| San Quintín | |
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San Quintín
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| Coordinates: | |
| Country | Mexico |
| State | Baja California |
| Municipality | Ensenada |
| Elevation | 92 ft (28 m) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • City | 4,777 |
| • Urban | 4,777 |
| Time zone | Northwest US Pacific (UTC-8) |
| • Summer (DST) | Northwest (UTC-7) |
San Quintín is a coastal town on the west coast of the Mexican state of Baja California, in the municipio of Ensenada. San Quintín has beautiful beaches and several places for tourists to stay. Tourists can enjoy fishing, camping, bird watching, surfing, and clam digging. It is also in the middle of an important agricultural area, especially for growing strawberries and tomatoes.
The coast is also home to many sand dunes and a popular place for off-road vehicles.
The town is on the west coast of the central Baja California Peninsula, near the Bahía de San Quintín, 300 km (187 mi) south of the San Ysidro–Tijuana international border along Federal Highway 1.
The Misión Santo Domingo de la Frontera lies 20 km north of San Quintín.
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In the 1880’s, a British land company with plans for a wheat empire purchased much of the San Quintin area from the U.S. – based International Land Company; at the time, ILC owned most of northern Baja. In response to promises of agricultural wealth, around a hundred English colonists purchased subdivided land tracts from the parent company, planted wheat, and constructed a gristmill. For flour transportation, the English built a pier on inner Bahiá San Quintin and began constructing a railway to link up with the Southern Pacific tracks in California. Thirty km of track were laid - including a rail causeway from the west bank of inner Bahiá San Quintin – before the colony failed. A 17-ton, six-wheeled locomotive still lies underwater at the mouth of the bay, the remains of a loading accident for the aborted railway.
A drought devastated one of the first wheat harvests, and by 1900 all colonists had abandoned San Quintin. Although individual farmers were economically ruined, the U.S. and British land companies walked away all the richer, a pattern that would recur several times in northern Baja. Remains of the gristmill, railroad causeway, pier, and English cemetery still stand along the perimeter of the inner bay. The English names on the cemetery’s heavily weathered wooden crosses have faded from sight, and more recent Mexican graves are beginning to crowd out their neglected English counterparts. [1]
The climate is similar to San Diego, but normally a couple of degrees warmer.
Inside and along the San Quintin Bay there are many options for activities including kayaking, boating, fishing, camping, hiking and enjoying off-road activities on the long sand dunes that surround the volcano field west of town. El Molino Viejo (The Old Mill) is the historic bay launch point for anglers for many decades. Navigating outside the bay, the San Quintin Pacific Ocean coastline offers world class sport fishing to anglers who come from points world wide to experience the famous tuna fishing season each year. San Martin Island, just five miles offshore is a diving paradise with crystal clear water along the kelp beds growing on the volcanic island's east shore. Between the island and shoreline the prevalent NW winds keep sails full for sailboats making the day trip down from Ensenada. The vast farmlands and fields outside town as well as the hills to the east are considered some of the best in the Baja California state for hunters. The Punta San Carlos surfing, windsurfing and kiteboarding area is located 100 miles south.
Off Road Races are very popular in San Quintin.
The Flying Samaritans from Central California provide free medical care one Saturday per month throughout the year.[2]
By land, San Quintín is communicated by the Federal Highway 1, which runs from Cabo San Lucas to Tijuana. By air, the San Quintín Valley is served by severals airstrips:
The San Quintín Airport is the only paved airstrip in the valley, but is a military field, so it's used for military aviation purposes only. The closest airports of entry are Ensenada and Tijuana.
XEQIN-AM, a government-run indigenous community radio station that broadcasts in Mixtec, Zapotec and Triqui, is based in San Quintín.
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