Traveling into Baja was something that we had dreamed of doing someday and had never envisioned the journey across the border would end up as our welcoming into life of full-time travel on the road. The anticipation of the start of our journey, having our dream coming to reality and building new routines for daily life was certainly enough to have anxiety levels at an all time high, and then we decided to throw international overlanding into the mix. There were so many questions swirling through our heads that researching Baja while trying to button up the loose ends of leaving home became almost paralyzing. I’m not saying it could not have been done, but the timing for us was challenging. Packing the truck and trailer, moving the few things we kept into storage, cleaning the house, and the last few days of work took priority, all while juggling the holidays and trying to see all of our friends and family before we hit the road. To say the least, our plates seemed full.
As first time visitors driving through Baja, naturally the questions were endless. Is it safe? Can I drink the water? Do I need to speak Spanish? Are the police going to bribe me? How much money should I carry? Do I need a passport? What is the weather going to be like? Will I be able to find my favorite foods? …
I am happy to report that our experience running the entire peninsula far exceeded our expectations and laid some of Baja’s bad press to rest. Now, I am not saying that some of the horror stories out there aren’t true, but the following information and recommendations are based on our personal experiences traveling in Baja early 2022.
Is it safe?
With any place you go, there are good parts and bad parts. With as much equipment that we have on and in our rig, Brandon and I usually have our head on a swivel for things that just don’t seem right or safe. We were a little apprehensive about not being able to travel with firearms due to it being illegal to carry these items across borders, but there were other items in the vehicle we could have used in self-defense, had we needed to.
We had heeded the recommendation to travel in a group (safety in numbers) and only once did we ever leave all four vehicles unattended (in an RV park that we could see from the restaurant). If we stopped for lunch or groceries, there was always at least one person around the vehicles to keep watch. Because our overland vehicles carry a lot of gear on the exterior of our vehicles, we felt it necessary to always have someone stand guard. For others in vans or campers, if you can lock the doors and keep valuables hidden or locked away, stepping away for groceries or a nice dinner out might not be so worrisome. That being said, one female we met along the journey said she had her backpack stolen from her van. Although she had locked the van, she had left a window open when she went for a walk on a fairly populated beach. For smaller valuables, there are many options to install a vehicle safe that goes either under the seat or in the center console.
As far as the police, we really only saw any police in the more heavily populated cities. We had one close encounter with the police within 5 minutes of crossing the Mexicali II border crossing and quickly learned that the street lights in Baja work slightly differently from those in the US (more on this later…) As we were caravanning through Mexicali, we mistakenly tried to push the limits of traffic while trying to keep our group of four rigs together. Brandon was driving and ended up running a red light right in front of a police officer (oops!). We immediately pulled over and with sweaty hands, rolled down the windows anxiously waiting to see how this routine traffic stop would play out. We chose not to attempt conversation in our limited Spanish capabilities after already having had miscommunication issues at the border crossing. In our admittance of not being Spanish speaking, the officer (after shaking his head in pity) got a friend on his personal telephone to act as translator. At this time, the officer & his partner realized we were traveling as a group and, to our best guess, decided having all four rigs follow him down to the station to pay our fine would not be the best use of his time. All in all, the translator informed us about the traffic lights and simply “welcomed” us into Mexico. No bribes, no worry.
The Mexican Army seemed to have a greater presence than the police throughout the peninsula. We drove through no more than ten checkpoints, all with varying degrees of inspection and curiosity about our convoy. When coming upon checkpoints, we would roll down all of the windows and remove our hats and sunglasses. Just like police officers in the US, the soldiers appreciate not having to walk up on any uncertainty when approaching the vehicle. The first two checkpoints heading south on the eastern side of Baja was where our group was most heavily searched. We were asked to open a few drawers, the refrigerators, cabinets, and a door here and there, but never a full strip-search of the rig. These checkpoints aren’t like crossing the border where they have designated space pull over vehicles for an extended amount of time (unless they needed to). They would usually ask where we were coming from, where we were headed and if we were carrying any firearms. A friendly smile and a confident response got our wheels rolling without any hassle. We eventually came to the conclusion that these soldiers were simply curious about what our rigs and they are just out there doing their jobs. One soldier expressed his disbelief of a refrigerator in a truck with a few choice words that I will choose not to repeat for the children in the room, but it was still funny as hell. We have heard mixed reviews on whether or not it is better to try to speak Spanish during these stops or not. We opted to play the dumb American role and will try our hand at Spanish next time we visit. We saw plenty of military vehicles rolling along the roads, but had no issues or random stops with these soldiers- although it was a bit puckering at one point when our convoy was sandwiched between two fully loaded military transport vehicles for a long stretch of highway north of Cataviña. Again, no bribes, no worry.
Do I need to know Spanish?
Ahh, the question of the hour, day, week, month. I fully believe that if you are essentially going to be a guest in another country, you should at least try and learn some of the basics. I find people are more forgiving and will try harder to meet you in the middle if you at least give it the “good old college try.” (Wow, that phrase makes me sound super old…) I had lightly brushed up on my high school Spanish language skills for about three months prior to our journey. That whole “use it or lose it” principle is a real thing. Even with a bit of review, I was certainly not well versed enough to confidently hold a conversation of more than a few words at a time. I also realized that my high school Spanish verbiage was not necessarily the same as Baja Spanish verbiage. Thankfully, language translate apps and internet searches are available to make communication a touch easier. The key with the translate apps is to make sure you have them downloaded for the language in which you wish to translate PRIOR to losing internet connection! So, in a short answer, I don’t believe it is an absolute must to have to speak the language, but it really does help if you do.
What will it be like to drive in Baja?
Prior to our travels, everything we had read about the road conditions was terrible- potholes, narrow lanes, winding roads and steep drop offs. We were relieved to discover the main highways MEX1 and MEX5 to be in excellent condition and the legend of potholes big enough to swallow your vehicle to be a myth. In the last hand full of years, much work has gone into the improvements of the major highways, especially MEX5 to help alleviate the traffic on MEX1. However BCS1 was a completely different story. After leaving camp near El Mezquital and heading North, the pavement quickly disappeared into dirt road with only small stretches of pothole pock marked cement. Some sections of the sparse cement on this 164km drive were so bad that dirt bypasses next to the main highway was clearly the preferred route of the locals. It wasn’t until we reconnected with MEX1 in San Ignacio that our suspension got a reprieve from the washboard beating of the previous four and a half hours. Thankfully, our vehicles are built for the more rough and rugged terrain, but I would highly caution this drive if traveling in a smaller vehicle.
No driving at night was one of the recommendations that we stuck to one hundred percent. For various reasons, we made it a point to plan our travel time in order be into camp at least one hour prior to sunset. First of all, no one likes to setup camp in the dark, but in reality driving at night in Baja can be a bit sketchy. There aren’t many (if any) street lamps along the roads, and as previously mentioned, road conditions are not always the best and you could easily land yourself a flat tire in the afore mentioned potholes if you aren’t careful. Also, animals wander freely among the entire peninsula. During the day horses, cows and goats are seen grazing on any shrubbery they can find. At night, the animals migrate toward the roads to enjoy the radiant heat lingering from the days sunshine. I know you may be thinking, “if I hit a cow, isn’t that free beef?”… these cows were pretty skinny and wouldn’t likely produce the best meal, only just a giant dent in your hood. The other factor to avoid driving at night is safety. Again, we didn’t have any run-ins with trouble, but most everything I have heard about someone being robbed while traveling was during the hours of darkness.
Is it safe to drink the water?
We are capable of carrying up to 55 gallons of water in our setup and with being off grid for any extended period of time, water is key- especially in the desert. Natural fresh water sources are extremely scarce in Baja and the few oasis’s we stumbled across provided little in the way of fresh water access.
We found the Agua Purificadora stores in town to be the way to go when filling our truck and trailer. Many of these locations can be found on the iOverlander app, labeled with a water spout emoji. I did spot other purificadoras throughout some towns that were also not listed on the app. It appeared that these stores are where locals would fill their own 5 gallon jugs of water for their drinking water needs at home. While we filled our larger tanks, many locals would come and go, having their jugs filled by the attendant at the window.
The first few times we filled at these stores, we connected our own GuzzleH2O water purification device to the store’s hoses- just to be safe. This combo was working wonderfully, but taking much longer than anyone wanted to admit (and leaving one or two of us with an extra shower for the day). The high water pressure from the store’s hose, the fact that the Guzzle can only process so much water at one time and the language barrier was leaving everyone a little agitated.
Finally, someone in the group happened to catch a peak inside the store, realized their water purification was top notch! We decided to take a chance and ditch using our additional water purification and go straight from the store into our tanks. We kept our fingers crossed and some pepto-bismol at the ready for when Montezuma’s revenge took hold. Our instincts were right and our gut flora did it’s job, no one got sick from utilizing the water the way we did from these purification stores. I would suggest keeping an extra long hose as part of your equipment, along with a water thief and a funnel depending on your vehicle specs. The hoses at the stores were much larger in diameter than would fit our water fill spout and one store we had to park facing the wrong direction of traffic for their hose to reach our fill.
I would still highly caution drinking still water at a restaurant or the use of ice cubes in mass quantities. Every restaurant we ate at had sparkling water as an option (although we mostly just drank the beer). I would bet that the restaurants in Baja would utilize some sort of water purification system as well, but unless you see a purification system for yourself, I would steer clear.
…Wow! Now I’ve realized I have A LOT to share on the topic of answering your questions about Baja. Please stay tuned for part 2 of what we have learned from our trip across the border!
(Since the time of our travels, safety has again become a heightened concern with traveling into Baja. This post is reflective of our time spent and with the group of people we traveled with. Please do your research and be educated on the places you’ll be visiting. If you don’t feel comfortable, don’t go.)
