Rain Season in Baja

action-packed day with all kinds of emotions. How about, something like starting off with an early surf session at any of the cool surf breaks around. My top picks would be Monuments in Cabo San Lucas, the Rock or Zippers, and Acapulquito or Old Man’s, which are all located in Costa Azul in San Jose del Cabo. “Pescaditos” meaning little fish, is also a wave in Costa Azul and is another great option for a fun and not so extreme surf session, as this spot usually has a friendly wave. Northeast up the East Cape coast road my top picks are for sure Shipwreck’s, Nine Palms and Punta Perfecta. You can find more details and characteristics of these surf spots, like wave direction and location, here in DESTINO’s activities section as well as in their Baja Sur map. After that fantastic surf session, how about some relaxing beach time under an umbrella or “palapa” and enjoy eating some fruit or nuts with big gulps of cold water to replenish. Also, maybe a short nap or “siesta” as we say in Spanish, or maybe no nap and some beach games like throwing a frisbee or kicking a soft soccer ball. Around lunch time some good food would be perfect. So, if the surf session was within San Jose and San Lucas, try any of the restaurants or cafeterias in the area for lunch or brunch. But if you are in the East Cape, a great idea is to pack a lunch in a cooler and bring a picnic kit. You can also have some delicious lunch at the nice spots out in the east cape like Vidasoul and Zach’s Bar, or Buzzards just outside of San Jose near Punta Gorda, which is the end of San Jose bay. So, after having some good food and maybe taking another power nap, it’s time to head out to the mountains for some relaxing hot springs before sunset. First take Highway 1 to the small town of Santiago and then my top picks would be the hot springs in Santa Rita or the hot springs as well at El Chorro in Agua Caliente. There are many other options in the area to find cold pools and waterfalls, like in San Dionisio, Sol de Mayo or Miraflores. But, since the surf session was so good, hot springs might be the perfect choice this time, and the cool thing, literally, is that at El Chorro and Santa Rita you can find cold pools nearby; and even some little waterfalls. To get to either one of these spots, first arrive at Santiago, which is about one hour from Los Cabos, and then at any of the little stores in the main town square ask for the directions to the spot you want to go, and they will happily and easily instruct you in which direction to go and what little dirt road to take. Once on those roads, you will see some signs that point out the direction to these sites. If you get lost, there is always a Ranch nearby or vehicles on the road to whom you can ask for directions. In this edition, I want to talk more about El Chorro because I just went a couple weeks ago and had the most unexpected but wonderful experience. I was enjoying the hot spring which is right next to the concrete water dam, when all of a sudden, I felt many tiny bites on my feet and toes. First, of course I was a little startled and shook my feet, and dozens of tiny fish swirled all around the water near my feet. I stopped shuffling the water and let the fish nibble at my feet again. I then realized I had found paradise. There I was in the middle of nowhere basking in the warm water and getting a foot spa-massage service for free. It was amazing. Highly recommended! As I said, the really cool thing about both El Chorro and Santa Rita hot springs, is that you can jump from cold pools to hot springs in the same spot and the experience is very therapeutic, relaxing, and rejuvenating. Let’s not forget that it is mango harvesting season! There are so many mangoes that fall from the trees that they can’t be eaten freshy, so many things are made from all these mangoes like, for example, dried mango, which is one of my favorites. But people in the ranches also make “mangate” which is kind of like a marmalade or jam. Another great food you can find are mango “empanadas” or turnovers in English. So, while you are in Santiago or Miraflores, stop at one of the local stores and see if they have some mango “empanadas” or “mangate”. Finally, I remember some summers when my friends and I would collect many crates full of mangoes, from many different ranches and orchards all through Baja Sur, like Santiago and also a lot from San Jose and Pescadero, a town on the Pacific side. Then we would take the pulp of the mango and make smoothies, but we would also put the pulp in large Ziploc bags and fill our freezers with them. These were great times and sometimes, we could still be making mango smoothies all throughout winter. So, let’s enjoy this September to the fullest! Have some epic surf sessions, lots of mango foods, and for sure some mountain time in the cold and hot pools should not be missed, especially after some blessed rain. ]]>