La Paz to Playa Tecolote //
There is one objective for the day and that is to go to the ferry terminal and book a reservation. Though, first stopping at the best grocery store in all of Baja is a must. We spend an hour scouring every food aisle in Chedraui Selecto before walking out with a huge and satisfying grocery haul, then it’s off to the ferry.
Without knowing it, we arrive at the port at loading time and the scene we pull up to is a hectic one. A man directing traffic walks up to the truck and hollers something at us in Spanish, Mark replies in Spanglish that we need a ferry ticket, more Spanish is yelled at us followed by “NO ENGLISH…TIP”. Oh, okay, “TIP” we recognize, he needs to see our Temporary Vehicle Import Permit. I breathe a sigh of relief for having dug it out this morning from the hard to reach place where we store all our important paperwork and in this moment it’s within arm’s reach. Mark shows the man our TIP and he waves us on, yelling more Spanish at us as we pull away from him and into the parking lot. It sounds like further instructions of some kind, we wave an oblivious wave, say “gracias” and go on to find a parking spot. There is a lot going on around us, it’s loud, it’s hot, and we have no idea if we are allowed to park where we are but we snag the last spot nonetheless and make our way to the ticket office.
The six of us enter the TMC ferry ticket office hoping that collectively we’ll be able to fumble our way through the interaction with the ticket agent. She knows enough English to ease the pain of the language barrier but intermittently rattles off a string of Spanish that none of us understand. After learning the cost and availability, Josh asks us all if we’d like to go to the Baja Ferries ticket office to compare prices. I’ll pause here and explain the difference between our two options…
- TMC Ferry. A commercial ferry primarily serving semi-trucks that allows pickup trucks and RVs. On this ferry we’re allowed to sleep in our campers and dogs are allowed to freely roam the ship as long as they’re on a leash.
- Baja Ferries. A passenger ferry that does not allow vehicles to be occupied during the overnight passage. Purchasing and staying in a cabin is required. Dogs must remain in a crate for the duration of the 16 hour crossing.
I’ve always imagined us taking the commercial ferry so that we could stay in the truck. The potential con we’re facing is that we could end up parked next to a refrigerated semi-truck that is running and putting out fumes for the entirety of the 16 hour ride. However, Mark and I agree that it’s a risk we’re willing to take after I read reviews of Baja Ferries cabins. One review reported finding lice in the bed and another warned of bed bugs. So when Josh asked if we wanted to go over to the Baja Ferries ticket office to compare prices, I filled him in. We then all turn to the TMC ticket agent and tell her we’ll take a reservation for the first available date, January 1st.
Five minutes later we walk out the door, all of us looking a little dumbfounded and wondering if we actually have reservations booked. The agent took our names and phone numbers and said we were all set. No money was exchanged, no receipt or paperwork of any kind was given. All we were told was to be here at 1pm on the 1st.
That gives us eleven days to read blogs and watch You Tube videos in hopes of being a little more informed when we return because what we saw today gave us a little preview of just how hectic it’s going to be when we arrive to board the ship.
This also means we have eleven days of Baja left to savor. A short drive takes us to Playa Tecolote, a popular beach for travelers and locals alike. Not interested in gathering with the masses, we continue down the road far enough to get some space to call our own. We’ll call this home for the next few days and then it will be time to get our maps out and decide how to make the most of our last days here in Baja.
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What a hectic day! The TMC ferry was a good decision. You all looked so relaxed at your camp spot after that busy day! The views were beautiful.
That sounds like not a lot of fun 😀. So, what does it end up costing? I was looking at the chart behind Mark but surely it’s not that much! Is that in pesos?
Yes, the chart is in pesos. Originally we were quoted the RV rate which was going to be somewhere around $950. That was tough to swallow since we were under the impression it was going to cost around $300-$400. We ended up being charged the truck rate which came out to $405 which we were thrilled about!