Playa Juncalito, Take 5

 

Here we are, back at Playa Juncalito 12 miles south of Loreto for our fifth visit. We stopped here both southbound and northbound each of the previous two winters, and though we’ve never said it out loud, even to each other, it seems this is really our favorite beach in Baja. Loreto is not our favorite town (Mulege is), though there’s lots to like about it, but we love this simple unadorned beach. We sleep to the sound of noisy waves crashing on the shore. There’s enough sand to walk a couple of miles. Kayaking is good in the mornings before the wind comes up.  Fishing is good too, according to other campers on the beach who are inclined to spend their mornings that way. This beach is not part of a town, so very rural, and has hiking available in the staggeringly beautiful Sierra Las Gigantas just across the highway on which the pink and coral lights of sunrise are so spectacular it aches.

 

Playa Juncalito borders a bay about a mile wide and deep, so there’s land in the vista on both sides of our campsite and islands offshore to provide visual interest. On top of all that, our first time here we made friends with Carl and Chris (American and Brit) and spent several great afternoons sailing on Carl’s boat. We also made friends with Tom and Cindy, folks from the U.S. who live here on the beach about eight months each year, and Tom’s brother owns a very successful restaurant in Loreto.  We met Bill and Tey (American and Belizean) who own a palapa-house on the beach in the tiny village next door and had dinner with them several times, and we joined the Puerto Escondido (Hidden Port) Yacht Club at the semi-fancy port a mile south. So we have connections here that have lasted through the many months we’re away, mostly via email, but we also visited Chris and Carl overnight at their cabin in Canada on our way to Alaska last May.

 

Today we arrived to find only five other RVs camped on the beach, in sharp contrast to previous trips in which there were at least 30 (and we got one of the least attractive spots to set up unless someone else left and we moved into their spot later). Today we had our pick of spots so set up next door to Tom and Cindy who have already been here since October.

The pelicans are dive-bombing out front, the beach is as gorgeous as we recall, and we had a quiet happy hour by ourselves with one beer and our books this afternoon. The weather, as usual, was mild and mostly sunny and in the 70s.