We took a 21-day road trip from San Diego to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Before embarking on our van trip down the entire Baja California Peninsula, we weren’t sure what we were getting ourselves into. Is it even safe to drive a van through Mexico? Could we get by with our limited Spanish?
Turns out, it was one of the best decisions we had ever made. For 21 days, we enjoyed delicious street food, beachfront camping, surfing, and petting friendly whales.
If you’re thinking about living out your van life dream in Baja California or are simply curious about what a trip like this looks like, here are 5 things you might experience.
1. Super unique wildlife encounters
When we learned that Guerrero Negro is home to the world’s most unique whale encounter, we immediately packed up our van and started driving.
The town of Guerrero Negro is right along a gray whale migration trail. In several of the nearby lagoons, you can go whale watching. But the real appeal? These whales LOVE human interaction. We’re talking swimming up to boats, sticking up their noses, and letting you pet them! How cool, right?
Fair warning: The boat ride to the whales is rough, and if you’re prone to motion sickness, you’ll have to pack some Dramamine. But then bam, 40-foot whales swim right under the boat, and you forget all about the nausea. It takes a minute for the whales to warm up to you, but once they do, they’ll be playfully splashing and swimming right up to you!
2. The best tortillas of your life
A major perk of van life, anywhere in the world, is stumbling across random things that the typical tourist might miss. On this trip, there were many cases of that, but our favorite was discovering the best tortillas in Baja. Tortilleria Hno Sanchez in Mulege doesn’t look like much from the outside, but all we can say is WOW. For about $5, we purchased a pound of corn tortillas, two types of cheese, and two packs of flour tortillas. Everything was homemade and so full of flavor that we just sat in the park and ate the tortillas plain.
3. Military Checkpoints
One reality of road tripping through Baja California is that you will probably be stopped at a lot of military and police checkpoints. You need to be prepared for this, but you don’t need to be scared. The officers we talked to were all friendly and simply wanted to peek into our van and ask where we were going!
4. $10 Beachfront campsites
What do campsites in Baja California look like? Obviously, it largely depends on where you are. We had some campsites that were equipped with WiFi and hot showers, while others had only primitive bathrooms. But the one thing these campsites never let us down on? The views!
Baja California is just one huge stretch of coastline with one incredible beachfront campground after another. We typically paid $10 a night for a place to park our van and some campsite amenities.
Our favorite campsite was at Santispac Beach along the Bay of Conception. The first thing Kara yelled as soon as we drove up was “LOOK AT THE COLOR OF THE WATER”. We parked our van on the sand, set up hammocks under our straw cabana, and spent the day buying snacks from local vendors. Even on a Saturday, the bay was totally peaceful.
We ate tacos and homemade guac on top of our van, watching the sun set over the Gatorade-blue waters. In the morning, we woke up to the sound of waves crashing. This is van life in Baja California.
5. Endless Beautiful Views
Each time we thought we found the prettiest place in Baja, we drove 2 miles and found somewhere even prettier. One beach was “for sure our favorite” until we drove to the next one and changed our minds.
But Mexico is so much more than just beaches. We drove through deserts of prickly cacti, stumbled across palm-tree-filled desert oases, and even went camping inside wineries that rival those of Napa Valley.
Our van trip across Baja California was one of our favorite adventures ever. We reminisce about it all the time and would do it again in a heartbeat. Want to watch our Mexico road trip? Check out the YouTube video below!