San Felipe is only about a 2.5 hour drive south of the Mexicali border and was our first stop on our Baja 2022 winter tour! We actually arrived on Dec. 28, 2021 and rung in the new year there.

About San Felipe

San Felipe is a very rustic town, right on the Gulf of California (formerly known as the Sea of Cortez). 

We knew it wouldn’t be our favorite Baja destination, and many told us to skip it and head further south right away, but we wanted to spend a week there to explore the area a bit and get a feel for each place we visit. 

San Felipe has a population of about 25,000 including US and Canadian part-time residents, and over half of it’s people live in poverty. It’s a fishing village and relatively quiet and calm. Because of the high salinity of the sea water, swimming and floating are super easy. Twice a month, around the time of the new and the full moon, large tides develop and the rise and fall of the water is pretty remarkable.

Downtown

We enjoyed visiting the Malecón, which is the boardwalk in the heart of the town. Vendors and restaurants line the entire Malecón, and you can get any type of taco, churro or souvenir you may want there. Remember when shopping that haggling is the norm here! Most people speak at least a little English here, so if you know at least a little Spanish, communication isn’t too tough. 

At the end of the Malecón, there is a bridge that leads to a lighthouse. You can walk across and get a different view of the shoreline and the city. It was a fun thing to do with our friends.

The Beach

San Felipe has a nice sandy beach that stretches for miles. Becuase it is on the Gulf side of Baja, the water is very calm, not good for surfing but great for kayaking and paddle boarding. During low tide, the water really jets out and you have hundreds of feet of extra sand to play on. Since we love throwing the frisbee but aren’t very good at it, this was an ideal time to throw the frisbee!

Valley of the Giants (Valle de los Gigantes)

Another day, we drove about 20 minutes to Valley of the Giants. It is a large area of HUGE cacti that you can drive through if you have a 4X4 and walk around at if you don’t. We didn’t really need the 4X4, but it does get pretty soft and sandy so drive at your own risk without it.

We were with friends and we all had 4X4 vehicles so we were all able to make the drive through the area, and it was really fun! We got out several times to take pictures and explore.

We went in the middle of the day, but a sunset visit would have been really pretty. It won’t take long to drive through the park and get back to San Felipe so you could easily get there about an hour before sunset and still get back to town before dark. It costs $10 per vehicle to enter. 

Groceries and gas in town

There are several grocery stores in town. We went to Calimex, which is the largest one, and a smaller one right next door called Mi Bodega Aurrera, which is kind of like a tiny Walmart! They carry some Great Value branded items, and sell household items such as TVs, washing machines, etc. We were able to use a credit card at both stores. (Make sure your credit card doesn’t charge you a fee to use it in Mexico!)

San Felipe has plenty of gas stations, either Chevron or Pemex, and it’s easy to find diesel fuel if you need it. One thing to know is that you do not pump your own gas in Mexico. The gas station attendants are there to pump your gas, clean your windshield, even fill your tires with air or check your oil.

If they just pump your gas (say “full” and they’ll understand, even if they don’t speak English), a 5-20 peso tip is appreciated. The more you ask of them, the more you should tip.

Restaurants

We tried several restaurants/taco stands during our week in San Felipe. Every restaurant was good, and even though we only tried a small portion of their menus, this is how we would rank them.

1. Taqueria La Poblanita - Google Maps says its closed but that is the old restaurant at the location. Great pastor tacos!

2. El Kikiriki Restaurante - On the Malecón. They also have great pastor tacos. There is a churro cart usually parked right out front that we loved.

3. Rosita's International Restaurant - On the Malecón. It’s more of a traditional indoor restaurant with 4 walls, servers, chips/salsa before your meal, and an onsite bar with beers and mixed drinks.

4. Taqueria y Mariscos Adriana On the Malecón. Definitely worth a try.

Most restaurants are open air and have only 3 walls. This is nice, as the weather is great here even in winter. It does get chilly at night in the winter, but having a few walls keeps the wind out and it was still enjoyable to eat outside. We stuck with Mexican food, but there are also places to get pizza, Italian food, and even Chinese food! 

Other Details

There are sand dunes behind the RV park we stayed at that people love playing at. You can rent quads and play or bring your own. Our friends took their Jeeps out and had some fun on the dunes but they did say there was a lot of glass out there. The entire San Felipe area is great for sand toys (and I’m not talking buckets and shovels either!).

In early January, the temps were generally mild during the day, but it got pretty chilly at night. The highs were in the 60s most days, and in the sun it felt perfect. On the beach it tended to be windier, and then as the sun set, it got cold. Some evenings it got down to the 40s!

We stayed at Victor’s RV Park, and you can read all the details about the RV park here. It was a bit tight with our 42 ft. fifth wheel, but it worked. Smaller rigs would have no problem. If you’re interested in something a LOT smaller, check out KÜHL’s Complete Guide on Pickup Truck Camping for Beginners

• We enjoyed our time there, but were ready to move further south to warmer weather and excited to explore more of Baja!