Mixing fishing with off-roading has gained popularity along a stretch of coast on Baja California Sur’s Sea of Cortez. On the East Cape, between the capital city of La Paz and the sport fishing mecca of Los Cabos, ATV rental companies are doing good business in quiet coastal towns peppered with resorts and vacation rentals. Imagine this: You’re tearing down a remote stretch of beach in a quad with rods arrayed on the roll bar. Eyes on the surf, nervous water beyond gentle breakers is run through with the seven-spined comb of a roosterfish. Slam on the brakes, bail out and run barefooted into the surf to cast. This is Baja-style surf fishing. Of course, you’ll want to book a charter to chase the striped marlin this destination is known for. But what’s a better way to spend a lay day than fishing and exploring gorgeous shoreline?
1. La Ribera
Rent a truck at the Los Cabos Airport and load it with heavy surf tackle. After securing provisions at the grocery store, your next stop is at Jansen Inshore Tackle in Cabo San Lucas. Stephen Jansen is an avid Dutch surf fisherman and lure designer who created the famous Cabo Killer and other lures proven in the Baja surf. Since 2001, he’s provided tackle, gear and intel to intrepid anglers.
From there, Camino Cabo Este is a 59-mile road that runs the coast from San José del Cabo up the East Cape to La Ribera. Some of it is paved, some of it is dirt, and sometimes areas are poorly maintained, so you’ll want an ATV or a truck with 4-wheel-drive. This area can be pretty remote, so bring what you need and a sense of adventure. The reward is drab desert scenery existing in stark contrast with the aqua blue Sea of Cortez.
There are numerous beach access points, along with long stretches of beach and dune trails to explore and watch for fish. Keep your foot on the gas when the dunes get steep, or you’ll spend valuable fishing time digging bogged-down tires out of the sand.
Note that fishing is not allowed in the 27-square-mile Parque Nacional Cabo Pulmo, which encompasses a large, gorgeous swath of coast around the halfway point of Camino Cabo Este. We hear there is good snorkeling and diving on the reef, and Cabo Pulmo Adventures is a full-service dive shop located within the park.
North of the national park, Punta Arena is home to a gorgeous stretch of beach and a lighthouse point, where deeper water comes in close to shore. On a recent expedition to La Ribera, our home base, Onda, was an all-inclusive luxury rental house complete with ATVs, boat and crew. We made a beach run south to Punta Arena to catch roosterfish. Along the way, we encountered families truck camping on the beach as well as other ATV anglers, some who were casting 9-weight fly rods in the surf.
The new Costa Palmas Marina, a golf course and the Four Seasons Resort at Costa Palmas are turning La Ribera into a vacation and fishing destination. Check it out before word gets out.
2. Los Barilles
Highway 1 out of San José del Cabo is a no-shoulder two-lane road that cuts through the craggy scrub and cactus foothills of the Sierra de la Laguna for 40 miles in a direct shot to Los Barilles. This village is an epicenter for sport fishing and off-roading on the East Cape.
Campgrounds and RV parks are prevalent around Los Barilles, as are resorts vacation rentals and boutique hotels, making this laid-back town north of La Ribera a gathering place for ex-pats, van-lifers and fishing tourists. There’s even a sports bar where you can keep up with American football during the season: Smokey’s Curing Company & Cantina, which serves triple duty as a bar with a good selection of beer on tap, a restaurant that’ll cook your fresh catch, and a packing house that’ll process your fish for transport home.
If you’re taking the family and need hot tubs, swimming pools and a resort experience, check out Palmas de Cortez and Playa del Sol hotels. From open pangas to cabin cruisers, these resorts—as well as several others in the area—have charter fleets ready to take you out for striped marlin, sailfish, dorado, yellowfin tuna, wahoo, roosterfish and more. The nearshore and offshore fisheries aren’t far apart on the Sea of Cortez.
Baja Flyfishing Company is a great option to experience ATV-fishing from the beach. With local guides dialed into the fishery, the searching and learning curve is greatly reduced for visiting anglers, and they won’t force you to fly fish if you prefer spinning gear.
If you want to strike out (double meaning intended) on your own, Quad Girl, CanDoo and Quadman are the three highest-rated ATV rental services in town.
Read Next: Mexico Fishing Destination: La Paz, Baja California Sur
3. La Paz
At the northern end of an East Cape road trip, La Paz is the capital city of Baja California Sur. It’s a couple hours’ drive from Los Cabos, but it has its own international airport, so it could serve as your starting point for a south-bound adventure or a departure point at the end of your northward drive.
La Paz is home to world-class fishing, luxury hotels, resorts and dining. There’s nightlife as well, which is perhaps a little more subdued than the debauchery of Los Cabos. The Hotel Indigo La Paz Puerta Cortes offers posh accommodations adjacent to the full-service Marina Costa Baja, where you can rent a slip or meet your charter boat.
Ditch the ATVs for this fishery. You’ll want to board a super panga with the Baja Mosquito Fleet or a cabin cruiser with Baja Pirates to experience excellent inshore action in the channel off Isla Ceralvo southward to the beaches at La Ventana. The fishing out of La Paz features some of the largest roosterfish in the world.
The fishery also kicks out enormous bull dorado, blue and striped marlin, tuna and wahoo through the seasons. A variety of exotic grouper and snapper species are there to sweeten the pot and grace the table.
Quick tip: there’s a short window each spring when ballyhoo spawn in shallow coves that once served as pirate hideouts. Time it right and get a little lucky, and you might encounter this incredible convergence of baitfish and predators around the weed lines.
