Caravan Companies
For first time Mexico RV'ers, a caravan
can be an excellent way to cut your teeth. Even those who are
experienced and want some extra security or companionship a caravan can
be useful. There are several companies out there, some better than
others. I only have ones listed
that I believe to be reputable.
Baja
Amigos - I am personal friends of the operator of this company. I
recommend them.
Casi Libre
Caravane Mexique
Aventure - New company out of Quebec. I met Andre, the owner, in
2011, I think this will be a good one.
VR Camping -
Québec Caravane de l'entreprise. Langue Française.
Amigos Rodantes -
Recommended. The owner, Pierre Blais, is the French admin of our Forum.
English & French speaking caravans.
Adventure Caravans
Fantasy Caravans
Baja Winters
Tracks RV
Vagabundos
This company below specializes in more
extensive caravans into Central & South America. I do know them, and
they are reliable.
Adventuretrek
The following 2 caravans are operated by RV parks in Mexico. They offer
good prices in exchange for staying in their RV park for a certain
period.
Celestino Caravans -
Celestino Gaza about 70 km north of Mazatlan
La Penita RV Park - About 60 km north of Puerto Vallarta.
RV Caravans-The Good, The Bad, The Ugly
October 11th, 2011
by Dan & Lisa Goy of Baja Amigos
Lisa and I have been camping forever,
first as children with our parents, later as adults with our own
children and now just ourselves. We have tented, owned a tent
trailer, Class B and now we are on our 3rd travel
trailer. My Mom and Dad were Truck Campers for 30 years. We
operate and lead an RV Caravan Tours Service as WagonMasters on
Baja, Mexico, however we have never actually participated as
guests in such a Caravan. RV Caravan Tours are in operation
around the world including several operators in North America.
These include RV Caravan Tours to Alaska and Canadian
Territories, East Coast Canada and US, Mainland Mexico, Baja
Mexico and many more.
The Good
The number one benefit of traveling in
an RV Caravan is someone else does the planning! No fuss, no
muss, you pay your money and your off! Guests have told us how
much they enjoy not having to worry or stress about where they
are going to stay, get fuel, shop for groceries etc. Folks
really enjoy just following along, taking in the scenery without
regard to a map or the GPS.
A well planned RV Caravan Tour operated
by knowledgeable WagonMasters ensures you get the most out of
your journey! You see and experience the best of what the
region has to offer, which means no crappy RV parks, awful
restaurants or rip-off tourist traps. RVers can spend hours
researching reviews about different establishments and
activities and still be disappointed. As they say, nothing can
replace “boots on the ground” that have scouted out everything
before hand and have personal and intimate knowledge of the
turf, operators including where to go and not to go. Nothing
stops any camper from loading up their GPS (or buying a good
map), purchasing a good camping book and heading off on a
journey. If you continue to return to an area year after year,
you will have all of the above sorted out. This may have been a
great approach when we were 30 with our lives in front of us,
maybe not when we are 64 and perhaps should be a bit more
efficient with our time as we are now closer to the end than the
beginning!
Camaraderie is built in! A Caravan
ensures a group experience which includes Happy Hours, Potlucks,
Restaurant Outings, Group Activities and the journey itself.
There is often a bond that forms on a road trip where many
people let their guard down, pretences fade away and lifelong
friendships are formed. Often they travel together on future
road trips or make a point to see each other somewhere on
another journey. We have 2 regular stops in the US now on our
way to Baja with former caravan guests who have now become good
friends and have visited each other long after the tour was
over.
Another plus traveling in an RV Caravan
is all the interesting people you get to know who can have some
very diverse and unique personal and professional history’s that
you would never experience seeing folks casually on a chance
encounter at an RV Park or campground. What everyone has in
common is RVing together for a month or more which often
encourages folks to share their stories and different life
experiences. It is truly incredible how much we have learned
about the world, fascinating careers and different locations
people have visited just sitting around a campfire or at happy
hour.
A big benefit to an RV Caravan is the
support you receive in the event you breakdown. Larger RV
Caravans have Tail Gunners who will stay with you to get your
situation sorted out. The WagonMasters and Tail Gunners are
often very familiar with reputable local mechanical shops and
towing services who can be summoned if required. It is very
comforting indeed not to be stuck in the middle of nowhere when
your RV breaks down. Most often if the issue is minor, like a
flat tire, the whole caravan will simply wait and everyone will
resume when the repair is made. Generally speaking, this is not
the case if the breakdown is major because as they say “The Show
Must Go On”. However this does not mean you are just cut loose
and left on your own. Arrangements will be made for repair and
accommodation; tour contact information and a schedule of
potential rendezvous points will be provided; and the caravan
leaders will be in regular contact to see how you are
progressing and if other support is needed.
The Bad
With RV Caravan Tours size really does
matter. Depending on the size of the RV Caravan you may do a
lot of waiting and sitting as everyone gets fuel, takes a body
break, stops to buy groceries, lines up at a restaurant, sets up
or departs from an RV park. The larger the group of people, the
longer all of the above will take; this is bad if you are an
impatient person by nature.
Some caravans are more flexible than
others but generally speaking the WagonMasters set the pace and
everyone follows. This could be too fast or too slow depending
on your driving habits and a real potential source of
frustration or stress. Your freedom to stop whenever and
wherever you want is often non-existent, this can be problematic
if your body break schedule is different than the WagonMasters
and they are not flexible.
WagonMasters set the schedule and
travel environment of the caravan. If they are experienced,
confident, familiar with all aspects of the tour and locations,
people friendly and possess good organizing and conflict
resolution skills, all is good. Unfortunately this is not the
reputation of most WagonMasters, particularly those that are
in-charge of larger caravans that can be very challenging to
keep organized and on schedule. We cannot imagine running a
group of 40 people and 20 rigs, this would be very stressful for
sure, no wonder many WagonMasters seem more like “Drill
Sergeants” than tour guides as this would be like attempting to
“Herd Cats” at times.
Departure times are usually inflexible,
not good if you are a late sleeper or have a morning routine
that takes some time before you are prepared to leave. We have
seen larger caravans assembling before dawn prior to departure,
often idling away for almost an hour.
Larger groups of people travelling
together can often lead to the formation of “Clicks” which can
be very annoying to others and frankly disrespectful to the
entire caravan. Before you know it you have been transported to
a small town where everyone knows everyone else’s business and
gossip abounds.
The Ugly
Again it is all about size. We have
heard of an RV Caravan Tour in mainland Mexico a few years ago
that was over 75 rigs, they wreaked havoc everywhere they went.
This caravan plugged up 2 lane highways, brought towns to a
complete standstill when driving through them, emptied PEMEX
stations at every fuel stop and were more akin to a moving
“Train Wreck” on the road than an RV Caravan.
WagonMasters can be brutal depending on
personalities, skill sets and experience. Often RV Park owners
want nothing to do with RV Caravans because of their negative
experience with WagonMasters who have been overbearing, pushy
and bullies acting like they own the park, barking out orders to
everyone.
Driving on a 2 lane road with an RV
Caravan can be very frustrating and sometimes dangerous for both
those in the caravan and those attempting to get around it. Our
general rule of thumb is to keep everyone at least 5 seconds
apart and notify us when vehicles come up in the rear and want
to pass and doing whatever we can to safely facilitate the
pass. We have seen RV Caravans bunched together like racers in
“Daytona 500”, this is both inconsiderate to other motorists and
can cause accidents for everyone concerned.
An ugly reality can be that you have
signed on to an RV Caravan Tour for a month and suddenly realize
one of the RV'ers is last person you would ever choose to travel
with. When you have come across this personality in the past on
the road you have run for the exit. You know who we are talking
about; they have a crisis every day, they monopolize the
conversation at every opportunity, nothing is ever good enough
and they always have a complaint about something. If they have
a dog it gets even better! They piddle on your mat, are always
out of control, never put on a leash and the owner never cleans
up. To make matters worse the WagonMasters refuse to deal with
this and the group is unable to vote them “Off the Island”.
Baja RV Caravan Tours
An additional reason to take an RV
Caravan Tour in Mexico is the language barrier and distinctly
different culture then Canadians and Americans. There are
several operators offering RV Caravan Tours on Baja California
Mexico, some have years of experience others are engaged in
their first season on Baja.
As with all RV Caravan Tours there is a
wide diversity of prices, length of tour and features, as they
say “There is something for everyone” on Baja. As you can
imagine the most common question; “Is it safe?” Our standard
response is simply “Yes!” We actually feel safer on Baja then
in many places on the road in the US and certainly safer than
some parts of Surrey and Vancouver. Our children, their
partners and Lisa’s 81 year old Mom are all joining us on Baja
for Christmas this season and we are really looking forward to
this. It is safe to sign onto a Baja RV Caravan, it is safe to
join a friend and come to Baja, it is also safe to simply buy a
good camping book (Church’s), get a decent map (AAA), join a
Baja Travel Club (Discover Baja) visit a helpful resource
website (Baja Amigos) and go it alone.
At the end of the day there are many
excellent reasons to take an RV Caravan Tour to any particular
destination. What is important to you may or may not be
important to another RVer. RV Caravan Tours in general, are
available at a wide range of price points and include a real
diversity of features and benefits. If your decision is to sign
on, make sure you know what you’re signing onto! Ask yourself;
do we have a really clear understanding of what the caravan
service is offering to deliver. Review the testimonials and ask
if you can speak to someone who has taken the tour. How
extensive is the company website? Is it very generic or very
detailed about each day’s activities? It is important to
“Choose Wisely”.
Submitted by,
Dan & Lisa Goy
Baja Amigos RV Caravan Tours
1-866-999-BAJA (2252)
www.BajaAmigos.net
info@bajaamigos.net
Our Competitors On Baja
Adventure Caravans
Ron & Juanita Kohn 1-800-872-7897
http://www.adventurecaravans.com
Adventure Treks
David & Betty Baxley 1-866-699-5865
request@rvadventuretreks.com -
http://www.rvadventuretreks.com
Baja Winters Travel Club
John & Becky Smith
1-866-771-9064
info@bajawinters.com -
http://www.bajawinters.com
*Casi Libre RV Baja Caravans
Brian Ringham 1-604-721-9064
casilibre@hotmail.ca -
http://www.rv-camping-baja-california.com
Fantasy RV Tours
Nel Filliger 1-800-952-8496
http://www.fantasyrvtours.com
Vagabundos Del Mar Travel Club
Fred & Gloria Jones 1-800-474-2252
fredjones1@comcast.net -
http://www.vagabundos.com
*Brian has experience as a WagonMaster in Mexico and has
personal knowledge about Baja, however this is his first season
offering RV Caravan Tours on Baja California, Mexico.
