The nature of Baja: finding transcendence along the Sea of Cortez - Baja California, Mexico

Sunset, April, 1999 by Matthew Jaffe

Each night we would watch the moon change its position in the sky, rising above a small island out in the bay. As our stay lengthened, the moon came up later, leaving Jupiter alone in the sky for longer and longer periods to cast its own improbably bright glow upon the Sea of Cortez, a shaft of light extending from the horizon to our beach.

In the morning we would head out from our base camp - La Unica, a wilderness resort about halfway down the east side of Baja California - in a high-bowed panga, boating to rocky reefs just offshore to fish for lunch and dinner. Without fail we would get hits: leopard grouper, yellowtail, barracuda, as well as a pretty fish, elongated with a white belly and yellow highlights, whose name was unknown even to our veteran Cortez pangero, Maleno.

By afternoon the clouds would build, climbing high above the peaks on Isla Angel de la Guarda and massing over the nearly 4,000-foot mountains just behind our bay. Thunder rolled over us, bringing with it only a brief, scattered drizzle that barely roused those of us taking our siestas in gently swaying hammocks.

For all the predictable rhythms at La Unica, there was always some variation: a morning clamming expedition, harvesting gloriously red pithaya fruit off organpipe cactus, early evening runs along a white sand beach, and a dorado fishing trip that featured just about everything, if not finally dorado.

If you could drive to La Unica, it would be a good 13 hours from San Diego. But no roads lead to this spot. It's accessible only via a two-hour flight and a 45-minute panga ride from the nearest town, Bahia de los Angeles.

The flight and boat ride are part of the vacation package put together by Baja AirVentures, which also operates the wilderness resort at La Unica.

La Unica, however, is definitely more wilderness than resort.

Strung out along the curving bay are 12 simple shacks with palm-frond roofs, as well as a giant palapa in the center that serves as dining room, library, and lounge.

At La Unica, the desert reaches all the way down to the sea in classic Cortez fashion; roosterfish hunting for mullet surge onto the shore, while coyotes leave their tracks in the soft sand along the water's edge, just inches away from stingrays.

While the beauty of the area is memorable, even mystical, La Unica can also offer the simple pleasures of a resort vacation: kayaking to isolated coves, snorkeling in clear waters with Cortez angelfish and bullseye puffers nipping at your fins, and sailing a catamaran.

But there's no donkey baseball, no swim-up bars, no all-you-can-gorge buffets. There's no need for all that when you let nature be your tour director.

RELATED ARTICLE: Sea of Cortez travel planner

There are a number of ways to see the Sea of Cortez, which is usually at its best in spring (summer has the best water temperatures, but the weather's hot). If you're hoping to see the natural side of the sea, several companies offer naturalist-led boat trips. If you don't want to move around so much and are concerned about amenities, you can base yourself in one of the coastal resort towns of La Paz and Loreto.

For information on traveling to the Sea of Cortez, contact the Mexican Government tourist information line at (800) 446-3942.

Companies offering trips on the Sea of Cortez include San Diego-based Baja Expeditions (800/843-6967), Cruise West (800/888-9378), and Lindblad Special Expeditions (800/397-3348).

La Unica Wilderness Retreat. Trips to La Unica are closer to camping than Club Med. But there's probably no easier and less expensive way to sample the Sea of Cortez. All meals are provided. Flights leave from Brown Field near San Diego; four- or six-day trips are offered. From $795; (800) 221-9283.