{"id":11549,"date":"2022-02-16T05:05:25","date_gmt":"2022-02-16T13:05:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/?p=11549"},"modified":"2022-02-16T05:05:25","modified_gmt":"2022-02-16T13:05:25","slug":"a-favorite-hotel-mision-catavina","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/index.php\/2022\/02\/16\/a-favorite-hotel-mision-catavina\/","title":{"rendered":"A Favorite: Hotel Mision Catavi\u00f1a"},"content":{"rendered":"

Located 297 miles south of the US border, Catavi\u00f1a makes for a good spot to stop after your first day’s push into Baja.\u00a0 \u00a0You might also try to make it all the way to Guerrero Negro, but that’s another 140 miles.\u00a0 \u00a0When traveling in Baja through the mountains and all the small towns from Ensenada to El Rosario, you can’t grind out big miles like you can on a US freeway.\u00a0 And, trust me on this, you don’t want to travel at night in Baja.\u00a0 \u00a0A 300-mile day in Baja when you’re starting at the US border is a good day, and that puts you smack dab in Catavi\u00f1a.<\/p>\n

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Catavi\u00f1a’s location on the Baja peninsula.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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It’s a full day’s drive from TJ to Catavi\u00f1a.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What’s cool about Catavi\u00f1a is that it is in one of Baja’s boulder fields, as depicted in the big picture at the top of this blog.\u00a0 Those are just flat wild…the stark landscape, the giant boulders, the Cardon and Cirio cacti…it’s all impressive.\u00a0 The boulders were formed by wind erosion, which is kind of amazing.\u00a0 I didn’t believe that at first, but I checked with one of my Cal Poly colleagues in the Geology Department (I’m a retired university professor) and he confirmed it for me.\u00a0 Wow.<\/p>\n

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That’s a Cirio plant in front (the long thin one), and a giant Cardon cactus behind it, all in the boulder fields of Catavi\u00f1a.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There’s only one decent hotel in Catavi\u00f1a and it’s the Hotel Mision Catavi\u00f1a.\u00a0 It’s gone through a number of name changes in the 30+ years I’ve been traveling in Baja (the La Pinta, the Desert Inn, and maybe one or two others), but the hotel has stayed the same and that’s a good thing.\u00a0 \u00a0The Hotel Mision Catavi\u00f1a has a good restaurant and bar.\u00a0 It also has a nice swimming pool, and that pool has been just what the doctor ordered for me and my friends on more than a few occasions riding Mexico Highway 1 through Baja.<\/p>\n

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Parked in front of the Hotel Mision Catavi\u00f1a. I’ve toured Baja on all kinds of bikes. The blue Triumph Tiger was my ride on this trip.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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My friends and I once rode all the way to Cabo and back on 150cc CSC Motorcycles<\/a> Mustang replicas.\u00a0 You can read about that adventure here<\/a>.\u00a0 We spent the night in Catavi\u00f1a.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At around $80 a night it’s a bit pricier than most other Baja hotels, but it’s still inexpensive by US standards.\u00a0 There’s really nothing else in the Catavi\u00f1a area for either hotels or restaurants other than a concrete-floored hotel on the other side of the highway.\u00a0 We had to stay in that other hotel once when the Hotel Mision Catavi\u00f1a was full.\u00a0 That was more than 20 years ago and my wife still mentions it when she gets mad at me.\u00a0 Take my advice on this:\u00a0 The Hotel Mision Catavi\u00f1a is where you want to stay.<\/p>\n

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One the Hotel Mision Catavi\u00f1a’s coutyards. It’s a classy place.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I enjoy eating in the Hotel Mision Catavi\u00f1a’s restaurant even if I’m just passing through.\u00a0 If you let the staff know you’re in a hurry, they’ll get you in and out.\u00a0 If you don’t, things kind of run on a Catavi\u00f1a pace.\u00a0 That’s cool if you’re staying for the night; it’s not if you’re trying to make Guerrero Negro.\u00a0 I’ve done that, but it is a very long day.\u00a0 The restaurant and bar have kind of an arched brick roof in the dining room.\u00a0 It’s fun. As you might imagine, they are well stocked with Tequila and Tecate.<\/p>\n

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Joe Gresh enjoying chicken tacos during a brief stop at the Hotel Mision Catavi\u00f1a restaurant.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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They look good, don’t they?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If you’re traveling with a bunch of guys and you don’t mind sleeping 8 or 9 to a room, the Hotel Mision Catavi\u00f1a built a separate just to the north of the main hotel and it has a dormitory style room.\u00a0 I don’t know what it costs, but it’s got to be (on a per head basis) cheaper than one of the double rooms.\u00a0 The rooms are nice.\u00a0 The place is clean, it’s air conditioned, and its comfortable.\u00a0 The only issue with the new building is that the hotel runs a diesel generator all night, and if you stay in the new building, it might keep you up.<\/p>\n

Fuel is less of a concern today than it used to be.\u00a0 We used to buy bottled gasoline from enterprising guys by the side of the road, but there’s a convenience store just across Highway 1 from the hotel now with gas pumps, so I think getting gasolina<\/em> today is less of an issue.<\/p>\n

If you would like to know more about the Hotel Mision Catavi\u00f1a, you can do so here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Headed into Baja?\u00a0 Make sure you insure with the best, and that’s BajaBound<\/a>!<\/p>\n

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Check out our reviews of other Baja hotels and restaurants, destinations, and more on our Baja<\/a> page!<\/p>\n

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