Travel Diary: Mexico Pacific Coastline (January & February 2025)

In South Africa, the period either side of New Years day is not really a considered a good time to be on the roads and while we couldn’t be sure the same applies in Mexico, we preferred to err on the side of caution and so after our peaceful New Years eve spent in a gas station/truck stop we hit the road for a short 2 hour hop up the coast to a formal campsite.  The drive was super easy and all on a very well-maintained dual carriage way which was a pleasant surprise especially seeing as there were no toll fees involved. Sadly, the campsite turned out to be a little rough around the edges and the beach environment also, with lots of cars and buggies streaming up and down it, partying and enjoying the start of the New Year. So, while we had hoped to stay a few days, we decided that evening to move, especially seeing as further up the coast was the promise of some nice surf and beaches.

If you look at a map of Mexico we were at the “narrow neck” between the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, roughly only 200km separates the two oceans and in fact over the years a number of proposals have been touted to create an alternative logistics option to the Panama Canal by linking each side with large ports and railway.  Aside from an interesting bit of trivia, what this means is that at certain times of the year, the winds in this area can be quite strong and strong winds are generally not conducive to beach time or surfing.  We confirmed the wind issue when we moved on the following day and stopped at what would be an idyllic spot if it didn’t feel like Mr Jones was either going to be blown over or have his tent fabric ripped apart.  Under normal circumstances we would park Mr Jones facing into the wind so that when the roof is lifted it acts like a deflector but because the spot we stopped at had no electricity we needed to park in the direction that gave us maximum solar and that meant having our back to the wind which then presents a 4m high obstacle for the wind.  A restful night we did not have and naturally were on the move again the following morning.  

Third time is the charm, it seems, as after a 3-hour drive and for our 3rd night in Mexico since entering from Guatemala we found a nice spot in the little village of San Agustin.  It was super busy with many small tents crammed into and under a very large Palapa but the Dutch owners moved their vehicle out from its normal parking spot to make space for us.  As a bonus this was under a very high thatch roof giving us shade and keeping Mr Jones cool which was much appreciated, as Tania had picked up the cold/sore throat Stuart had had a few days prior and was looking like she may appreciate a few days in bed.

Over the next four days, we chilled, swam in the beautiful bay out front, did odd jobs on Mr J and recuperated.  Apart from recuperation, our 4 days in San Agustin allowed the New Year holiday period to finish which meant when we got back on the road we had relatively quiet roads for the 90-minute hop to Mazunte. Mazunte is very touristy little village which overall looked quite nice and reminded us a lot of Pipa in Brazil and after a bit of searching we did find a camping option but it didn’t have the nicest feel (interestingly similar to the place we stayed in at Pipa) and the surfing beach looked very mediocre and quite a substantial walk from the campsite. The campsite owner wasn’t around when we arrived and then took ages to respond to our WhatsApp messages, so not “feeling it”,  we decided to head further up the coast to a campsite called Casa Colibri which had plenty of positive reviews on iOverlander.

Stuart had been noticing a slight vibration in the brake pedal when slowing for Topes (speed bumps) over the last couple of driving days, it didn’t consistently happen but was enough to have him think that perhaps some grit had got stuck between the pads and discs when camped on the beach and in the wind, so while at Casa Colibri he removed the  wheels to inspect. Only to discover on the passenger front wheel a completely disintegrated brake pad!  Normally brake pads wear down at a steady rate but in this case the only thing left was the steel backing plate! 

What was very strange with this incident is you would expect for a terrible squealing noise to have been made when metal on metal contact was made by using the brakes or sharp veer to the one side as the metal “grabbed” the disc but the only warning sign we had had was a minor vibration in the brake pedal.  In the spares box was an old set of brake pads which we had previously removed before they had reached their end of life so replacing pads wasn’t such an issue but unfortunately because of the metal on metal contact the brake disc had been gouged quite badly and Stuart was concerned that, that roughness would rapidly destroy any replacement pads as well.

This dilemma and the solutions we tried to find and solve it, sent us down a rabbit hole that we hope never to go down again.  Our detailed frustrations can be read about in the Captains Log entries for 10 through 31 January 2025.  

In summary;

• We tried to find a place that could skim the damaged disc (and failed)
• ordered replacement brakes and a whole new hub/disc assembly from the UK and after 2,5 very frustrating weeks weren’t able to get them through Mexican customs
• Informed Mexican customs that we reject the delivery and requested that they return the goods to the UK, 
• received new brake pads from fellow South Africans (we have been virtua friends for years but yet to physically meet) who live in Mexico.  They kindly couriered them to us and refused payment for them, we definitely owe them a few bottles of wine when (and if) we ever meet physically.

So, after an extremely frustrating 3 weeks we got back on the road with the intention of being “light” on the brakes for the approximate 3000km it would take us to get to the USA where we knew it would be easier to import the parts.  Anybody who has ever driven in rural Mexico will know that being “light” on the brakes is an extremely difficult task considering all the unmarked topes (speed bumps) that dot the roads and can easily catch you unawares.

After only 2 days on the road we encountered our next mechanical challenge, the house battery “load shed” us while we were showering in the dark which confirmed what we had been fearing for a little while – the battery was kaput!  Its demise had most likely been hastened by our “Mexican/boer maak a plan” repairs to the fridge a few months prior.  

Fortunately, we were just south of Acapulco which apart from being famous for its fearless cliff divers is also a large city and meant we should hopefully be able to source a new Deep or High Cycle battery.  Unfortunately for us our arrival in town coincided with a public holiday and then when everything reopened nobody had stock of the type of battery we required meaning one would have to be ordered from the factory on the other side of Mexico.

With 4 days to kill we put the time to good use trying to hunt down a place to refill our cooking gas bottle and exploring the roads hugging the seaside cliffs that parts of Acapulco cling to and from which the famous divers jump.

As if we had not had enough challenges to deal with over the last weeks, when the battery arrived, it had different size terminals to our current one which meant Stuart had to spend sometime outside the battery shop enlarging the holes on some of Mr J wiring lugs and redoing some of the wiring.  At this point we didn’t even get frustrated but in hindsight it is amazing both of us kept it together and stayed calm.

Tania got to “enjoy” her birthday with a 4 hour drive as we left Acapulco and headed north but it was well worth it as we stopped at a very very nice RV park called Casa Rayo de Sol (House of Sun Rays).   It was largely occupied by Quebecan’s who come down to Mexico with their large RV’s to escape the long and cold Canadian winters and had a stunning deck and facilities overlooking a big beach which even appeared to have some surfing potential.  Stuart did get his boards out and try but wasn’t really successful so instead over the course of the next week we enjoyed a number of nice walks on the beach, chilling and reading in the shaded deck area and even had a meal out at local restaurant to celebrate another year around the sun for Tania.

At the end of each driving day Stuart would remove the front wheel and inspect the brake pads which so far hadn’t shown any signs of significant wear.  We had done over 700km since discovering the issue and were starting to feel confident that we wouldn’t have any major problems.  We might even be able to start braking harder for topes instead of coasting up to them. 

Only an hour north of Casa Rayo de Sol was a fairly well-known surf spot called Punta Saladita, it is very much a soft longboard wave but in many ways was perfect for getting back on the board after a relatively long absence.   The campsite was also the total opposite to what we had just been in with very basic facilities and a totally different crowd as it was filled with foreign backpackers looking to live the surfer bum lifestyle, but in many ways as equally nice and we really enjoyed our stay there.  If it hadn’t been for the fact they were going to hold a trance party, we may have stayed a few more than the four we did spend there. 

All was not lost though (from a surfing perspective) as the next section of the coastline had a number of possible destinations for us to visit and next up was Rio Nexpa, a supposedly world-class lefthand river mouth break.  If we had thought the campsite at Punta Saladita was a bit scruffy then Rio Nexpa took it to a whole new level: very beaten up RVs, vans and tents whose North American occupants looked they had taken up long term squatting rights.  Add to that, was the “bathrooms” which consisted of two toilets sharing the same cubicle without a door meant we very quickly decided it was to be a one nighter stop only.  In the morning Stuart grabbed a quick surf before we hit the road for a very scenic drive along the sea cliffs that line much of this coast to another renowned spot call La Ticla.

La Ticla is truly a one-horse town and the surfers probably outnumber the local population but in contrast to Rio Nexpa, it had (for us) a far nicer vibe.  Once again it was full of mostly North Americans who come down to escape their winter and many will spend a whole 6 months camped under a palapa, surfing and eating tacos.   The main road that leads down the hill through town pretty much leads you straight into one of the two camping options and that is where we stopped.   The camping spot was called Camping Rio (River camping) as it borders on the estuary that passes by.  For a little while, after driving in we stood around like proverbial lost f@$rts as there didn’t appear to be anybody to help, until some surfers emerged from their hammocks (it was afternoon and they had been surfing all morning), they found us a spot to park and told us the owner would be around most likely that evening – we spent 8 nights there and when we left, we had yet to meet the owner and so left camping fees with one of the long term surfer residents to pass along when the owner did come around eventually.  Such was the relaxed nature of the campsite and town.   

The surfing was pretty good, even if a bit daunting as it breaks over a large pebble/rock bed which made getting in and out of the water quite a challenge as the waves would roll up the beach and set all the stones off like marbles so it was inevitable that every now and then you would get an ankle or foot bruising if you didn’t get your timing right.

Our 8 days at La Ticla passed by pretty quickly with a simple rhythm of; Stuart surfing early, then chilling in our hammocks and chatting with fellow campers before making the short 100m walk to the beach in the afternoon to watch surfers and enjoy sundown drinks.  Supper would be had at home or at one of the family run sidewalk style eateries that were dotted around town and provided a variety of cheap but tasty Mexican food to the surfers.  The food was so good and such good value that most of the campers didn’t ever cook for themselves.

We still had a long way to go (2000+km) before reaching the USA but from what we could determine, apart from a few soulless tourist towns (filled with condominiums) there wasn’t much to stop for, especially seeing as much of the route passed through some parts of the country that don’t have the best reputation for safety and so our last 5 days in Mexico were largely long driving days as we headed north.

Despite it being a very trying period in terms of challenges with MR Jones, overall we enjoyed our time in Mexico but were equally looking forward to exploring the USA, especially seeing as for the first time in 3 years of travelling we would be in an English speaking country.

For more insights into the months travels please follow the links below: