Campo Los Petates

Leo, caretaker, was working hard to bring this park back to pre flood stage. We had a spot right on the river and it was beautiful! Flush toilets and a warm shower, what else do you need? You need to let Leo know at least 30 minutes before showering so he can turn the hot water heater on. This was an un expected treat that was not on a beach 💕

Don’t let the curb appeal turn you off. Drive in & if there’s space along the water you’re in for a treat. Easy access for kayaks, clean water for our dog to swim in, palapa and chairs at our site. We picked our site and paid Manuel in the morning.

There is no dump station & the e never used the toilets, but we loved our parking spot. Felt safe and it was nice to have our morning coffee lakeside.

We also had 4 bars of 4G, which was nice after being outta range the last few days.

Would stay again.

We camped here for one night after the hotel across the street ‘lost’ our reservation. Turns out we got lucky!

Got checked in by a sweet old man, chose our spot and paid only $250 pesos.

All the campsites are right on the water and our dogs absolutely loved it. Plenty of other campers also had dogs and everyone had fun.

All sites had palapas for shade, a table and a few chairs.

Bathrooms were decent with TP and I did notice they had showers with a hot water heater on that building, but can’t confirm it’s function.

No hookups here that I’m aware of, although there were plenty of van lifers. This would be a tough spot to stay in if you rely on solar, so much shade.

I was worried it would be buggy since we were right on the water, but November seems to be a bug-free time of year.

Saw bats skimming the river at night and woke up to the sound of two owls conversing.

A wonderful stay!

We were the only people there for our whole stay. Dogs swam and played all day. They stayed cool in the water or the abundant shade. The Palapas were nice we had our table under it. Hung a hammock up. Got some exercise in while we were here under the big awning. We loved it. I will definatly be back. Plenty of Birds and fish and the frogs croaked all night. I enjoyed it so did our dog. Owner and caretaker were friendly. They had a 110 volt hookup at some of the pull ins. We are pretty easy going but the bathrooms might bother some people. They are clean just no pressure and not warm. Didn't bother us at all though. You can tell they are trying to make improvements. This place was so relaxing I couldn't believe we were the only ones there that day. If u don't enjoy this place in the middle of the Baja something is wrong with you.

There are three RV parks very near to town, the one closest to town was a really rundown lot, the second on the other side of the lagoon kind of similar to this one but plainer and this one on the lagoon with date palms and lots of cute little American coots running around.

The entry to the park is a bit tight and some areas are tricky to drive through because of the trees. The park has a couple of palapas that were taken but we found a cozy site on a corner furthest from the road right in front of the lagoon. It was very peaceful and quiet. A really pretty little spot but a bit of a tight fit.

The park has toilets and hot showers but we didn't use them. There is no WiFi offered.

San Ignacio is a lovely colonial town. It's only about a 5 minute drive from the park to the center of town and an easy cycling distance but there is not a good sidewalk for walking to town. There is an ice cream cafe at the plaza, Neverias Danya, that offers internet for cheap. The plaza also has a couple of restaurants, and the office of one of the whale-watching tour companies.

American coots were abundant.

They splashed in the river, walking back onto land and immediately through our site. They stole our food if we weren't fast enough to eat it ourselves, and make loud noises well into the evening. I was astonished at their utter lack of respect for their fellow campers. It turns out they were locals, which made things even worse. What were these coots doing living all the way down here in Baja?

Turns out an American coot is a type of bird, sort of a duck-looking thing.

Otherwise, this place was like a spacebar, clearly the best San Ignacio had to offer.

Several vanagon enthusiasts were gathered here, a few truck campers, some very small trailers. You may be able to squeeze something larger between the palms, but given the popularity, I would arrive early and expect that you might be pinned in for a minute or so in the morning until everyone else headed elsewhere.

I loved this place. Palms, palms, and more palms that you can park under and be on waters-edge at the same time. The visuals are amazing, and the sounds further back it up (birds, frogs, etc). You can rent the canoe, or kayaks, from the owners who were super friendly. Come at the right time and dates are all over.

While here be sure to make the short drive into San Ignacio. The town square is a very cool spot for a brunch and sightseeing.