San Felipe – the gateway to the Sea of Cortez.
Located only 130 miles from the USA/Mexico border (in Mexicali), San Felipe is one of the famous destinations for USA tourists escaping from the winter cold. Easy 2-hour drive and you discover a small hidden paradise with white sandy beaches and lots of water activities like snorkeling and scuba diving all year round. Besides that, the town borders not only the sea but also the desert, and it makes it a heaven for ATV off-roading trips. Also, it’s one of the best places for fishing. There’re many fishing tours around. Or you can find some hidden spots on the sea banks (a license is required for fishing from the boat).
We stayed at the small RV campground and immediately noticed a couple of cars from Washington and Oregon states and also some winter Canadian birds. People come here from the northeast to escape from the winter rainy weather. Some are working remotely, some – just traveling, and some – enjoying the whole winter here during their retirement. We met a senior guy who told that he loves this place for a long time and coming here almost every winter since 1987. Wow, that’s a really long time.
I’d not say that San Felipe is a real international destination, as people will most likely go to La Paz from overseas. But it’s truly worth it if you’re traveling around Baja California! And it definitely can be either a long restful stay or a short stop on your way to Mexicali or vice versa.
San Felipe downtown
Historically San Felipe was a fishing town, nowadays it’s primarily a tourist destination for American tourists. The main street is overcrowded with market stalls and restaurants. Public city beaches are always full of either tourist or enjoying good weather locals. San Felipe still preserves its fishing legacy and in restaurants, they will give you the freshest seafood ever – caught same day morning right in the Gulf of California.
Enjoy the sunny walk along the embankment. Or, if you want to go crazy, spend the night in San Felipe’s famous bar Rockodile – a bar and club that is loved by younger tourists in the town.
At the same time, we saw a bunch of National Guards patrolling the city in full ammunition and with automatic rifles… but we figured out it’s a regular thing for San Felipe and North Baja in general. Anyway, it was completely safe.
Shrine of Guadalupe
The Shrine of Guadalupe is a small iconic landmark of San Felipe. It’s a catholic monument that was built in 1948 that locals really honor. Please be quiet there as you can meet the people who come to the shrine to pray.
But also it’s a lovely place for sightseers. Views opening from the top of the hill where the shrine is located are magnificent. On one side – lighthouse with the mountain range at the horizon. And breathtaking views from another side to endless beaches and panorama of the town.
Everything is so peaceful and quiet there!
South Beach
South Beach is especially famous for its white sand! It’s much better than the public beach downtown and located only a couple minutes from the town to the south. But… Almost all roads leading to it now belong either to private residencies or to hotels or camping. I.e. it’s very difficult to get some more or less public way to there.
We found old gates with a pretty good parking lot behind and also a paved road to the beach with street lights. But… unfortunately, it has seen better times before. You can’t pass inside anymore and the road is covered with sand. You can still do it in a buggy, but not in a regular car as the risk to drown in the sand is very high. We actually tried, got stuck and it required about an hour of digging to bring us back on the paved track.
So, if you want to enjoy a beach vacation in San Felipe, probably your best choice would be a hotel or camping on the southern side of the city. As you can truly admire the beauty of South Beach from there.
