Catamarans on the Sea of Cortez at San Felipe

With great weather year round, every day is a vacation in beautiful San Felipe, located just 125 miles south of the international border on the eastern shore of Baja California.

Sunrise over the Sea of Cortez near San Felipe

San Felipe Travel Distance Chart
Orange County .......... 317 miles
Los Angeles .............. 350 miles
San Diego ................ 230 miles
Palm Springs ............. 244 miles
Phoenix .................. 373 miles
Tijuana ................... 230 miles
Ensenada ................. 151 miles
Calexico/Mexicali ...... 120 miles


Lighthouse on the beach at San Felipe, Baja California
Map showing Baja California and Southern California

The Water Supply

The city water supply comes from wells about 30 miles south of town and also springs in the mountains. While it is considered safe to drink, it has a high mineral content. According to environmentalists, San Felipe has at least a 150 year water supply. The city sewage system is unusual for a coastal town in that it does not discharge into the sea; it is piped to a plant in the desert for treatment. The sea water is maintained as clean as possible because of the great dependence of the town on the fish and shrimp industries.

Fun in San Felipe:

and many more fun things!

Future Plans for San Felipe -
Infrastruture currently underway:

A Very Important Part of San Felipe's Future:
Escalera Nautica

The Escalera Nautica was created to build a system of "Nautical Ladders" connecting ports from San Diego all the way around the Baja Peninsula and up to San Felipe. They will offer short term docks (1 to 7 days) for tourists coming into the area, as well as full service marinas. This project calls for the improvement and modernization of existing ports, airports, and roadways, new ports, airports, and roads to be built, as well as ferry systems to allow complete access to all areas of the Baja and the Sea of Cortez. The plan is for the Sea of Cortez to be a "recreational playground" for boaters and tourists.

San Felipe will be the first entry point on the Baja into the Sea of Cortez saving boaters the 2000 mile boat trip to have access to this area.

Living the good life in San Felipe, Baja California

San Felipe is a remote desert community enjoying the benefits of a warm, dry, winter climate, and a hot, humid (Florida-like) summer. The Sea of Cortez is one of the world's most prolific salt-water habitats. The town of San Felipe is small and laidback, with a variety of restaurants and bars ideal for relaxing while taking in the endless views of the typically aqua blue waters of the Sea of Cortez.

The temperatures of both the land and the sea off of San Felipe are quite different than on the Pacific side of the Baja peninsula. The Sea of Cortez feels more like the Atlantic Ocean in Florida than anything on the West Coast. The calm, tranquil sea is warm and inviting, with an average temperature of 75 degrees F, ranging from 65 degrees F in winter to 85 degrees F in summer. Yet the terrain of San Felipe is very much a desert, with temperatures averaging from 70 degrees to 90 degrees F for most of the year.

San Felipe offers a spectacular panorama of mountain, sea, and desert-scapes, with sand dunes, tide pools, cactus and other desert flora. Wildlife also abounds, from sea lions, dolphins, sea turtles and a stunning array of birds and other sea life to jack rabbits, coyotes and other animals that typically call the desert home.

Things to Do

When not relaxing on the beach, there is fishing, golfing, off-roading, swimming, boating, kayaking, jet-skiing and hiking to be enjoyed in the natural beauty which surrounds San Felipe. Popular day trips include driving by car or dune buggy to the tiny colony of Puertocitos, where natural hot springs located within the rocky tide pools have long attracted visitors and artists, to waterfalls located at the base of the nearby mountains.

Location

Located 125 miles south of the International border between Calexico, California and Mexicali, Baja California, the primary route to San Felipe is via Mexico's Federal Highway 5. A secondary route exists via Tijuana following Highway 1 south to Ensenada, Highway 3 east to Highway 5 and south from there to San Felipe. The largest major metropolitan area with good airline and transportation connections is San Diego, about 4 hours drive by car north-west of San Felipe.

History

San Felipe was founded in 1916 as a commercial fishing port. Still operating a sizeable shrimp-fishing fleet of small boats "pangas," San Felipe's primary source of income has changed over the several years from fishing to tourism and retirement living with as many as 250,000 American, Canadian and increasingly other foreign visitors annually.

San Felipe Today

Easter and the "spring break" weeks, when college students from schools around the southwest USA flock to San Felipe, is the busiest time in town. During the summer months, May through September, the weather is ideal for a relaxed lifestyle on the beaches. Fishing is good and the pace of life slows considerably.

With a population topping 25,000 (including foreign residents), this seaside community is a delightful retirement area. Over the past two years there has been a major influx of retirees who are building homes here. Local businesses provide a variety of services catering to construction including but not limited to house design services, architectural services, construction services, lumber yards and hardware stores.

The city water supply comes from wells about 30 miles south of town and also springs in the mountains. While it is considered safe to drink, it has a high mineral content.

Facts About San Felipe