Bahía de los Ángeles

One of the places I really wanted to visit in Baja California was Bahía de los Ángeles on the Gulf of California (also known as the Sea of Cortez)

I had been dreaming about this little town after reading so many posts from other riders and overlanders and was eagerly waiting to see it for myself.   After the many photos I had seen of the amazingly blue water I was not disappointed

I left Mama Espinoza in El Rosario early while it was still cool but soon after I was riding in the semi desert scrub and desert landscapes of Área Natural Protegida Valle de los Cirios.   The desert features many cirio trees and it’s extremely hot in July.  Soon I was riding in temperatures above 100 in full motorcycle gear.   I only made a few stops to take photos as there’s nothing along the way

The roads are pretty good and there wasn’t much traffic along the way to my first stop at Bahía de los Ángeles.    There were quite a few military checkpoints along the way which at first was a little scary but soon I was relaxed when approaching them.  One guy in full military fatigue with a AR-15 or similar over his shoulder put his hand in the air and told me to stop.  I always opened my helmet to show my full face and make them feel more relaxed.  He asked where I was coming from and then where I was going.  He then asked “dónde están tus amigos?” to which I replied “no amigos”, he just looked at me with a perplexed look and then asked “su esposa?” to which I replied “en casa nos estados unidos”.  He looked at the other guys and then they all laughed.  He then pointed at the road and said “adiós, que tengas un buen viaje” and that was it, I waved at them, closed the helmet and took off.  This repeated a few more times but the other times they just told me to continue without any questions

I arrive at Bahía de los Ángeles and the first restaurant I find I stop as I was getting hungry, unfortunately they didn’t have air conditioner so I sat at a table right under a ceiling fan, the heat outside was unbearable and inside it was not much better.  After a beer and a snack I got back on the road and went up the coast to a hotel but they wanted too much money and the place was falling apart.  I then headed in the other direction but couldn’t find anything decent and cheap, one place told me they didn’t have electricity but they had a room, I declined.  Next I found a place close to the water but it was run down and also no air conditioner in the rooms.   It was still early so there was no point in hanging around this sleepy town.  But before leaving I had to get a few photos with the amazing Sea of Cortez as a backdrop

At this point I was soaked in sweat and decided to leave town and backtrack back to route 1 and head south to the west coast where I knew it would be much cooler.  Between El Rosario and Bahía de los Ángeles there’s no gas and going south the only gas is close to Guerrero Negro where I planned to spend the night.  The total distance from El Rosario to Bahía de los Ángeles and then to Guerrero Negro is 493km (308 miles), I knew I didn’t have that kind of range so I needed fuel for sure.   The first gas station had ran out of gas, only had diesel and the second I found up the road still in Bahía de los Ángeles only had regular.  I only use premium on my bike but regular would do as I had no other option. 

I passed a few sleepy towns along the way like Punta Prieta and Rosarito and then as I got close to Guerrero Negro I did find a Pemex right next to taqueria Kassandra, a taco stand.  I bought a drink and a snack and sat inside for a few minutes to relax after filling my tank with premium

After the stop I rode all the way to Guerrero Negro and after looking on Google maps found a cheap hotel.  After seeing the photos of the hotel parking lot you might think it was a nice hotel but it wasn’t, it was run down, but the room was clean and had air conditioner and that’s all I need to have a good night’s sleep.  Went across the street, bought some tacos and a drink and went back to the room to relax