Los Barriles B.C.S.

Los Barriles

2019-04-17T00:02:00.000-07:00

Los Barriles is located halfway between La Paz and Cabo San Lucas in Baja California. GPS coordinates are: 23 degrees 67 minutes N, 109 degrees 69 minutes W. This area along the Sea of Cortez has long been a favored hideaway for anglers and adventurers. Windsurfers also claim it is the best area for windsurfing in all of Mexico! The region around Los Barriles, also known as the East Cape, consists of a string of small settlements and villages, beautiful white sand beaches, rich fishing grounds and top-notch diving. Non-beach activities include hiking, biking, golf and horseback riding. There is a rustic “out-back” feeling to Los Barriles, and for the very adventurous, a dirt road takes you along the coast, past postcard-perfect beaches to La Ribera, Punta Colorado and Cabo Pulmo – the latter being a superb dive site within a national reserve. For dining, you will find everything from taco stands and family-style restaurants to fine dining with grilled seafood and lobster. There is jet service from many major US airports to San Jose del Cabo (SJD), about 45 minutes from Los Barriles.

On the eastern side of the peninsula, the land is rapidly being bought up and converted into residential developments. The East Cape encompasses Punta Pescadero, Los Barriles, Buena Vista, La Rivera, Cabo Pulmo and Los Frailes. The largest and most accessible resort is LOS BARRILES, a major fishing and windsurfing center taking advantage of the near-constant strong breeze in the bay. The wind, best in winter, is brilliant for experienced windsurfers (less so for beginners) and makes this a regular venue for international competitions. Hotels are expensive, and you almost certainly need to have booked in advance; but you should be able to camp, either at one of the nearby trailer parks, or on the beach. Oddly, neither fishing or windsurfing is easily arranged on the spot, and there's almost nowhere you can turn up and find an inexpensive room; Hotel Palmas de Cortez is the landmark resort here, established for quite some time and able to arrange activities and outings for you.

Below the Border Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996 - Report #1220

2010-06-28T16:33:00.000-07:00

Captain Chuy on the Jen Wren is picking up where he left off with the grande yellowfin tuna. Yes, that was a full moon that shined over East Cape all week! photo Mark Rayor, Vista Sea Sports.

I gotta' say it…under the bright light of a full moon, the East Cape went bananas. Throughout the week IM messages of great catches kept flashing on my computer screen.

Not only were there huge tuna to 146 pounds, there were also a few blues and definitely a stronger striped marlin bite all week. Most of the tuna were under the breezing porpoise schools and if the right one was found, there were some serious bites to be had.

Inshore and beach remained great serving up shots at big…oh what the heck…huge roosters and jacks with more broken off more than were caught. Hot days and hot fishing had everyone standing in lines at the bar to get something cold and wet. Can't wait to see if it holds up over the 4th.

Mark Rayor Keep It Reel Fish and Chips Tuna Tournament reported: Twenty boats. I skippered the Cabo, and Chuy the Innovator.

7AM: Shot gun start and all the boats made their way to the squid hole to make bait. I stayed there longer than most of the boats to load up on bait. Off we headed to the outside of Pescadero. We had limits the day before off of the light house but there were no big fish. Earlier in the week several larger fish were landed to the north. Out about nine miles, I picked up my gyros to start looking around.

The first thing I see is the Innovator off to my starboard. We ran a few more minutes and were lucky enough to run right into a huge school of spotted porpoise. Now we are about 12 miles out. I throttled back and we started chumming chunks of calamari. The tuna came for it instantly. I grabbed the radio and called Chuy. It only took him a few minutes to arrive on the spot. We already had three 30 pounders in the boat when the anglers on Chuy's boat had a triple hook up on calamari. They gaffed the 1st fish (about 20 pounds) when one of the other guys said, "I'm getting spooled". Chuy was alarmed when he looked down at an almost empty Accurate Boss B2-30. He immediately swung the boat around and went after the fish. In a few moments they had it under control and in 25 minutes brought it to gaff.

Knowing it was probably a contender they headed to the scale. At 9:30 AM they were at the dock where the tuna officially weighed in at 143 pounds. That was enough to hold up and take first place.

Hurricane Rick was still more than a day away

2009-10-19T03:51:00.000-07:00

Hurricane Rick was still more than a day away from the resorts of Baja California on Monday but the 13-foot (4-meter) waves it kicked up already have killed one person in Los Cabos, which lies almost directly in the hurricane's forecast path. Francisco Cota, the Los Cabos civil defense director, said a 38-year-old man was standing on a rocky point fishing when he was swept away by one of the big waves Sunday. Bystanders went to help the man, but by the time they got him out of the water he was dead. "We have established patrols on the beaches to keep people from going into the sea," Cota said. Hurricane Rick's maximum sustained winds decreased early Monday to near 115 mph (185 kph), making it a Category 3 hurricane, down from its peak of 180 mph (285 kph) as a Category 5 storm last week, the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said.

Rick was moving northwest at about 9 mph (15 kph). The hurricane was expected to continue weakening, but could hit or pass just offshore from Los Cabos, at the southernmost tip of the Baja California peninsula, as a Category 1 hurricane by Wednesday, forecasters said. Rick also threatened to disrupt a major sport-fishing tournament scheduled to start Wednesday. About 800 sports fishermen were scheduled to gather for the Bisbee's Los Cabos tournament, with about 130 boats scheduled to set off into the Pacific on Wednesday — the day Rick is projected to hit. Tournament organizer Clicerio Mercado said the three-day event would not be postponed, though fishing in the first two days might be canceled because of Rick, possibly leaving it as a one-day event Friday. Rick was already whipping Socorro Island, about 300 miles (500 kilometers) southwest of Cabo San Lucas, where about 100 people from the Mexican Navy and other government agencies are based. The mainland base that commands the detachment said Navy personnel on the island reported heavy winds and waves on Monday, but no damage or injuries. Forecasters said a weakening Rick is likely to continue past the Baja peninsula and slam into Mexico's mainland somewhere near the resort city of Mazatlan on Thursday.
Rick was the second-strongest hurricane in the eastern North Pacific since 1966, when experts began keeping reliable records, Hurricane Center meteorologist Hugh Cobb said. Content source: Associated Press

Jimena hurricane videos

2009-08-31T09:31:00.000-07:00

Hurricane Jimena approaching Baja; will it prove worthy of the hype? From all the hype on TV you would think we were about to get swept of the face of the earth. Not to be flippant, but getting overly anxious about tropical weather at this time of year is pointless. However, it's an unusually large storm for the Eastern Pacific, with maximum sustained winds of about 155 mph, and it has steadily intensified over the past 24 hours. (The National Hurricane Center's 2 p.m. update listed Jimena as a Category 4 storm, but the Mexican Navy has since classified it as a Category 5 disturbance.) Rainfall amounts in the southern half of Baja California Sur and in parts of western Mexico will range from 5-10 inches, possibly much more in some areas, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Jimena, just short of Category 5 status — the top danger rating for a hurricane — could rake the harsh desert region fringed with picturesque beaches and fishing villages as a major storm by Tuesday evening, forecasters said. On Monday afternoon, workers at the Cabo San Lucas marina nailed sheets of plywood on storefront windows while fishermen secured their boats. Hotels and restaurants gathered up umbrellas, tables, chairs, and anything else that might be blown away. At least 10,000 families will be evacuated from potential flood zones, said local Civil Protection Director Francisco Cota. He said 60 shelters would be set up.

Welcome to Los Barriles

2009-07-05T04:28:00.000-07:00

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Los Barriles has the most amenities of the smaller cities on the East Cape, with Internet cafés, restaurants, gift shops, and plenty of eager realtors. Devoted windsurfers roost in here when the winter winds are high; anglers are happy year-round. Dirt roads angle off the highway to other settlements and remote hotels at intervals all the way to La Paz. You can rent water-sports equipment and organize boat trips through area hotels. If you're staying here, note that hotel airport transfers typically cost about $90 each way in an eight-person van.