The Baja Bash aboard Limelight

Every great voyage south earns a legendary one home.

The Baja Bash is the passage Mexico cruisers talk about for years: nearly 800 miles up one of the wildest, emptiest coastlines in North America, and Limelight's crew gets to sail it together.

Aerial view of the sand spits and lagoon behind Bahía Santa María, green hills running down to the Pacific

The coast

Baja at its most raw and beautiful

Desert mountains drop straight into the Pacific. Gray whales are making their own run north at the same time we are. The night skies are the darkest you will ever see, and the anchorages are ones most people only ever see on a chart.

Cactus on a rocky Baja headland above a curving beach and surf — Where the desert meets the sea

Aerial view of two gray whales surfacing in green water off Cabo — Gray whales, heading north too

The Milky Way over a still anchorage, a single boat at anchor below dark hills — The darkest skies you will ever see

Bare brown mountains of Isla Cedros above a turquoise cove — The lee of Isla Cedros

Aerial view of dark desert cliffs and a white beach above turquoise water, a boat wake offshore — Headlands with nobody on them

Aerial view of a long empty beach curving along the Baja desert — Beaches only reachable by boat

Aerial view of Bahía Tortugas: the town, the long fuel pier, and boats anchored in the bay — Turtle Bay. Fuel, and a rest before the next run north.

Up the coast

On Baja's schedule, not ours

We move in the calm of night and early morning, round the great capes under the stars, and drop the hook in a sheltered bay as the afternoon breeze comes up.

Bahía Santa María, Turtle Bay, the lee of Isla Cedros: every stop is a chance to swim, cook something good, and rest up for the next run north.

The finish · March 26 to 29

San Diego

Then Ensenada, a last night in Mexico, and the Point Loma light rising off the bow.

The Mexico chapter closes in San Diego, and the California coast opens up ahead.

San Diego skyline across the bay, with sailboats moored in the foreground — Where the Mexico chapter closes

The plan

Four stages, 780 miles

Stage	Route	Distance	Highlights
01	Cabo San Lucas to Bahía Santa María	~180 nm	Round Cabo Falso under the stars. Bahía Magdalena is the alternate anchorage.
02	Bahía Santa María to Turtle Bay	~240 nm	Cabo San Lázaro and Punta Abreojos. Fuel and a rest stop in Turtle Bay.
03	Turtle Bay to Ensenada	~300 nm	Punta Eugenia and Isla Cedros. Fuel and the Ensenada waterfront.
04	Ensenada to San Diego	~60 nm	Into San Diego Bay and clearing back into the US.

Roughly 145 hours under way at 5.5 knots, with 10 to 14 days allowed so the weather works for us: depart Cabo around March 15, arrive San Diego March 26 to 29.

How we sail it

A string of comfortable passages

Weather first

Every stage starts on a good forecast, not a calendar date. That is what turns the Bash into a string of comfortable passages.

Capes under the stars

Cabo Falso, San Lázaro, Abreojos and Eugenia get rounded in the quiet hours.

Anchored by afternoon

Every day we can, the day ends in a sheltered bay.

Well stocked

We leave Cabo with full tanks and full jerry cans, and top up in Turtle Bay and Ensenada.

Looking through a sailboat's wheel to the compass and the sea at twilight — The helm, after dark

Paperwork

Out of Mexico, into the US

Leaving Mexico (Ensenada)

Port Captain departure clearance and crew tourist cards (FMM). Decide whether to keep or cancel the boat's import permit (TIP), valid to November 2031.

Arriving US (San Diego)

Report arrival to CBP via the ROAM app.

Reference

Baja Bash II, Capt. Jim Elfers.

Join the crew

Sail the Bash with us

Want to sail the Bash with us? Berths may be available for this leg.

How to get in touch about a berth: email address or contact form.

Spring Legs 2027

Cabo to Seattle in three legs

Leg 1 · You are here

The Baja Bash

Cabo San Lucas to San Diego. Mid to late March.

Leg 2

Channel Islands and Big Sur

San Diego to San Francisco. Late March to mid-April.

Leg 3

Home Waters

San Francisco to Seattle. Mid to late April, home by May 1.