i had some friends around six months ago first time in Mexico on bikes do exactly the same thing as you, they tried every option to get it sorted in La Paz...eventually they were sent back to the border. I wish you good look and a better outcome, make sure if you do find a good solution you post it as this can be a common mistake you might want to post in THIS THREAD and see if the experienced Mexico riders have an answer for you i'll be crossing the border in about 10 days so for the beginning of another RTW, so if you're not traveling to fast we might bump into you
Alright, I got a post in that thread, hopefully that brings some more info. I've also read that they sometimes check fr FMM just south of Guerrero Negro and sometimes they can issue them there, but I'm not sure how accurate that info is. Thanks for the help. Let me know as you two are passing through and we might cross paths. I used to have a XT1200Z so it'd be nice to see one set up for a RTW. Safe travels
Go to Immigration Office in GRN. I met an Immigration officer before the GRN on HW1 near Oxxo. She asked to see my tourist card and I showed her mine. She mentioned one could and should get one visiting Baja Sur. That was 10 years ago. Good luck.
There is an office in Ensenada that issues tourist visas, or at least there was in 2012. It is near the cruise ship terminal. It might be an option if you decide to head north to deal with the visa. The officer made mention of a fine for us not getting visas at the border, but didn't try to enforce that once we said we'd rather ride back and get it.
Yes, you're supposed to have a tourist card and TVIP for Baja Sur. I think, however, you may be able to get one at the Ferry Terminal, but don't quote my on that.......La Paz is a fun town especially along the Malecon......Good Luck with your ride, I'm in for this one!
Also, if you need a place to stay after the Ferry to the mainland in Mazatlan, a friend of mine owns the Funky Monkey, a Hostel in the Zona Dorada, a few blocks behind the Starbucks. It's a fun funky place, and cheap nights sleep!....and, it's only about a 10 minute ride from the Ferry Terminal.
Awesome pictures...... What camera are you using? The wife and I were just at Coco's last month. You can see her pink panties (that Coco talked her out of) hanging above the door in one of your pictures! Not the red xxxxxxxl pair... Keep up the good report.
Yes, I was looking into places in Mazatlan before the trip and noticed the Funky Monkey, already set it as a waypoint in my GPS, looks like a good spot. Thank you. Camera is a Sony a6000. Mirrorless and lenses are changable. Nice to have something fairly decent but also fairly compact. Hahaha not the red XXXXXL pair, I'm not sure someone in that pair could make it through a doorway, let along stay a night in the one of the trailers.
I was just at Posada Concepcion two nights ago and saw the Blackdog sprinter van in the parking lot. This was right before I asked to check out the hot springs there- was fun until some "local" gringo woman told me I was in a hot spring on private property and that I had to leave. Sucks because normally the older gals in there just ask me to dance or take of my shirt (not kidding- the older gals are a fun bunch in there) and then tell me to have a good time in the tubs. Long, long time local told me to ask her why she was kicking me out if I was within the federal maritime exclusion zone- at this point I had finished two of Pepe's margaritas at the bar at Playa Burro so I didn't really care and am resolved to poach that damn tub in the near future. But I did just see the Blackdog Sprinter in there, just sayin'.
How did you know I was at Posada Concepcion!? Guessing you saw my bike parked out there by the beach? I'm just about to upload those pictures and get started on a writeup. Yeah, I think I know the gringo woman you're talking about. I definitely didn't agree with her idea of 'shooing' out the 'campers' using the hot springs. Thought it was a bit silly, especially since it's a hot spring coming from the earth that is in the middle of the street, but it wasn't really my place to say otherwise. Kurt and Martha own Blackdog and they've got a house in there as well, but different folks, not kicking anybody out of the tubs. Great people and seems like they run a nice business although I hadn't heard of them before, but I don't claim to know everything that's for sure.
I've spent the last couple days camped out on the beach with friends I've met along the way. People I met traveling had friends in a little community called Posada Concepcion, so I made myself at home in my tent on the beach. It was nice to have a few sit down meals in a trailer and in someones house as well. I did a nice day trip ride south along Bahia Concepcion, wanting to find the road to go across and ride up the east side of the bay, but a fence was across the road so I passed by and didn't notice it. Instead I went out to San Nicolas which looks across the Sea of Cortez, still provided me some nice offroad and a nice beach view to soak up. I wanted a good view when I got back so I hiked up a big hill that protects Posada from the rest of Bahia Concepcion which was a great opportunity for pictures of both bays as well as the mountains inland. I'm making my way towards La Paz now, trying at different migracion offices to get my tourist card sorted out. If it can't be done and nobody will bend the rules for me, I've found a nice flight from La Paz to Tijuana that returns on the same day so I can get my tourist card sorted there and head straight back to La Paz. A cost for my mistake and not one I'll make again.
Here's a few pics from our "illegal ops": Pic 1 - my brother testing the waters of the "private tub", is that your bike in the background? Pic 2 - the "public tub", tide too low. Pic 3 - my rig CON KSO with DRZ400 I bring along. Pic 4 - the reason I was in Southern Baja for 3 weeks (that's me on the wave). We got back home today after weathering a gnarly storm hunkered down near Calamajue wash. Safe travels!
Not my bike but some others I met that were staying in the area there. Looks like you were doing it right with the camper, the surfing and the DRZ400. Hope your time in Baja was great other than the 'private' hot spring incident. Sent from my SM-G900W8 using Tapatalk
Been staying in La Paz the last few days. At a little hostel called Pension Hotel, it looks a bit cheap and some walls are crumbling but for 250 pesos it's not so bad. Another bonus is that there's been lots of younger travelers in and out as well. I've met quite a few people on bicycle or backpacking, some doing trips for a couple months and some have a year trip to Argentina planned on bicycle. Yesterday I had to fly up to Tijuana to get my tourist visa sorted out. They wouldn't do it for me at any immigration offices and I didn't have the patience to keep trying, so I decided to eat the cost of my own mistake and get it done properly. Today I got my TVIP(Temp vehicle import permit) sorted so I can ferry across to the mainland when the time comes around. The ferry between La Paz and Mazatlan is currently not running, apprently due to ship maintenence or something like that. Unfortunate but I'll have to work around it. I'm thinking the next few days will be riding some nice dirt roads around the cape, checking out Cabo Pulo, some swimming and then return to La Paz to ferry across to Topo... No pictures to share right now but I should be getting some great ones along the cape!
So the last couple days I've been riding around the very southern section of Baja. Trying to piece together some nice dirt sections that were recommended to me by some cyclists I met in La Paz. They're trying to create an almost all dirt route down the entirety of Baja to publish for other cyclists to follow. Anyway, I decided to follow the recommendation and thought I might bump into them along the way since they left a little bit before me. This turned out to be one of the best roads I've ever taken and I recommend it to anyone riding Baja with a 690cc or lower with a taste for adventure and a gnarly, rocky hill climb. I'm one tooth up on the front sprocket so gearing is a little higher for the long stretches, well it makes it tough to not stall when climbing the steep stuff, guess I just need to get more on the throttle and work that clutch. I saw definite bicycle tracks in the remote areas of the first road and was certain it was the friends I met in La Paz, attempted to keep my eyes on them but lost them after some time and had no idea which track they had taken towards the beach. I decided to push on and get to a further beach to set up better for the next day of riding. I was following my GPS while trying to keep track of where I was going but some turns definitely get confusing, I ended up going through some fence gates thinking "Hm, this is weird, but it looks like it goes through, just close to some buildings." Well, it turns out I rode into a fairly small military camp, some guys came running out when they heard me and waved me back to turn around, it wasn't too intense, just a little bit of sign language and it was pretty clear I had to take the road around, I spat out quite a few "Lo siento's"(sorry) as I left. I ended up camping near Los Barriles on the beach where a bunch of RVs made their temporary home. The winds were extreme and picked my tent up and moved it 10 feet even with stuff in it. So I used some big rocks to really hold it in place. The road I'm talking about, this is accessed easily heading Southeast from La Paz and I'm recommend it from west to east like this otherwise the gnarly uphill becomes a sktechy downhill. Now onto the pictures.
Waking up on the beach is always nice, something about listening to the waves rolling in is just as great as listening to them as you go to sleep. Riding through Cabo Pulmo was great, the road was easily manageable but still a lot more entertaining than asphalt. Checked out the water and kept on going. I had a nice lunch in San Jose del Cabo, for once not eating street food but paying for it, 129 pesos seemed pricey haha. Fueled and fed I head north turning off to ride through the mountains. The road looks promising on a map and from a distance so I'm pretty excited heading towards it. This is another road recommended from the cyclists, lots of switchbacks and it goes by a Buddhist temple, or so Google Maps says. The road turns out to be fantastic, great views, lots of fun and barely any traffic. I get to the turnoff for the Buddhist temple but it seems to be a resort or something like that, I just kept going thinking that must be the wrong road. I never find it and it gets me wondering if it's put on Google Maps to entice people into making the trip and thinking it's easier to just stay there since they made the trip. I didn't have a good look at the sign so I could be entirely wrong and it might have been worth a stop. I pass by a lot of things while riding but I think ultimately what I enjoy is the freedom of riding solo to even make these decisions in the first place, and just riding that rewarding terrain with great views no matter what I do at the destinations. The rest of the riding is fantastic, and by the time I hit the highway I'm ready to air up the tires and put some distance down on asphalt, checking out Todos Santos as I make my way back. Tomorrow I plan on taking the ferry overnight to Topolobampo, heading to Mazatlan and see where the road takes me for the next two weeks. Here is the road through the mountains, again very good for anything 690cc or lower. I'm sure a good rider on an 800 could do it justice, probably even a great rider on a 1200 but it would certainly be less enjoyable and a lot more work that's for sure. No sand just a lot of ruts created from the rain wash. And the pictures
