If you plan your Baja trip the right way, you will be able to avoid stopping at Vizcaino altogether. That would be your first choice. But since trips to Baja usually don't go according to plan, it's good to know a little about this black hole in the middle of the desert.
It wasn't too many years ago when there was no Vizcaino. Oh, there may have been a truck stop and maybe a small restaurant and tienda there, but not much else. However, over the last few years the town has grown considerably, and now offers some necessary services that can come in handy for the Baja traveler.
Vizcaino really serves two distinctly different clients. It serves the travelers of Baja Highway One heading up and down the Peninsula, and it serves the 2,000 residents of Bahia Tortugas, located on the Pacific Ocean about 100 miles to the west.
Some truckers and travelers choose to stop at Vizcaino as a pit stop, instead of stopping 45 miles to the north at Guererro Negro. Others, who can't quite make it the 47 miles to San Ignacio, are forced to stop here for fuel or supplies. Bad planning.
It's not that this town is all that bad (well, then again, it doesn't really have much going for it either), but there are so many better choices available for those in need of basic services. Guererro Negro to the north has developed some nice character over the last few years, and San Ignacio to the south is one of the true gems of the Baja Peninsula. So who needs a pit stop in the middle of this god forsaken place? We'll some people do.
Services available in Vizcaino include gasoline, markets, restaurants, and even a couple of small hotels. Telephones and fax machines are also available if necessary. There is even a pharmacy for road warriors who are running low on Viagra.
Even places like Vizcaino can be the cause of fun things. For it was here in this dusty little town a few years back that Carlos Fiesta and his buddy Esteban picked up Sylvia, a solo hitchhiker standing on the west side of the road in a bright red dress and tall spiked high heals. Always looking to help a fellow human being in need, Carlos picked up the tall beauty and agreed to give her a ride to San Ignacio. We'll all it took was a welcome handshake for Carlos to realize that Sylvia was not a woman, but a very well dressed transexual. It was an interesting one hour drive to San Ignacio.
VIZCAINO, BAJA CALIFORNIA SUR, MEXICO