Baja Peninsula by Motorcycle

By: Frances Sayre, Photos and Videos by Frances Sayre, Marc Beyer, and Scott Wilber

For many years Marc and I have helped prepare other people’s adventure motorcycles and off road vehicles like the G-Wagen to ride down through Baja Mexico. In my mind it was a mystical trip that one must take if one is a serious adventure traveler. Their stories of the off-road sections, the beautiful towns, the beaches, the interesting people, the whales, and the food all gave us the desire to see it and ride it for ourselves. To further entice us, we have a Club G-Wagen friend who has been to the shop a couple times, Karl Vogel, (yes he is German!) who invited to stay in one of his casitas he rents out in La Paz. He is one of the owners of G-Wagen Accessories in San Diego.

The trip was finalized and routes planned within a couple weeks of leaving. Hotel reservations were made. Our friend Scott Wilber was driving down part way with us in his Toyota 4 Runner loaded down with camping equipment and kayaks. Marc and I were planning to stay in hotels to cut down on the gear we would have to carry. It would be prime time for whale watching there, so we booked a boat tour to go out in the Laguna of San Ignacio and commune with the whales. I was on my KTM 350 EXCF and Marc was on his Suzuki DR650. Our motorcycle preparation had started months before and we felt ready.

On February 15th, 2025, we drove from Santa Fe to Yuma, AZ. We left Santa Fe with 1 inch of snow in the driveway contrasting the 75 degrees in Yuma. Met up with Scott Wilber at the Hotel and took a beautiful walk in the park along the Colorado River. Dinner out then bed. Butterflys in my stomach thinking about the start of our Mexican adventure and the border crossing in Tecate mañana.

Day 1 of our Baja Adventure: Yuma to Ensenada

Our road trip started very early and we drove from Yuma, AZ to the parking lot just 5 minutes from the Tecate border crossing. Very nice facility! Good-bye to the Sprinter Van and the USA… We were waved through the border crossing in Tecate! Had to stop and double back to get our Mexican Baja tourist card. Hwy 3 took us through the Ruta del Vino. Scott is responsible for our stop at a spectacular Farm to Table place called Finca Altazano Winery and had lamb and grilled chicken. Marc and Scott tried a glass of the local wine and said it was good. Rode a short distance to Ensenada and got a room at the El Cid. Great place! Right downtown and just a block from the malecón. Walked around the Marina and had a light dinner of raw oysters and ceviche at the Fish Market. We also went out for some late night drinks and dessert. Really contemporary hip sort of vibe in the area we stayed.

Day 2: Ensenada to Cataviña

We headed out of town towards our next stop which would be San Quintin. We planned to have lunch at a place overlooking the ocean. Not supposed to be a long ride. What we found is that getting out of Ensenada and the surrounding towns was a crawl of stop and go traffic that is unavoidable. Only this one route to travel south. It was cold like the more northern US towns on the Pacific, about 60 degrees. There were farm lands, tractors, animals, people on the streets, bicycles, motorbikes, vendors selling things on the side of the road… When we got to San Quintin and arrived at our planned lunch stop, we discovered that all restaurants were closed or had closed at 1:00pm. We rode into a Mission/Restaurant near the highway and saw the entire kitchen staff leaving for the day including the pastor. We asked him where we could eat. He invited us back in the restaurant and they cooked and served us the most wonderful meal! I had fresh shrimp, papas, salad, fruit, coffee, sparkling water, and dessert! We left them a donation for the mission and said warm goodbyes. This was where Scott was going to stay at a remote beach and kayack and we were heading south on our own journey. The pastor advised us about the lack of gas from El Rosario on and so we filled up our tanks and flexible fuel containers there and continued. Soon we were in a warmer, strange Dr. Seuss-like land with trees called cirios (candles) or boojum and giant clusters of boulders that created a surrealistic landscape. We arrived at the Hotel Misión Cataviña just before sunset. It is one of only 2 hotels in the area. A nice place with interesting old architecture that was well maintained. The room was nice but had no window! The restaurant food was mediocre.

Day 3: Cataviña to Bahia de Los Angeles

We woke early to continue our journey. This was one of the shortest mileage days on the trip. The landscape continued with the odd looking cactuses and beautiful boulder configurations. Must note the potentially wheel-cracking potholes that made our ride even more like board game dodging them. When we got to Punta Prieta which is the intersection of Hyw 1 and 12. We stopped at an abandoned gas station that still had a convenience store and bathrooms. We filled up our tanks from our Armadillo gas bags. Just as we had heard, there was a guy in a truck selling gas from plastic jugs. Google still has this marked as a gas station so many people end up buying gas from this truck. We took Hwy 12 for 40 more miles. The deep blue water of Bahia de los Angeles on approach took our breath away. Highly recommend the Costa del Sol Hotel and restaurant. The woman, Vivian that owns the hotel is from Chile and very nice. The beds were a dream, really! Ceviche so fresh! Took a walk on the beach and saw a flock of tiny sea birds sitting on the water. They dive for their prey in unity and come up for air in unity. Check out that video. We are still not sure what this bird is called. This town was hit 3 years in a row by hurricanes. All but the hotel we stayed in and a Mercado on the non-beach side was in ruins. Warning, guide books have not caught up to this fact!

Day 4: Bahia de Los Angeles to Santa Rosalia:

The breakfast was great at Costa del Sol! The plan was to do our only off-road portion of the trip. We doubled back a short way on Hwy 12. There was a sign marking the way to the Misión San Francisco Borja de Adac. Started out in the sand. The deep sand progressed to boulders and steep up hill boulder-laden paths sprinkled with the occasional normal dirt road. Toughest off road ride I’ve ever pulled off and Marc had to help me out a couple times! We met an mountian biker woman who was on the way down. I thought, imagine doing this on a bicycle!! Beautiful scenery and the reward was to make it to the Misión San Francisco Borja de Adac. What was hard about the road? Sand, deep sand, steep uphill climbs with ruts and boulders, and dry river bottom crossings with large baby-head boulders. The KTM performed well and saved me from many falls. I fell once in the sand when we first started and then once just after cresting a hard uphill climb – who knows why? We toured the mission led by a couple whose family had cared for the property since the early 1900s. Beautiful! So much history. There was a deep well that we risked drinking from it and thankfully had no consequences. Except for the caretakers, we were the only souls there!

We took a different dirt road out from the mission where we intersected with Hwy 1 at Rosarita. The route was much better but still a section which had deep sand AND boulders was short but VERY challenging. We gased up in Rosarita, rode past Guerrero Negro and San Ignacio. We intended to make it to Mulege but the darkness encroached. We had an hour of the dreaded Mexican highway in the pitch dark. My headlight visibility range limited me to 35 mph max. On a mountain turn Just before we got to Santa Rosalia, a vicious baja dog ran out from a property set back off the road with its eyes glowing to attack the noisy intruder and it scared the bejeezus out of me. We then got the last available room in Santa Rosalia at a decent hotel and called it a successful exciting day! This is an exciting port town with interesting restaurants. We got there so late we had to settle on an indoor/outdoor Barbocoa Grill where we had tacos. Very good!

Day 5: Santa Rosalina to La Paz

The weather in Baja del Sur is much warmer than the north around 75 degrees. First stop was in Loreto for brunch at Los Mandelis. We walked over to the hotel we would be staying at on the way back, checked it out and confirmed our reservations. We then pressed on to La Paz (actually El Centenario) where we stayed at one of Karl Vogel’s Casitas called El Ciruela. We got there just before sundown. He was having a dinner party with some Swiss German friends. My friend Megan from Santa Fe just happened to be in El Centenario also! She and her boyfriend Derek came over with to join the party. Dinner was traditional German gulasch, homemade bread and freshly made Tiramisu for dessert… YUM! You had to keep up with the Spanish, German and tiny bit of English spoken. Very fun evening! Karl and his former wife own the company G-Wagen Assessories out of San Diego. He is an active member of Club G-Wagen and has been to Santa Fe for a treffen and visited our shop a couple times.

Day 6: La Paz

My friend Megan was in La Paz Derek’s Sprinter RV needed a part they had to wait for so their trip to mainland was delayed by 2 weeks. Lucky us!! They drove us to Playa Los Meurtos, and we took her paddle boards around the bay. Beautiful bay with clear aqua marine colored water. Catamarans, yachts, fisherman in their pangas bringing in fish for sale – all enjoying the day. Water temperature was just a little too cool to want to swim BUT Marc snorkeled around holding on to the paddle boat. We then ate at the restaurant overlooking this bay called Restaurant 1535. The best pescada empanizadas I have ever had!

Day 7: La Paz

A rest day but also a get prepared to get back on the road day. Had a relaxed breakfast with our hosts Karl Volger and Alejandra. I must describe Karl’s property: It is off a sand road that is quiet and peaceful on the mainland side of the highway just before La Paz. The entire perimeter is walled. There is a main house and 2 beautiful well-built casitas that he rents. There is also Alejandra’s studio with Karl’s garage/workshop attached. There is a fenced area for his rescued baja dogs he uses for security. There is a chicken coop with 8 or so hens. He has solar that feed back into the grid and water tanks for a gravity fed water system on each roof. He was a structural engineer in Germany and so he designed all the structures. The architecture was contemporary and well designed. Alejandra had painted murals throughout the property. There was a small lap pool next the outdoor dining area. On the second floor an open-air sleeping room!

Maintenance time for the KTM and Suzuki! The oil was thick and dark coming out of the KTM and we were glad we trucked the oil and filter down. Karl has a small workshop with everything we needed. Turns out Marc Beyer ‘s Suzuki DR650 carb had a leaky o ring. Karl knew of a shop that sold seals of every size so we headed over there. O ring purchased and installed. KTM oil change completed. Tire pressure checked. All fluids checked. Ready for our northern baja return. We then visited Thomas and Doris (the Swiss Germans from the dinner party) at their compound. They had a large spread with several buildings and a large garage. They, like Karl are G-Wagen enthusiasts and had a couple Gs ready for off-road adventures on their property. We went to a great restaurant by the La Paz Marina and had a wonderful meal. Perfect ending to this leg of the trip.

Day 8: La Paz to Loreto

It was hard to leave Karl’s casita! We were so cared for and the natural sparce beauty was very peaceful. Eggs every morning from his hens, we watched an owl come back to nest and lay an egg through a phone app of an installed camera, the giant cactus and hard packed white sand roads. I could go on. We will be back Karl!

The road to Loreto is a great motorcycle road. The first part of the landscape after La Paz reminded me of the Texas Eastern panhandle: dry, flat and brown. We encountered a security check point that gave us a surprise. Marc was riding through the security check and 3 vicious dogs ran out and were trying to bite his legs. He rode off and they wanted me to pull up! I shook my head no and thankfully they waved me around the check point to the highway. Those dogs chased us 200 feet down the road! The guards were chuckling at the scene. This was the only check point that wasn’t SUPER friendly so I will call this an anomaly. We were finally rewarded by riding in the mountains along the Sea of Cortez. Wow! Didn’t take pictures until Loreto. We got there at a decent hour and checked into the Hotel Plaza Loreto. This hotel is right in the center of town and very convenient to walk around and see the sights. We walked along the malecon and down to the marina. Carnival was going on. For dinner we picked an Italian Restaurant called Pasta Fresca. We watched Carnival go by from our outside table. Food is really good and the town is quite civilized for the Baja. They even had a Lactose-free ice cream shop which we went to for dessert.

Day 9: Loreto to San Ignacio

Woke up in Loreto and had breakfast at Los Mandiles. Headed out at 10:30 riding towards San Ignacio to meet back up with our friend Scott Wilber . The coastline was breath taking between Loreto and Mulege! Aqua marine clear water in the bays and some with crystal white sand beaches. Many RVs and in the bays camping. We made it to San Ignacio and got our room at La Heurta. Nice hotel! Met up with Scott. And took off to see the plaza and get something to eat. We toured the mission in the center of town. Lots of tourist here. We ran into the mountain biker woman from the road to the mission. She was explaining to us that she was on a specific bike tour and was sitting next to a man who happened to be on the same self-guided tour! They found each other through the app that guides them from place to place and connects them with fellow travelers. They take the bad-ass cake from me to do all this on a bicycle. Tomorrow we will commune with the whales!

Day 10: Laguna San Ignacio

Whales! We had breakfast La Heurta restaurant – very good. Packed up and drove off in Scott’s 4Runner to meet Antonio’s Whale Tour company that would take us out into the Laguna San Ignacio to see the annual migration stop and potential calving site of a few species of Whales. The trip out was about 45 minutes. Mostly paved with the end section being hard packed sand. After the bureaucracy of form signing and distribution of life vests… we drove out towards the point on a bus with others. Our first chosen boat launch site did not work because of the tides so we got back on the bus to launch from another site. We (Marc, Scott, and myself) got onto the panga with 5 others and set off to find some whales. We were told that these fishermen put their professions on hold during whale season in February and March to be watching-watching guides. We saw Grey whales. Maybe 20 total and interacted with 5 or so. They would follow the boat and show off. They would poke their heads out of the water to look at us. Two whales came over to our boats and surfaced just enough to let us touch them! Bucket-list stuff! These are wild whales in open water that choose to have social interactions with humans. This bay is known for a whale population that is unusually friendly and social with humans. Whales usually come to calf at the same spot every year so this behavior is passed down from generation to generation. There might only be 50 whales here compared to 400 in the bay around Laguna Guerrero Negro but a person has a much better chance of having a close encounter here.

Day 11: San Ignacio to San Quintin

We left San Ignacio early to get breakfast in Guerrero Negro at Black Coffee. Very good! Long road trip day. Cold, grey, and foggy. There was a horrible road construction project going on on the 1 after Jesus Maria South of 12. Tore up a whole mountain road no route options, big trucks tiptoeing around the car size pot holes in the other lane. Started warming up towards Cataviña. Cataviña was lovely just like on the way down. We ended up at the Santa Maria Misión in San Quintin. Really great and a lovely way to to spend our last night in Mexico. The whole beach was wide with fine brown sand and was full of sand dollars! Ocean view room. Great fresh seafood in the restaurant. Yes it was off season but still…

Day 12: San Quintin to Yuma, AZ, USA

This was our longest day on the road. It took us 2 hours of slogging at 20 miles an hour to get through the towns surrounding San Quintin. Dairy farms, vegetable farms… Every 100 ft. there is an ALTO sign and giant speed bump and dogs and horses and people. Btw, this the main interstate hwy 1, no way around, only though. We had the same experience getting through Ensenada to get on Hwy 3 towards Tecate. The relief was the gorgeous view of the Pacific ocean. We stopped at the Finca Altazano Farm to Table Winery again along the Ruto del Vino in the Guadalupe Valley and had our last delicious meal in Mexico. We waited an hour in a line at the border, not bad. Then on to the Comfort Inn in Yuma, AZ. The hotel felt like a 5 star after the primitive lodgings we were accustomed to! Back in the USA!

Journey home: Yuma, AZ to Santa Fe, NM:

Early rise, hotel breakfast, and drove back to Santa Fe. So much to talk about and reflect on. We arrived at home around 8 pm, picked up the dogs and slept in our own beds. My dreams were of being on the sandy roads in the Baja…