CUATRO CASAS, MX
Cuatro Casas. Its name is derived from a very literal definition of the place. There are only 4 houses, or at least at one point there were, as the story goes. It's a small little point, located in the middle of nowhere in Baja. You are on a seemingly endless piece of dirt and farmland that straddles the Pacific Ocean. The beaches to the north and south are scattered with men who make their living collecting grapefruit sized rocks, placing them in bags, and selling them to builders. It's an extremely rural place. As you should tell from the photo. But upon arrive here, welcome. You have reached what they refer to as the 'real Baja'. Things down in these parts are rural. Dusty. Vast. There won't be many people. Infrequently you will find cell reception. Your adventure has begun. This is one of those pages that you will find throughout this guide. It has its own section, because it is a place. But it is far from a town. There won't be any sort of 'places to stay' section here. Well, because there aren't any. There won't be any food recommendations. Well... because there aren't any. No sights to see, no nightlife. Because — as I beat a dead horse. There aren't any. This place will be its own section, because it is worth mentioning, and should be on the map as its own place. Theres not much around it, it's km's from anything, so it will stand on its own. As will a lot of other places I mention in this guide. It will be brief, but most everything you should know before showing up will be mentioned here. All photos are from the road in, or the camp site.
Cuatro Casas is located about 2-and-a-half hours south from Ensenada or 150 kms. Use maps.me to arrive there, it's much more reliable than Google maps. You take a right onto a long dirt road, right after Providencia, from the highway that borders farmland for about 5 kms. When you reach the ocean, you take a right on a dirt or sand path and you will eventually arrive at the point or cliff that is Cuatro Casas. If you are in the right place you can't miss it. Because it is the only thing that exists around. There's a long, peeling right-hand point break right out front, you should notice that almost immediately as well.
There is a sketchy road in from the north you can take, and a spot named 'Coyote Cals' up there (hotel and restaurant) that is popular with the dirtbike, dunebuggy and Baja 1000 crew.
TIP 1: A note of caution here to all people. I will mention this again in the Baja Overlanding guide. In this part of Baja, there is a ~100 mile or ~250km stretch, that is not safe. If you are camping here, find someone to pay, be it $1 or $5. Just find someone to give money to in order to stay on their land. The stretch of highway between Ensenada and a place called El Rosario (mentioned on another page) where the highway juts inland is one of the more dangerous areas in Baja. It is home to all of the public rehabilitation facilities for meth and crack addiction in Mexico. There is a problem with a cheap form of meth here in Northern Baja. The rehab facilities let out the patients and they are pretty much left to kind of just roam the area. Theft can be an issue. Find someone to pay for somewhere to sleep, and you should be fine and very safe. But keep your wits about you here. If you find Cuatro Casas, you will be totally fine. Also the further you are from the highway, the safer you are. Wild camping is possible, I did plenty of it, but looking back on it, I wouldn't do it over again.
TIP 2: The end part of the road in as you approach the ocean is VERY steep. Just be prepared to slide around. It's manageable but just be aware that it's steep.
TIP 3: Buy firewood beforehand.
HOSTELS, CAMPING, AND HOTELS (IF ANY)
Just one place to stay. Cuatro Casas.
The actual facilities of Cuatro Casas are super cool. There are a number of options from a housing perspective. And multiple prices. You can either rent a room, you can get a camping sight with access to the facilities (showers etc.), or you can get a camp sight in the gated parking lot just outside of the actual property and you can pay the least, with no access to the property or the facility. Which is what I did. It's safe and locked as well no matter what you do. But the facilities are nice, and there's an awesome dried out pool that is used as a skate bowl. There's usually a number of dirtbag skaters or surfers trolling around here, especially on the weekends.
EATS
Non-existent. You must bring your own food to prepare and eat.
NIGHTLIFE
Does not exist. This will be the story for most of Baja.
SIGHTS
Nothin'. The wave.
SURFING
This is the only reason that anyone ever comes to Cuatro Casas. It is a surfing destination, and really nothing else. People flock from all over to come see this place. It is one of the more well-known spots in Baja and on bigger swells the crowds will grow here but won't be anything compared to Southern California. Plus, it's a long wave, so there's enough for everyone. It's so far out there that not that many people are ever here at the same time.
When it is big and working it's a great peeling right-hand wave. The wave doesn't have too much power even when it's huge. So long-boarders love this place. But it's a nice and long wave that you can get a lot of turns in on. I remember there being a lot of seaweed all over the place, and you have to climb down a little cliff, but nothing crazy, to get in the water. The walkout is over rocks, I'm sure there's a best way to get in, but I don't know what that is. Not much else to do here but surf, skate, sleep, and drink. Not the worst life in the world.
There is only one place to surf here in the immediate area — right out front. But like the rest of Baja there are literally waves everywhere, and people nowhere. There's tons of waves up and down the coast and if you are willing to brave it you can score some amazing waves with absolutely no one. We got ourselves on a few spots that I won't mention here. But if you are willing to explore, you can find some cool stuff.
