Month: January 2026

We decided to make our way up to another beach camp so as to not harass the crabs on this beach anymore, plus we were running low on . Packing up Howie takes about 10 minutes; pulling up the jacks, putting away the ground legos, making the bed, putting the chair on the bed, making sure the coffee pot and any extra items are secured in the sink, making sure the dog’s water and food are stashed away, and finally the steps and the tools in the back compartment. The dogs are always sure to be up and ready in the camper/truck so as to not leave them. I no longer have to put the Starlink away as it had found a new secured home in the skylight above the bed.

The drive to San Jose del Cabo was only 31 miles, but the road was really bad. The storms this past September wreaked havoc on this area and they have not really recovered. So we bounced, swayed, rattled, and clunked our way along the coast looking for another site. We stopped in a surfing town because the restaurant called “Shade” was rated highly. It turns out we shared some fantastic fajitas and guacamole in their beautiful outdoor patio. Kathy was enamored with the donkeys running around, begging for carrots or anything to eat. They made their rounds amongst the campers at the beach.

After lunch we headed up to the local store to see about getting some needed groceries. This place was not really a store, but rather a collection of items covered in dust that may or may not sell. The camping there was free, but it is getting close to Cabo so it is a bit more crowded, so we headed down the road again to see about some other sites. Kathy took that opportunity to give the donkeys some sweet treats (some milk candies that were not tasty to us). Her smile when interacting with animals is priceless.

More bad roads for a few more miles as we passed several other beach camping spots, which turns out were already filled up. The last ditch place before San Jose del Cabo was something called Unicorn Beach, but that was filled with locals, with no camping on the beach, and trash was everywhere. So back to iOverlander to find a space in the city. We found a great camp about 6K out of town that was being built by a young couple called Costamigos RV resort. Their location is a bit out of town and right off Highway 1. It is quiet and the stars and sunsets are gorgeous. Their common building is beautiful with a great roof-top area for eventually hanging out.

We were very busy in San Jose. Maggie needed to get a hair cut so we traveled in to town to get her an appointment. We went down town to check out the shopping area downtown and found some cute little shops where Kathy found some shirts she wanted. We had some great tacos and learned a bit of Spanish along the way.

The next few days were filled with chores and great sunsets. We dismounted Howie off of the truck and I got the tires rotated on the truck, the truck washed, the sway bar bracket fabricated and reinstalled, and Kathy cleaned up our little home. Maggie got her hair cut, nails trimmed, and treated for flies and fleas. The groomer was from Uruguay and gave us some tips on where to visit when we get there. We ended up spending 4 nights at Chaundra’s RV park and met some cool Germans, Canadians, and Americans, which we celebrated Jan 6, Dia de los Reyas (Three kings day), with some local bread and hot chocolate. The group even found the baby Jesus in one of the bread slices, a tradition for the holiday in Mexico.

This post was done partially on the 8th and then finished the 11th. We have friends visiting in Cabo for the weekend and we are doing some local tourist activities and I will get the pictures and narratives posted as soon as I can. Lots of fun, lots of laughs, and the best tequila we have ever tasted.

We headed down Highway 1 and turned off on the road to Cabo Pulmo. We had been recommended this place by Arnold in La Paz as well as some friends of Kathy’s. We looked on the iOverlander map to see about camping and there was one place north of town that might work, but since Cabo Pulmo was a marine preserve, no beach camping was allowed. The road was paved and pretty good until all of a sudden it was not. The pavement ended and a dusty, washboarded, and rocky road replaced it. We bumped along for 30 minutes or so until we made it into Cabo Pulmo.

This town is busy and full with snorkeling, scuba, and wildlife tour groups. There are lots of cabanas to house the divers and only one campground that was charging $60 per night to stay. We looked at the free spot north of the town but it was filled with long term campers already, so we took the pups on a walk along the beach, and then had lunch at the local taco shop. The food was ok, and the place was pretty busy. It was really windy and the waves were pretty bad, so snorkeling was out for the rest of the day. We decided to head ot another cove south of there to see about camping, but when we got there, the place looked like a junk yard and the noted price of $100 pesos per person to camp in their lot was actually $210, meaning $25 USD to camp in essentially a small parking lot. We opted to continue on as we did not feel great about this place.

We found a nice beach at the bottom of the park called Los Frailes Fishing Camp that had good reviews and apparently had a seal colony that lived at the rock outcropping. We set up camp about 50 yards away from campers on each side of us and took a walk along the beach. The wind was still high and there were tons of campers out here, but it seemed a nice place. But as we walked back to Howie, I noticed a beat up truck right behind us, literally 10 feet from our back door. As we approached, this old Ford Escape, beat to hell, had a big pit bull tied to its bumper, and looked as if the contents of the vehicle had spilled everywhere, including undergarments draped over some logs, was parked right at our back end, not 5-10 feet from our camper. I was astounded that someone would set up so close with so much room out here. I should have snapped a picture, because my description probably lacks how close and nasty his setup was.

And then this short, scrawny, little dude came up dragging more stuff from the beach and said, “I’m Daveed and this is my family”. I said something to to the effect that they were camping a bit close and he said he was off taking a shower and had been there for a month, like it was us that camped on top of him. Likely he may have been there, but not likely given his lack of gear/indicators someone was or had camped there. What I do know is that setting up in someone else’s camp is pretty rude no matter where you are from. If this was his month-long camp, there was nothing left at the site when we pulled up, and nothing at all indicating someone was there for a long period, so I know I did not invade. I was going to move a little down the beach, but decided to just leave instead to find something a bit more remote. Another strange feeling at this beach, so we left.

We found a nice remote spot next to a property called “Los Dunas” in Santa Barbara. We camped at the effluence of a wash right off the beach. There was some traffic here, as this was an access point to the beach, but it was relatively quiet for the two nights we stayed here. There is a big dune just past the big house that had some turtle nests at its base. We still haven’t seen any turtles, but lots of egg shells. The moon rises here are spectacular, as are the sunrises. I did get to try out the new snorkeling mask and snorkel at this site. I enjoyed swimming several times at this site. I can’t wait to get to a reef where more fish are.

The beach sand is always interesting to me, especially here with the wind erasing the previous day’s visitors’ tracks. We saw tons of these little tracks here, as well as at some of the past beaches, and I was trying to figure out what they might be. A quick Google search revealed they are hermit crab tracks. Now when I say tracks, they are everywhere and these little guys do several hundred yards each in a night. The second night we were here I got the flood light out and started my hunt. It took about 5 minutes to find one. We then collected about 7 of them in a bowl, took some pictures and movies, and then set them off. I wonder what makes them pick the direction they go. Two went west toward the wash and the rest headed east back toward the ocean.

It was fun at night with the flood light to see all the little tracks. I even found the tracks of some snake out here that crossed from the bushes next to the truck across the wash. Kathy and I tried to track it but lost it at the other side of the wash with the snake never revealing itself. In the mornings I can find lots of little critter tracks including what I think are rabbits.

We have a couple of friends headed down to meet us in Cabo in a few days. We will break camp here and head south. We are about 2 hours by dirt road from San Jose del Cabo, so we will stop at this little surfer village called Nine Palms.

Note on house next to the camp: I was intrigued by the collapsing structure at the edge of the arroyo and it seemed it could be part of this massive house behind, or it could be separate. I opened Google Earth and investigated over the past 25 years of satellite photos. The structure used to have a palapa at the top and a small building to the north. It looks like the house was started in 2003-2005 time frame. Some more research on Los Dunas and I found that is is for sale for $12M. The house is part of an eventual subdivision, but the entire property is 72 acres (or maybe hectares). I found the MLS listing if anyone is interested, where they say it is only 31 miles from San Jose Los Cabos but fail to mention that it is 31 miles of rough dirt road to get here with nothing at all nearby. I guess if that is what you are looking for. Here is the MLS listing. The house is stunning.

We traveled down to the town of Los Barriles, or the lost barrels, which only took an hour or so from our last camp in the mountains. There was a water station on the way so we stopped by and purchased 25 gallons for $80 Pesos (about $5) and then headed in to find a camp spot. We had looked on iOverlander and there was not much for free camping in an around this town that was close enough to shopping, etc., so we headed to a campground in the center that had reasonably good rates. They were full, but had two overflow spots, which turned out to be really nice as they still had power and water and were 10 meters from the pool, showers, laundry and bathrooms. They charged $30 USD per day, but with showers and a pool in the center of town, we were all in.

We took the pups for a walk around the campground to get our bearings while Kathy headed out to the street to start looking at the shops. Once the dogs were walked, I met her along her parusing and then we set out for something to eat. The street that the campground was on was very busy and narrow with people parking on one side or the other. The traffic worked its way in and out and for the most part the drivers found ways through the congestion. We walked along the sidewalks, checked out one of the local grocery stores and several more curio stores. We eventually found our way to Smokies, a bar and restaurant about a quarter of a mile south, where we learned how to make proper margaritas. The food was good too and our spanish is much better as we can now pretty much read the menus. We headed back to the campground and hung out for the afternoon and then took the pups on a long walk along the beach, which they thoroughly enjoyed. We enjoyed a nice dinner at another place just up from the campground and talked with some long-termers and bartenders before heading back to camp.

It was now New Year’s eve and we found out the town had two places that were celebrating. We ended up again at Smokies for our lunch and margaritas and then headed back to camp. I took the pups for another long walk along the beach and saw one of the venues, where some areal spotlights were dancing in the mists and some reggae music was playing. It was a bit crowded with cars running along the beach, so the pups and I headed back to camp. A couple of fireworks blasted off around 8PM and of course the pups were a bit nervous, so they took some pills and we all just watched movies for the night. The fireworks at midnight were nonexistent, which we were thankful for (for the dogs).

The next morning I got up a bit later and took the pups for a really long walk, rather unplanned, along the southern beach. We passed one of the exits and I thought there was another a block or two further, but everything was blocked. I ended up walking them through a resort to get back to the street. Maggie had her tongue out so far it was half the size of her head. Zuzu was loving the 2.5 mile walk, but Maggie lagged a bit and was carried for a bit of it. Needless to say, the pups slept the afternoon away in comfort.

We ended up at Smokies again for lunch, and then headed further into town to find a bank to get some more Pesos. It was about 3/4 of a mile down the road and up the hill, but we enjoyed the afternoon walk. We found the big grocery store and I left Kathy there to browse while I walked the 100M further to the bank. When I got back, she had a handful of things already. We ended up with a basket half filled and had to purchase a bag to carry the load back to the camp. We spent one last night in Los Barriles and then pointed Howie south on Highway 1 for some free beach camping. We did not take many photos in Los Barriles. I can tell when the scenery hasn’t changed much as we don’t take as many photos. LOL.