HOME Cedros and San Benitos Islands Fishing Trips
What to Expect: Travel, Accomodations, Food and More
Cedros Town where you will be staying is a remote island village. We've taken hundreds of clients to Cedros over the past five years,
many love it so much they are returning year after year. This is the real Baja, the way it was 30 years ago. No room service,
chain stores or golf courses. Cedros has only been visited by few tourists and now
the basic ammenities are in place, but the town has not been changed by tourism. You will find friendly locals in a
family-oriented community. Good food, clean and comfortable accomodations and world-class sport fishing...
but clocks don't tick off the minutes in quite the same way in Baja, so once you cross the border be prepared to
leave rigid schedules behind and let the BAJA MAGIC happen!
Please review all of the information on this page for important travel requirements and other helpful tips.
You can also print this TRAVEL CHECKLIST to take with you on the day of the trip.
In San Ysidro we meet at the Starbucks at Plaza de Las Americas (4201 Camino de la Plaza, #102) in San Ysidro, CA.
The current pick up time is at 9:00 AM, but this can vary based on your flight departure time. If there are any adjustments to this we will notify you.
If you are driving, we recommend a parking lot with 24 hour security nearby at $7.00 per day.
After you meet at the Starbucks and load your luggage into the van or bus, the driver will follow you over to the parking lot while you park.
Here is a MAP showing how to get to the parking lot and Starbucks and a general itinerary for your trip.
You will travel across the border in a comfortable van or micro bus (depending on group size) provided by The Hotel Coral and Marina.
(These vehicles are insured and registered with the USDOT, and the driver is a professional who brings groups back and forth nearly every day).
You will stop at Customs so that you can purchase your tourist visa (about 20 U.S. dollars) in 10 minutes. You'll need your valid PASSPORT
Please be advised that businesses on Cedros do not take credit cards and there are no ATMs on the island.
Dollars are accepted at a fair rate on the island. You can also request the driver to stop to buy pesos in Ensenada.
From the border we will take the safe and scenic toll road to Ensenada, enjoying views of the Pacific.
The drive takes less than 2 hours.
From Ensenada airport, we board a Cessna Grand Caravan to Cedros. Departure this season has been around 1-2 PM and arrival at 3-4 PM.
These times are approximate. Our goal is to get you in the water fishing for several hours the first day. If the plane runs late and we and can't go out the first day, we do our best to compensate your fishing time by giving extra on the regular days, and/or the morning of last day of the trip if possible.
This is a commercially licensed aircraft flown and owned by professional pilots, and serviced in the U.S. It has a 13 passenger and 1000 lbs cargo capacity.
The first 50 lbs of luggage (with fish) is free. Above that is $1 per 1 lb.
The rod length is limited to 8'. They will have to be removed from any cases for transport on the plane.
Accomodations, Meals & Relaxing on Cedros Island
Best Accomodations on the Island! You will stay at the Zam-Mar in Cedros Town. The rooms are newly renovated, comfortable and clean. This is a family owned hotel with wireless internet (Skype with your headset) and Sattelite TV. There is also a patio for relaxing and barbeques. They will prepare your fish for you right there in their restaurant. The food is delicious, prepared local style, and featuring lots of fresh sea food. There are several stores on the island where you can buy beer and alcohol, snacks, toiletries, or pharmacy items.
Our boat drivers are highly experienced, local fisherman from Cedros. We put 3 persons max per 24’ – 28’ open panga. If you prefer to fish 1 or 2 persons per 22'-24' panga, we can arrange that for a surcharge of $75 (2 people) and $150 per day (1 people) per boat.
There is a small tackle store at Cedros Island with a few selected and locally tested jigs, rapalas, leads, hooks, lines, etc. Cedros island has a population of about 4000, with most services available such as internet, cell phone coverage, markets, pharmacy, police and govt. services.
Cedros and San Benitos Fishing and Ecotour boat outings are from 6 a.m. to 6/7 p.m.
However you can choose to go out for shorter periods, depending on the preferences of others in your panga.
We take lunch on the boats since sometimes the fishing grounds are not close to town.
Fisherman can bring back fish from Cedros
If you want to bring fish back we will filet and freeze your catch in ziplock bags for transport to San Diego. However further preparation before cooking and/or long-term storage may be necessary once you get home. You do not need to bring your cooler to the island (leave it in your car). If you want to bring your cooler it must be no taller than 14".
Weight Limits
After the first 50 lbs of luggage and fish, each lb. will cost an additional $1.00 (these planes have 1000 lb. external cargo pod for extra capacity).
Please read our recommended gear list to help you decide what to bring (and NOT to bring) to keep your luggage weight down, for example, you will not need to bring lead weights for spearfishing because we will provide those.
TRAVEL DOCUMENTS
A Tourist Permit is required to travel in Mexico. We will take you to purchase this during the border crossing. The cost is approximately $20.00 (U.S.). You must bring your valid passport. You will also be required to sign our APPLICATION and Assumption of Risk when you make your reservation.
SAFETY
Your safety is our priority. If you are concerned about traveling in Baja, please visit our Safety Information page. It is important to remember that these trips take place in a wilderness environment. Engaging in activities such as viewing animals from skiffs, hiking, exploring, fishing and swimming in a natural environment contain certain inherent risks.
More about traveling in Baja, GO TO: Baja Expo and Baja Insider, the most complete sources of information for Baja on the Internet!
Our company's policy, as well as Mexico's policy on illegal drugs is "zero tolerance" Do not attempt to bring, request, sell or buy any illegal drugs. We have a good reputation, and want to promote the island as a family friendly environment. The community at Cedros have strong ties and family values and we don't want to be segregated for this reason.
WEATHER
This region of the peninsula is not much different from southern California, and it will never get to the extreme heat of the Gulf of California. Expect no more than 90 degrees in Summer, and no less than 45 degrees in winter. In other words, this place has the perfect weather. We will be fishing most of the time on the protected side of the island, with mild winds and regular sunny days. Rain is rare, except in winter. A windbreaker is very useful. Most days, a t-shirt and shorts are all you need for strolling on the beach, but the Pacific wind can be chilly at times. The sun, on the other hand, is usually quite strong, even in winter. Sunburn should be guarded against. Our activities are dictated to some degree by the weather, but we never had to cancel any outing. For weather conditions updated every 15 minutes from the Cedros station (in Spanish) click here. We recommend to bring shorts for Summer, lots of sunscreen, chapstick, hat, sandals or wetshoes.
To keep our prices low, we need a certain number of people for each open charter. If we can’t meet that minimum we will book you into the next trip or refund your deposit, at your request. All client requested cancellations must be made in writing. Final trip payments are refundable if the request is received prior to 15 days of scheduled travel. Deposits are non-refundable within 60 days of scheduled travel.