Santa Rosalillita

Santa Rosalillita, just another sleepy Pacific fishing village in Baja? This village recently got upgraded. They got pavement (really wide pavement – for Baja), they got a bunch of electricity, new jetties, giant new port offices for administrators that will probably never show up. They got tons upon tons of concrete, boat moving machinery and they got a lot of press.

What they did NOT get – is anything that works. Oh, the road is nice and the extra electricity is probably beneficial – BUT – the jetties that were supposed to hold back the mighty Pacific were designed all wrong and they filled in the supposed harbor (loading dock) with sand. The jetties and small harbor could probably be re-engineered but the current state of the economy and environmental concerns will probably prevail.

This new facility was to be the main ingredient in the much publicized “Esclara Nautica”. This was an attempt to make it possible for thousands of boats, each year, to be loaded onto big trucks and then be driven over land to the Sea of Cortez, after their relatively short voyage down the Pacific coast to Santa Rosalillita. This was going to make it really easy for smaller boat traffic to avoid the long passage around the length of Baja to enjoy the more subdued waters of the Sea of Cortez.

Some of the best laid plans….or whatever. Anyways, Santa Rosalillita remains a sleepy fishing village with a few extra amenities. The 200 or so residents seem to take it all in stride, and life goes on pretty much as it has for a long time.

Commercial fishing, abalone and lobster remain the economic staples of Santa Rosalillita, and the small town seems to be content with this arrangement. This is a laid-back area where the friendly locals work hard and enjoy a life that is free of big city problems in much the same way fishermen have done in the remote parts of Baja for a very long time.

There are a couple of small restaurants that serve the community, 2 small markets, a church, a mechanic and a small packing plant that processes the fish caught daily. You can rent boats from the local fisherman here and the offshore fishing is pretty good in either direction. Surf fishing is also very popular along the miles of beautiful remote beaches to the south of Santa Rosalillita.

Surfers, wind surfers, divers and off road enthusiasts, all frequent this area. Dirt roads (4×4 or high clearance) lead to the north and south. A journey in either direction will not disappoint. Many campers use Santa Rosalillita as an entrance to the many great beaches in the area.