The road to Agua Verde… how can I sufficiently explain this wild adventure?! If you’re itching to disconnect and you’ve got the right vehicle, you’ll for sure want to check out Baja’s not-so-best kept secret: a pristine, hard-to-reach beach with bright green water.
Please note that this journey is ONLY recommended for vans or truck campers only. Do NOT attempt with a trailer or you’ll end up in the trailer graveyard down the mountain. (Trust us on this!)
About Agua Verde
This is one of Baja’s not-so-best kept secret: a pristine, hard-to-reach beach with bright green water. After Loreto, air down your tires and head down the intense, desolate dirt road for two hours. Let me tell you — it is NOT for the faint of heart! The road to Agua Verde is a windy, steep, butt-puckering, rocky road.
This gnarly road takes at least two hours and will bring you down to a very small village and beachfront camping. Be prepared to be the only campers there! It’s a wonderful place to relax or take your paddleboard out in the calm mornings.
Surrounded by an impoverished community, it’s evident that the Agua Verde locals appreciate — and even encourage — tourism. There are signs pointing to the camping spots, restroom facilities and even WiFi at the tienda up the road. Travelers provide the community’s primary source of income, and it’s desperately needed.
Before you leave Loreto, make sure to stock up on food, booze, and ice. There are only two small tiendas in Agua Verde and these are bare bones! We always leave the main meals to the matriarch at Brisa de Mar (see below) to help support this remote small business.
Agua Verde does not have any cell service and is VERY remote. Be prepared!
I’ll be honest — I was really torn on whether or not to share anything about Agua Verde. There’s an online forum on all things Baja (ran by old white people) that will actually delete member posts or try to dissuade others from visiting this remote destination. I get it — some things are so beautiful that you don’t want to spoil it. I too was in that camp, especially as we consulted with a local in Loreto who spoke in hushed tones and asked us to keep our journey to ourselves.
That all flew out the window for me when we arrived at the beach. Surrounded by a simple community, it’s evident that the Agua Verde locals appreciate — and even encourage — tourism. There are signs pointing to the camping spots, restroom facilities and even WiFi at the tienda up the road. Travelers provide the community’s primary source of income, and it’s desperately needed.
Where to Camp in Agua Verde
The Beach
There are several side roads that take you to beach camping, but the true Agua Verde destination is at the farthest end of the washboard road. It’s totally cool to camp in the other places, just keep in mind that there are ZERO services available out there!
The beach at Agua Verde is free to dry camp at, and the owner of Brisa del Mar offers barebones showers and restrooms for your use. PLEASE pack your trash out. We discovered that to get fresh water trucked in, or garbage trucked out, it cost the town $1,000 pesos per trip. $50 might not seem like a lot to us, but for a community that doesn’t benefit from the tourism other Baja towns receive — it has a tremendous impact.
Make sure to enjoy meals at the taco stand and buy snacks at the tienda to help support this community!
Where to Eat in Agua Verde
Brisa del Mar
Once you’re settled, head over to the little beach shack call Brisa del Mar. Here you’ll find fish tacos and other basic fare like quesadillas, tacos, etc. While there was a menu with a variety of food options, we soon learned that the cooks prepared whatever was caught the day before or the day of. If you’re not a big fish taco fan – or want more variety — check in with the owner daily to ensure that there would be options and/or enough food if you have a large party. If you are traveling with a bigger crew, we highly recommend asking if the chef can make chicken mole. It’s a slow food process, but well worth the wait!
At the request of a Loreto local, bring a gift (regala) of tomatoes, onions, wheat flour, corn flour and cooking oil to the woman running the beach taco stand. They appreciate the tourism, as well as anyone who brings items that are harder to come by given the long trek to Loreto.
In Summary
So when deciding whether to keep Agua Verde a secret or share this beautiful place, we chose to share. The drive alone is enough to keep most from ever considering the trek, but for those enough brave enough to give it a go, you’ll discover that it’s worth every bump on the road! ?
