, since at one point a car came up and parked on the rim with the lights brightening up their activity, and then stood there for several minutes behind the truck watching the car. Then proceeded to fill the rest of the truck with sand, place the contents from the roof back into the truck, and then drove off into the night.
Soon afterward this little Ford Ranger with two light bars and side lights pulled up right behind Howie and opened their doors. I was a bit concerned when they turned music on, thinking it was a bit rude, but after a minute the music shut off and then hung out for about 20 minutes and then headed back in to town. Friday night is apparently a great time to head out to the beach.
Saturday we headed in to town as we needed supplies, like beer and veggies. I also wanted to pick up a snorkeling mask since that morning the sea was calm and I went swimming again and wanted to see what I was missing under the water. We drove through La Ventana, El Sargento, and finally stopped for some veggies and beer. We managed to also find a hotel/scuba/wind shop that had some masks for sale. I just bought one for now as I want to make sure it fits well, plus we’d be in Cabo in a week or so where selections would be better. This place had two mask styles and one snorkel. We did stop for lunch at this cute little hotel/restaurant that used 8′ cement pipes as rooms, stacked on top of each other. There was room for a bed and a shelf on the side, but the place used communal bathrooms and showers, had a place for nomads to do work (office space), had a pool, fire pit and meeting area. It was definitely built for modern nomads who work where they play.
I had planned to move the camp to the lighthouse area, but more specifically to a cove called Ensenada del Muertos Cove, but after traveling out there, the lighthouse beach was crowded and the other coastline was blocked off by private roads. We instead turned back and headed to the low mountains to camp for a few days. We pulled in to the town os El Triunfo, an old gold mining town and after turning down the first place on iOverlander that was a bit overpriced ($400 Pesos per person, no dogs) we found Jimmy and Yuda’s place, a hotel/RV park that has showers, dry camping, and a washing machine for $500 Pesos. Jimmy and John were hanging out watching the NFL games and were incredibly inviting. We paid for the night and decided to extend it to 3. It’s a great little place, beautiful and quiet and filled with trees and mini saguaro type of cacti. Its a short walk to the town of 300 people. Gonna use this time to get a few things done online that I have been putting off.
Here are the photos from the past few days.
https://www.overlandadventureexcursions.com/photos-albums/nggallery/album/20251224-27-la-ventana