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Back to Bahia San Luis Gonzaga Page
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Rancho Grande at Gonzaga Bay is how the gringos pronounce the name of the resort, but the name is somewhat more eloquent in Spanish, as are most names in the Spanish language. Whatever you want to call the place, if you want to get away from the hustle and bustle of society, or you want to shun your back on the world in general, Rancho Grande is the right place to visit, as it's a family-friendly resort in the middle of nowhere, situated in some of the most hard-core desert that you'll ever see in North America, yet it's strikingly beautiful, quite compelling and a place where most visitor return to, again and again.
Photo: 0730 in the morning, on Wednesday, October 1, 2008, and I'm pulling into Rancho Grande on the notorious East Side Baja Road. Note the beautiful shadows on the desert mountains, in the background. Rancho Grande, Villas Mar de Cortez, Bahia San Luis Gonzaga (whew!) is located on the east side of the Baja California peninsula, on the beautiful Sea of Cortez, in the south-central portion of the Mexican state of Baja California. Rancho Grande doesn't attract tourists visiting on a whim, as to get to the resort, it requires a drive of a little over 34 miles on a washboarded, dusty, bone-jarring gravel road, which has the reputation of being one of the worst roads on the Baja California peninsula. It takes nearly three hours to drive the 34 miles, unless you are interested in beating your vehicle to death. The trip can be made in a passenger car,, but I wouldn't recommend it, and four wheel drive would be an asset, as the road can be washed out at any time, especially in the aftermath of an infrequent rain storm. Motorhomes, and large trailers are not recommended!
Photo: At Rancho Grande, a side road takes off to Alfonsina's Resort. The gas station is in the background of the photo. The road to Rancho Grande starts at a dusty little poblado known as Chalapa, along Highway 1, that features a sometimes-open restaurant, a tire shop, and little else. From Chalapa, you take the well-marked dirt/gravel road that leads through the Valle de Los Ciros, passing through Coco's Corner, and after you think you can't stand much more of the words-can't-describe rough road, the beautiful Sea of Cortez appears, and just a few minutes later, you spot the Pemex gas station, and Rancho Grande, becoming to you like an oasis, for the weary desert traveler. Rancho Grande is located at the crossroads of what vaguely could be described as the poblado of Gonzaga Bay, but it's not actually a town, as it's a collection of resorts, such as Rancho Grande, Alfonsina's, Papa Fernandez, El Faro, and the Villas de Cortez. The resort is located on a sandy plain, about 1-1/2 miles from the Sea of Cortez, right on the main north-south road on the east shore of the peninsula. But don't worry, the east shore road isn't a highway, and it receives little traffic, as it's about a bad of a road as you can imagine. If you care to visit the beach, drive the 1-1/2 miles to the east, and you'll find yourself at Alfonsina's Resort, which offers palapas for rent, a hotel, a restaurant, and even a primitive landing strip. I didn't get a chance to visit. Alfonsina's.
Photo: My truck is parked in front of the mini market, as I wait for it to open. Rancho Grande offers services as a surprisingly well-stocked mini mart, palapas for rent, potable water (for sale, of course,) gas, propane, ice, basic automotive services, beer (very important,) liquor, showers, and telephone service to the outside world. Camping is in the dirt, next to a palapa, outlined by white rocks; primitive at best. The telephone service is a satellite phone, as Bahia Gonzaga is very remote, and the nearest power lines, or telephone lines are located at Chalapa, a bone-jarring, dusty 34 miles away along Highway 1. October 1, 2008 at about 0730 in the morning, I pulled into Rancho Grande, with the idea to purchase beer, ice and gasoline. I parked the truck in front of the mini mart and had a chance to look around the place, as the mini mart wasn't yet open. The min-mart is the epicenter and social center of Rancho Grande, as it features a shady patio, offers tables and chairs for weary travelers and patrons to relax. Evidence of evening events are quite plentiful, as there's an outdoor grill that looks quite well-used, lanterns, and a stereo system, complete with a karaoke machine. Also of note are a couple of aquariums that are the home to a few small rattlesnakes. There must have been a fandango at the mini market the night before, as there were numerous beer bottles and empty tequila bottles scattered around the patio... why did I camp out in the boondocks last night?
Photo: The side of the mini mart shows some of the services that Rancho Grande has to offer. The showers are to the right of the photo. The mini mart opened promptly at eight in the morning. An attractive woman was working in the store, along with a couple of children, who I presume were her's. The mini mart is well stocked, and besides the usual stock of canned food, they have an assortment of fresh meat, fish, bread, tortillas, pre-made tortas, and much more... you don't need to pack food for your whole trip when you visit Bahia Gonzaga. They also carry a pretty decent assortment of automotive supplies, camping supplies, and common hardware items. Of course there is a great selection of beer, soft drinks, and tequila, and a couple of big freezers stocked with bags of ice. Considering the remote location, the prices are very reasonable, as I noted that they were only about 10% higher than the prices that I encountered in Guerro Negro, and A LOT LESS than prices found in Bahia de Los Angeles. The store is air conditioned, which felt great, since the outside temperature was approaching 90 degrees, even at this early hour. Of note is the fact that the mini-mart sports the ONLY telephone between Chapala, on Highway 1, and Puertecitos, several hours to the north, along the dusty dirt road. The mini-mart also has a marine radio, that the other resorts in the area use if they need to call the outside world. Say for example you're staying at Papa Fernández, and somebody wants to get in touch with you... They call the mini-mart on the satellite phone, and the mini-mart gets in touch with Papa Fernández, and Papa's staff locates you, and gives you the message. Sweet!
Photo: Rancho Grande offers basic automotive services, including a tire guy and a mechanic. You can purchase gas if the Pemex station runs out. I was running low on beer and ice, so I made my purchase and headed to the counter. The lady at the counter was quite friendly, and spoke a little English, but she appreciated the fact that I used Spanish. I quizzed her a little about the resort, and found out that the place is family owned and operated, (no surprise) and that they cater to gringos (second no surprise) and that they're open year around. I wanted to chat a bit more, but a gringo family came in and sort of took over the place, but they impressed me, as the wife spoke surprisingly good Spanish, so she and I exchanged pleasantries in Spanish before I left, to go over to the Pemex gas station, to top off my gas tank.
Photo: The mini mart, with the auto shop to the left of the photo, at Rancho Grande, with scenic, desert mountains in the background. I wasn't low on gas, as I had well over a half of a tank, which was more than enough to get me to San Felipe, over a hundred, bone-jarring miles to the north, but in this remote country, its prudent to top off your gas tank when gas is available, to be prepared for any contingency. So I pulled into the gas station, as they had just opened for the day, and asked the attendant to llénelo por favor completamente, so I'd have plenty of gas to get to San Felipe, and maybe even Mexicali. As he was filling my tank, I asked him what the price was, and he told me it was MEX $8.50 a liter. That sounded sky-high, as I had just paid less than MEX $7.00 a liter yesterday in Guerro Negro, but I had to remind myself that I wasn't in Kansas anymore. Later I whipped out my calculator, and did the liters to gallon conversion thing, the peso vs. dollar exchange, and calculated that I paid U.S. $4.16 per gallon for the pleasure of topping off my tank. Rancho Grande is truly an oasis in the desert, a nice place to visit, and a place where you can relax, get away from it all, and enjoy life. Ranch
Grande Resort Copyright(c) 2009 eRench Productions, Inc. All rights reserved. This site has been on the web since January 19, 2005. Web page design has been created by eRench Productions, Inc., custom photography for any occasion...
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