It is a long old trip out to Baja from the UK. In early March it was a welcome change to go from under ten degrees at home to thirty plus in Baja. It is the end of the season by this point and many of those who came down to avoid the cold winters have gone back home. It is still a busy place though with the Hydrofoil Pro Tour coming to town in the next few days. I am out for a Flysurfer meeting – testing new products and having our annual meetings. More on that later when I can actually show the new products.
The time difference means we are getting up early – taking in sunrise, heading out for coffee and breakfast (and wifi access) and catching up on some work before getting the day properly started. For the first few days that means meetings first thing, then as the wind turns up we head down to the beach and test and shoot new kit.
When there is no wind, its time to go exploring the coast line, checking out the landscape and wildlife. Snapping some shots. This place is a real playground for watersports, dirt biking and mountainbiking. I can easily see how it is a dream spot to drive down to from the US or Canada with all your toys There were soaring spots for paragliding too. Those baja bugs etc would be so fun. There are simply hundreds of miles of dirt road and tracks.
The kiting is good as long as you are not a dedicated wave chaser. The wind is harder to forecast this time of year. Earlier in the season there is a gentle wind which gets accelerated by a thermal process when the land heats up. For me it was a fun place to just boost. Not really a wave spot, but there is some wind swell about. For hydrofoiling the spot is great – the beach banks off sharply putting you in deep water straight away. The riding area is huge – no wonder the hydrofoil pro tour have a stop here.
If you venture out of town at all and want to get near the beach – driving off road is a daily occurrence. The gutless rental car handled it fine though. We had some fun with it.
Evan from AXIS Kiteboarding was in town so we met up to test and shoot the 2018 twintips. A couple of days on twintips just on a more remote beach out of town. Again it was so great to spend time learning more about the new range, riding it all back to back and getting insight into the future of the brand. It was even better to do all that stuff whilst hanging out on the beach, or sipping beers or getting dinner. The first day we rode till sunset – focusing on just getting hours on the water testing different boards.
The next day we came back and Evan shot from the water getting loads of great shots. Here is a selection of me riding the Vanguard – a stand out board for 2018! Plus the graphic looks great in photos.
Looking for somewhere different to ride we cruised North of La Ventana to Hot Springs for a foil session – it was less busy up here, and you can park right next to the water. Perfect for a quick set up and for taking it in turns shooting. The AXIS freeride foil felt so comfortable straight away – this was the first time we had ridden it.
Bonus Pelican Gallery – There were lazy pelicans chasing fishing boats everywhere. After taking a break from sitting in the shade sipping beer I ended up with a load of photos of them and some seagulls.
The life in Baja won me over pretty quick. There is a strong community of people who love getting out and doing sports, the terrain lends itself to having fun, we got plenty of hours in the water. Mexican food is great and they pretty much serve all day everyday. I would not say no to another trip out there!
