Sunning & Surfing in Baja Mexico

Que onda cabron! I just got back from 2 weeks in Baja with a couple of my best buddies. This is the 2nd trip I’ve taken there this year and like the 10th time I’ve been to Mexico in the past few years. Mi español es todavía muy mal, pero estos viajes me ofrecen una buena oportunidad para practicar.It’s cheap, beautiful, fun & way safer than the lamestream media would lead you to believe . Check out my homeboy Kurt’s recap of our adventure including protips about surfing, winetouring and playlists of the soundtracks that made the trip so surreal and special.

“Coincidence or not, Surfer Magazine’s most recent issue had a feature story on the “Baja Renessaince” and one of the key points was that gringos are coming back less for the surfing and more for the vineyards. We were all delightfully shocked how beatiful and accessable the Gaudalupe Valley is. It’s only a few minutes drviing East of Ensendada and it rivals Ojai or Napa Valley in it’s physical beauty. Evidently these are the oldest vineyards in North America (probably from the Spanish settlers I’d imagine). The wine, the food, and the ambiance were all fantastic. The wineary that we visited was called Encuentro Guadalupe and I was delighted to learn abour their vision (social enterprise) and the impecably well designed grounds that all integrated naturally and seamlessly. Plus it was a real price performer as well.

Boy did we meet some characters down there. Meet Bill, the “Surfboard Surgeon” who was recommended to us from a trusted locat. Bill has lived in baja for almost 20 years and living a humble life repairing surfboards and practicing his Tai Chi. He definately checked out of the rat race long ago and he’s built a very simple and humble life for himself that he seems to love. The waves were pumping so hard that all of my boards need some repairs, and Bill cranked out the work, and shared all sorts of yoda-esqe wisdom in the form of surfing parables. I’m the wiser for it, and even though I got a crash course in surfboard repair, i’ll still take them to Bill to get fixed when I’m down there next.”