My friends and I are passionate about camping, traveling and anything near the ocean, but as college students, we're often limited by tight budgets.
Despite this, we make it a point to plan quick, exciting trips that won't drain our wallets.
This last weekend, we decided to drive about four hours south of the US-Mexico border to Punta Cabras to see what adventures awaited us. We joined the Christian Surfers organization—a community group that connects Christian surfers and organizes trips—which helped us plan and prepare our meals.
However, this trip could easily be planned and executed just as affordably by anyone.
The entire camping trip cost only $160 per person, covering food, water, and gas for three nights and four days.
Keep reading to hear how you can have an affordable adventure like this too!
Preparing and Packing For Punta Cabras Camping
As any other trip where you are sleeping outside, you want to make sure that you have all your camping essentials:
Tent
Sleeping bag
Sleeping mat (optional)
Lantern
Stove to cook food
Propane
Utensils
Warm clothing
These are two specific items for camping and traveling in Mexico:
Passport
Cash (around $100 in various bills per person + $1’s for paying for toll roads)
To make this trip most cost effective, purchase all of your food for the next few days and bring it in a cooler. Some of our groups staples that can easily cooked on a propane stove or without heat at all are:
Drinking water
Beef
Chili
Pasta
Eggs
Pancake Mix
Sandwich Essentials
Beyond that, pack your activity gear for camping along the coast. Many of the free campsites you can find are just a few short steps to the ocean:
Surfboards
Wetsuits
Goggles
Fishing Gear
Travel
Depending on when you choose to leave and where your end destination is, the travel time after can vary.
In our case, we left around 6 am, got through the border with no wait and drove 4.5 hours post crossing to our end destination.
This time included stopping for tacos, looking at views and filling up on gas.
I recommend using the San Ysidro port of entry and then following the toll roads that go through Rosarito.
At each stand you are expected to pay around $2, but it is more than worth it to get a direct route to the coast and beach camping.
From there, there were a few different notable stopping points such as Las Gaviotas or Salsipuedes, both of which have surfable waves, but we continued following our directions all the way until Punta Cabras.
About 30-minutes away from your destination, you will enter onto dirt and rocky roads.
Keep this in mind while picking which car you choose to drive, but don’t let it hold you back—I’ve seen a Prius and RV’s conquer this road.
Where to Set Up
Once you make it to the dirt road exiting Puerto San Ysidiro, the nearest town with markets, you will find hundreds of free spots where you can pull off the road and camp.
The choice is really yours when picking which view you want or how secluded you wish to be.
On this trip, we drove the 30-minutes up the road to the most common camping spot in Punta Cabras (31.347178, -116.454633), where the rest of our group was setting up camp.
Here you will find a long stretch of land completely open to set up your tents as well as the main wave to surf right in front of you.
Things to Do When Camping Punta Cabras
The most common activities to choose from while in Punta Cabras or the coast of Mexico in general are fishing, surfing and offroading!
Fishing
At this location specifically, there is no shortage of coves to explore and fish to catch.
Our group alone caught enough to use for fish tacos for one of our meals and have even more left over.
So explore the nearby areas and see what you can catch for an even bigger discount on your meals.
You might even be able to find enough for all of your meals!
Surfing
The waves in Punta Cabras can vary drastically depending on the season you go or simply the weather conditions at the time of your trip. See our guide here.
Photo courtesy Olivia Roberts
Still, there can be something for everyone. As we paddled out this weekend, the main break in front of our campsite was overhead and more in tune for experienced surfers.
As we walked to the north end of the beach, this changed. The waves were smaller and a little bit more manageable, thanks to the shape of the cliff.
We were also able to drive around to various different coves and surf waves that are less established and known. Don’t be afraid to find your own peak!
Offroading
Seeing as all the roads around Punta Cabras are dirt, there are tons of offroading capabilities: for cars with four wheel drive, dirt bikes or atvs.
Photo courtesy Olivia Roberts
During our stay we saw a group of dirt bikers on a road trip easily maneuver these roads as well as portions of the beach.
Alternative Places to Stay
If you are planning an ultimate camping road trip along the Baja coast, Punta Cabras isn’t the only option for you.
Here are a few other cheap spots (with them being located in Mexico, the availability, pricing per night, and access can all change on a whim, but that’s part of the fun!):
K 58 (32.12341, -116.88601)
Salsipuedes (31.983333, -116.797821)
San Juanico (26.165388, -112.456058)
If camping and sleeping on the ground isn’t your thing Las Gaviotas is a perfect alternative to you. It is a gated community filled with houses to rent out for the weekend, or as long as your desired stay.
It is located right above the known wave, has a pool and can be relatively affordable if you split amongst a group.
Conclusion
Camping right on the coast and in scenic areas don’t have to be costly. Just by crossing the border, your options expand and your wallets thank you.
Follow my friends and my lead and take your next camping trip down to Punta Cabras or any other beach you may stumble upon!
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