Sorta fishing related trip, but posting a "trip report" anyways.
Just got back yesterday from my stay at Casa Aqui Y Ahora, a house owned by an acquaintance. He just built it this year and wanted to get a few people he at least kinda knows in it before they start doing vacation rentals to work the kinks out a bit. The neighborhood is starting to fill in, so I think by this time next year, the other lots will be occupied. Frankly, that'd be an upgrade from the active construction going on now in the adjacent properties.
Went down to escape from our families (long story) for the Thanksgiving holiday with my wife's favorite cousins who are our closest friends. We made two trips to Cabo Pulmo to do snorkeling and scuba along the reef there, which is a very highly recommended outing if you're in to that kind of thing. I did bring some snorkeling gear, but didn't get a chance to use it around the property due to it being pretty exposed to the wind, which really picks up in November. Each day, by mid/late morning, the wind and waves were in full force. But Cabo Pulmo, which is a very impressive national park, has some great sheltered areas you can get to by boat with one of the outfits there.
Our main mission as a group was to do a lot of relaxing and finding good food, and we absolutely excelled in those departments. Highlight of the trip were a ma and pop in El Cardonal just to the north called El Cheff. We took in some dorado from that morning's fishing outing and told the proprieter to do as he was inspired, and he did not disappoint. For such a small, unassuming establishment (no dining room, just an outdoor seating area next to a very small building with just a kitchen in it), this is pretty high end cuisine for a very good price. Can't recommend it enough:
Other spots worth mentioning: La Playa restaurant - I was skeptical as I'm not usually one to hit up the more "polished" and "obviously made to make Americans more comfortable" establishments, but they made the best chile relleno I've ever had. Five stars for that one, too!
We had a few others that ranged from good to great. Chino's Pizza does excellent wood fired pizza (and I'm a bit of a snob in this department since I built a brick oven and have declared myself an "expert" on the topic. So I think that rounds out our top culinary picks in Los Barriles/El Cardonal. We did visit the plaza area in San Jose Del Cabo on our last day before catching our flight home. Walked in to a random sushi bar we walked past because it sounded good. Honestly was pretty shocked at how good this place was, and like wood fired pizza, I'm a bit of an enthusiast for sushi, so most places don't leave much of an impression on me. Tei Sushi in San Jose Del Cabo is absolutely the spot to hit if you're in that area.
Enough about food... Ok I can never talk enough about food since it's like my favorite thing in the world. A bit about fishing: Truth be told, fishing was a secondary thought on this trip. Going into it, I did book 3 days on the panga with the guide the homeowner uses. As the dates approached, it was becoming more and more apparent that wind was going to be a factor. Before I even left he basically told me that our dates are essentially cancelled on account of the wind. So I packed a few extra beach fishing supplies so I could poke around each morning before everyone got up.
We did actually get a surprise half day on the boat, though. The guide hit me up on Wednesday evening to say he thinks the wind will be do-able for at least a few morning hours, so I agreed to go with him. So myself and my wife's cousin jumped in and went after the wahoo they had been targeting lately. When we arrived to the beach, we were greeted by the guide, Puma, who informed us he had a meeting that morning and his friend Pancho would be taking us.
We were the only boat out there, and the waves were definitely pretty unrelenting, but we stuck it out through the morning. By 10am, we decided to turn toward the beach where we launched, which was about 5mi away. At that point, we'd had zero action. We were trolling two fresh ballyhoo and two X-Raps. Nada on both. So I decided to throw a hail mary that had worked on 100% of the trips I'd done in Mexico previously: Grabbed my 12wt fly rod, put on a very small baitfish pattern, and sent it back in to the prop wash. Not more than 5min later, and I had a cartwheeling dorado on the end of it. Passed that off to my fishing partner and after a fun battle, we had our dinner on the gaff.
I had two more hookups before we got back to our takeout spot, but neither hung on for long. There wasn't a whole lot going on that day, and November is definitely a "shoulder season" time to be there, so just any action was appreciated.
Beach fishing: My only beach fishing was done right near the property. There were active birds just a few hundred yards south of the rock area in front of the house, so I mostly stayed there. Right around the time the sun would come up each morning, I'd get about 1hr of action with various schools of fish crashing bait right up on the beach. I landed three species of fish on both fly and gear, but given my wet hands and all the chaos, only photographed one. Best catches were the green jacks and the bacoreta (aka Kawakawa - which a lot of people think are skipjacks when they catch them). None were particularly huge, but big enough to be a lot of fun on light tackle. I kept a couple to turn in to lunch snacks. Neither species is prized for their meat, but I've never trusted too many peoples opinion on that matter... both of them were absolutely fantastic on some tostadas!
(one of the bacoreta orientals that were plentiful)
Some green jack tostadas:
Before I do my final misc. photo dump, I'll give a few more thoughts: Los Barriles is fantastic. It's not particularly touristy, but is very geared towards the American/westerner market, so to speak. It seems to be lests tourists and more people who have property and live there part/full time. Much quieter and less hectic than the southern tip of the cape to say the least, while still having plenty to do and enjoy.
If fishing was my priority, November would not be my choice of time to go. Their peak fishing seasons correspond with ours in Oregon, so if you're okay dipping out on peak salmon/tuna season, you'll get the best, least windy fishing in that area. The beach in front of the house had plenty to catch and keep me busy, but I think if you went mid/late summer, you could potentially find something even more interesting lurking about. I'd love to get a calm day to snorkel it and really take a look. We did take a walk further up the beach to the north quite a ways (about a mile), but it was afternoon and I didn't take my gear. Just a walk with the crew. Some interesting looking spots, but didn't see any activity (could be time of day as the spot I saw/caught my fish in the morning was also quiet at this time).
The house is stunning to say the least: A perfect, modest size for a small group, like two couples, to enjoy for a week. Fully featured kitchen, nice showers, comfy beds, the works. It is quite remote, though. About 25min from Los Barriles proper, and with a lot of primative, dirt and rock roads as well as windy mountain roads inbetween. So if you go, be sure to get a vehicle that can handle that. We had a van, and we definitely abused that thing on the roads this week. I think ideally, we'd also rent an ATV like the Polaris Razors or whatever they're called, for the local commutes and keep the car/van/suv for when we go further like to Cabo Pulmo. The folks who obviously spend more time there have definitely figured this part out. If you drive at night, just be very, very cautious as the free-roaming livestock is definitely a factor.
beach areas on our walk north of the property:
The roads:
Casa Aqui y Ahora (center of the photo) and the devlopment around it as seen from the panga while fishing Thursday
While others were double fisting their margaritas, I drank my weight in Topo Chico
Lots of whales at Cabo Pulmo while we were there
I did NOT try the Surf and turd nachos
Note: Hopefully in another day or two, I'll have a GoPro video from our scuba adventure at Cabo Pulmo. Waiting for it to be sent over to me. Tons of fish footage
Just got back yesterday from my stay at Casa Aqui Y Ahora, a house owned by an acquaintance. He just built it this year and wanted to get a few people he at least kinda knows in it before they start doing vacation rentals to work the kinks out a bit. The neighborhood is starting to fill in, so I think by this time next year, the other lots will be occupied. Frankly, that'd be an upgrade from the active construction going on now in the adjacent properties.
Went down to escape from our families (long story) for the Thanksgiving holiday with my wife's favorite cousins who are our closest friends. We made two trips to Cabo Pulmo to do snorkeling and scuba along the reef there, which is a very highly recommended outing if you're in to that kind of thing. I did bring some snorkeling gear, but didn't get a chance to use it around the property due to it being pretty exposed to the wind, which really picks up in November. Each day, by mid/late morning, the wind and waves were in full force. But Cabo Pulmo, which is a very impressive national park, has some great sheltered areas you can get to by boat with one of the outfits there.
Our main mission as a group was to do a lot of relaxing and finding good food, and we absolutely excelled in those departments. Highlight of the trip were a ma and pop in El Cardonal just to the north called El Cheff. We took in some dorado from that morning's fishing outing and told the proprieter to do as he was inspired, and he did not disappoint. For such a small, unassuming establishment (no dining room, just an outdoor seating area next to a very small building with just a kitchen in it), this is pretty high end cuisine for a very good price. Can't recommend it enough:
Other spots worth mentioning: La Playa restaurant - I was skeptical as I'm not usually one to hit up the more "polished" and "obviously made to make Americans more comfortable" establishments, but they made the best chile relleno I've ever had. Five stars for that one, too!
We had a few others that ranged from good to great. Chino's Pizza does excellent wood fired pizza (and I'm a bit of a snob in this department since I built a brick oven and have declared myself an "expert" on the topic. So I think that rounds out our top culinary picks in Los Barriles/El Cardonal. We did visit the plaza area in San Jose Del Cabo on our last day before catching our flight home. Walked in to a random sushi bar we walked past because it sounded good. Honestly was pretty shocked at how good this place was, and like wood fired pizza, I'm a bit of an enthusiast for sushi, so most places don't leave much of an impression on me. Tei Sushi in San Jose Del Cabo is absolutely the spot to hit if you're in that area.
Enough about food... Ok I can never talk enough about food since it's like my favorite thing in the world. A bit about fishing: Truth be told, fishing was a secondary thought on this trip. Going into it, I did book 3 days on the panga with the guide the homeowner uses. As the dates approached, it was becoming more and more apparent that wind was going to be a factor. Before I even left he basically told me that our dates are essentially cancelled on account of the wind. So I packed a few extra beach fishing supplies so I could poke around each morning before everyone got up.
We did actually get a surprise half day on the boat, though. The guide hit me up on Wednesday evening to say he thinks the wind will be do-able for at least a few morning hours, so I agreed to go with him. So myself and my wife's cousin jumped in and went after the wahoo they had been targeting lately. When we arrived to the beach, we were greeted by the guide, Puma, who informed us he had a meeting that morning and his friend Pancho would be taking us.
We were the only boat out there, and the waves were definitely pretty unrelenting, but we stuck it out through the morning. By 10am, we decided to turn toward the beach where we launched, which was about 5mi away. At that point, we'd had zero action. We were trolling two fresh ballyhoo and two X-Raps. Nada on both. So I decided to throw a hail mary that had worked on 100% of the trips I'd done in Mexico previously: Grabbed my 12wt fly rod, put on a very small baitfish pattern, and sent it back in to the prop wash. Not more than 5min later, and I had a cartwheeling dorado on the end of it. Passed that off to my fishing partner and after a fun battle, we had our dinner on the gaff.
I had two more hookups before we got back to our takeout spot, but neither hung on for long. There wasn't a whole lot going on that day, and November is definitely a "shoulder season" time to be there, so just any action was appreciated.
Beach fishing: My only beach fishing was done right near the property. There were active birds just a few hundred yards south of the rock area in front of the house, so I mostly stayed there. Right around the time the sun would come up each morning, I'd get about 1hr of action with various schools of fish crashing bait right up on the beach. I landed three species of fish on both fly and gear, but given my wet hands and all the chaos, only photographed one. Best catches were the green jacks and the bacoreta (aka Kawakawa - which a lot of people think are skipjacks when they catch them). None were particularly huge, but big enough to be a lot of fun on light tackle. I kept a couple to turn in to lunch snacks. Neither species is prized for their meat, but I've never trusted too many peoples opinion on that matter... both of them were absolutely fantastic on some tostadas!
(one of the bacoreta orientals that were plentiful)
Some green jack tostadas:
Before I do my final misc. photo dump, I'll give a few more thoughts: Los Barriles is fantastic. It's not particularly touristy, but is very geared towards the American/westerner market, so to speak. It seems to be lests tourists and more people who have property and live there part/full time. Much quieter and less hectic than the southern tip of the cape to say the least, while still having plenty to do and enjoy.
If fishing was my priority, November would not be my choice of time to go. Their peak fishing seasons correspond with ours in Oregon, so if you're okay dipping out on peak salmon/tuna season, you'll get the best, least windy fishing in that area. The beach in front of the house had plenty to catch and keep me busy, but I think if you went mid/late summer, you could potentially find something even more interesting lurking about. I'd love to get a calm day to snorkel it and really take a look. We did take a walk further up the beach to the north quite a ways (about a mile), but it was afternoon and I didn't take my gear. Just a walk with the crew. Some interesting looking spots, but didn't see any activity (could be time of day as the spot I saw/caught my fish in the morning was also quiet at this time).
The house is stunning to say the least: A perfect, modest size for a small group, like two couples, to enjoy for a week. Fully featured kitchen, nice showers, comfy beds, the works. It is quite remote, though. About 25min from Los Barriles proper, and with a lot of primative, dirt and rock roads as well as windy mountain roads inbetween. So if you go, be sure to get a vehicle that can handle that. We had a van, and we definitely abused that thing on the roads this week. I think ideally, we'd also rent an ATV like the Polaris Razors or whatever they're called, for the local commutes and keep the car/van/suv for when we go further like to Cabo Pulmo. The folks who obviously spend more time there have definitely figured this part out. If you drive at night, just be very, very cautious as the free-roaming livestock is definitely a factor.
beach areas on our walk north of the property:
The roads:
Casa Aqui y Ahora (center of the photo) and the devlopment around it as seen from the panga while fishing Thursday
While others were double fisting their margaritas, I drank my weight in Topo Chico
Lots of whales at Cabo Pulmo while we were there
I did NOT try the Surf and turd nachos
Note: Hopefully in another day or two, I'll have a GoPro video from our scuba adventure at Cabo Pulmo. Waiting for it to be sent over to me. Tons of fish footage
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