RE Baja: You do not mention previous sea kayaking experience-beyond backpacking. Baja can be a stern teacher of sea kayaking. Inexperienced paddlers have been badly spanked, and some have been lost. Though the Sea of Cortez may not have the long distance swells of the Pacific, it can develop 10 foot seas when El Norte blows down hundreds of miles of fetch, which can last for days. Also, sudden 35 knot offshore winds can arise-like those that killed several people in Bahia de Los Angeles last year when a researcher's boat was flipped. IMHO, when paddling in Baja in big seas with heavily loaded boats-especially with beam winds, beginners will benefit from rudders. (Just MHO-please don't reopen this topic.) The surrounding land is Sonoran desert with little or no available water on the more remote stretches. Water must be carried-up to 13 days supply _at_ 1 gal/person/day. You must protect water bags in kayak hard hatches from coyotes, who will dig in the bottoms of arroyos, often near palm trees to find a meager supply of water. I saw a grown man nearly cry last winter when a coyote got into a 5-liter bag of wine on the first night out on a San Felipe to Loreto trip with some friends last winter. Kayak rentals around Loreto can be hard to come by. Villas de Loreto will rent some boats if one bundles the deal with lodging there before and after at around $70 + per night. By comparison, going rates at a small hotel facing the church square run 25-35 per night. Paddling South has been reluctant to rent their kayaks-especially to inexperienced paddlers. One can see the advantage to taking guests out with the boats _at_ $1000/trip. Ecomundo on Bahia Conception south of Mulege will rent kayaks, including double Tangos. Bahia Conception is a slightly more forgiving place to learn kayaking. Also, Ecomundo has some reasonable palapas to rent for a stay before and after paddling. You can get there by bus from Loreto, by giving the driver a small tip for an unscheduled stop. The Marine Park surrounding Loreto, has wrought some protection for both the marine environment and also for some of the outfitters doing business from Loreto. The biggest manifestation I've seen of the park, are the shiny new Dodge pickups that park employees drive around Loreto. You must register with both the Port Captain's office and the Marine Park office, and reserve campsites on the islands- and even register for campsites on the coast-if you are to follow the regs. There have been reports of outfitters turning in private parties that did not have proper permits for camping on the islands. Per regs, groovers are required, as well as radios. Practice may vary; we avoided contact last year. Most commercial trips carry the Boombox toilets on the back deck of doubles. A good starting point would be one of Ed Gillet's trips or classes. They are not catered like the higher cost ones, but you will learn a lot from Ed. He has forgotten more about Baja and kayaking than some of the "guides" elsewhere presently know, IMHO. I've heard rumors that Ed and Katie may be changing their operations. Call them (619) 222-3616 or check the site http://www.swkayak.com They have posted lots of good info there. Lest you think by the tone of this post that I'm down on Baja, I'm not. I've paddled over 1000 miles there, and will go back soon. With each trip one can see changes-more development, increased regulation, etc. Matt's comments re LaPaz and in general re Baja are excellent. It's still an amazing place. Regards, Jay -Alma,CO *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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