Posted by mike on February 06, 2001 at 23:24:23:
In Reply to: Bay of Los Angels, Mexico posted by Colleen on February 06, 2001 at 15:48:33:
there is an old story about some gringos asking the local fishermen if it is likely to get windy in the afternoon, to which the locals reply "senor, the wind lives here in the Bay of LA" and indeed it does. When it kicks up, it can howl ferrociously, for several days in a row. My car has a dull finish, because back in the winter of '97, we were stuck in a windstorm for a few days and the wind literally sandblasted the gloss right off the paint. You can run into 2-4 foot wind driven swells, just a mile or so from shore at times.
Now, for the good news, the place in incredibly beautiful, there are good restaurants, that are reasonably priced in town (my info goes back to March of '99, when i spent 10 days camping on the beach and kayaking the bay). Also, as of MArch '99, there were two places to get tanks filled in the area, and they were both marked by the alpha flag painted by the roadside. Nevertheless, a compressor would be a good thing to bring. If you can get there within the next month or two, expect Calif. Grey Whales, Finback Whales, Dolphins and perhaps odd sea jellies in the bay. We kayaked with all these critters, and both species of whale swam right under my boat...all i could say was WOW!
As for campgrounds, check in at Campo Archelon, run by Antonio Resendiz. The place is clearly marked with signs from the main road, or if i can find his email, i'll forward that to you. He has everything from simple palapas to cabins with picture windows. The rates were around $5.00 to $20.00 per day back in March.
The divesites are generally far from shore but there is the wreck of the Marcelo, a 60 foot fishing boat, that went down about 1.5 - 2miles off of Campo Archelon. The wreck is near some shoals between Isla Ventana and Isla Cabeza de Caballo. ALso, there are very intriguing areas near Islas Pata, Bota, Calaveras, and others. These areas are not listed in any guidebooks, but when i kayaked to these islands, i put ashore, and hiked/climbed to the summits and scouted large parts of the area. Lets just say that my appetite for exploration was whetted.
Good clamming is to be had at Punta Gringa in the gravel beds, good birdwatching is everywhere along the shore, and there is some hiking in the mountains above the bay.
email me if you want photos of the area/and or more specific directions. I wish i could go back!