The site we are staying at for 2 nights just south of San Felipe was originally built as a luxury RV resort, but the property seemingly went bust and into bank receivership. Now, it’s a dilapidated campsite on a beautiful shell-strewn beach. The family collecting payment for camping may or may not be managers, they may just be squatting and collecting money from unsuspecting travelers. Many scenarios could be true. Zero attempt has been made to upkeep the grounds, ironically named Desert Paradise. Still, it has a certain apocalyptic charm – think The Last of Us, Baja Edition.
Exploring the grounds we found eerily crumbling buildings, some filled with light fixtures or decorated with grappling hooks (to hang dead zombie bodies on?). There was a huge pool in the middle of the property, filled with sand, only showing a water depth line on one end and some stools peeking out at the swim-up bar on the other. With the wind storm we were experiencing (gusts up to 35mph!) the high winds might have been the reason for the RV park going out of business. Regardless, it was fun to imagine what the buildings were used for and who may have been enjoying their vacations here years before.
Walking around at night with the corrugated tin roofs banging in the wind and front doors boarded up, it was hard not to keep looking over your shoulder at every noise. We spent most of the days in the vans hiding from the winds, emerging briefly to comb the beach for shells at low tide. We found it one of the most treasure-strewn beaches we’d ever seen and this beach marked the beginnings of a giant haul of sea treasures collected over Baja – lots of arrowhead sand dollars and conch shells. We never saw another soul on the beach, adding to the apocalyptic vibe – the only sign of humans were some old ATV tracks and trash blown in by wind or tide.
At low tide you can supposedly dig your own personal hot tub in the sand as hot springs run near the rocks that emerge at the lowest tide. We dug and dug but found only lukewarm water. So after a few days, we decided to escape the wind, say goodbye to our Deserted Paradise, and head south 70 km to Puertecitos in search of some bigger tidal hot springs.
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