San Felipe Hotels

San Felipe Hotels
San Felipe is a town on the Gulf of California (Sea of Cortez) in the Mexican state of Baja California, 190 km south of the United States border and within the municipality of Mexicali.

Some tourists like to visit the region to see the landscapes, the climate, the beaches, the culture and entertainment. Some tourists may want short term accommodation. For that they may require a hotel that provides good tourist attractions and parking and culture. Some may want a hotel that is large or small. Some may want a hotel that has good access to entertainment and to scenery. Some may want a hotel that is a luxury hotel or a cheap hotel.

San Felipe is a popular spring break spot for residents of the Western USA states and northern Mexico, due to its many tourist attractions. Nightclubs and bars dot the beach areas. Some visitors enjoy camping on the beaches or off-roading on ATVs and dirt bikes in the adjacent desert.

The seven-meter tides expose a kilometer of ocean floor. San Felipe experiences one of the largest tidal bores in the world due in part to the Colorado River delta to the north.

The port of San Felipe is a small town historically economically dependent on fishing and now on tourism, catering mostly to USa travelers and containing an international airport.

San Felipe is located in a unique ecosystem, where the desert meets the sea.

The Baja California Peninsula was discovered by Hernán Cortés on May 3, 1535. The history of San Felipe began later with the expeditions of Francisco de Ulloa's, one of Cortés's captains who navigated the bay in September 1535. In 1536, Hernando de Alarcón and Domingo Castillo explored the region and made the first detailed map of the peninsula, giving San Felipe its original name, Santa Catalina.

After the first expeditions were long forgotten, Father Eusebio Kino rediscovered the Baja California peninsula in 1701. Juan de Ugarte later built the first ship in Baja California and explored the area, arriving in San Felipe on July 5, 1721. Twenty five years later Father Ferdinand Konšc(ak arrived and christened the bay San Felipe de Jesús. In 1766, Wenceslaus Linck was the first person to reach San Felipe by land, and in 1772 the Lt. Governor of the Californias, José Joaquín Arrillaga, named it a port and began using it as such, sending ships as of 1794. He also established the land route between San Felipe and Ensenada through Valle de la Trinidad.

It is not until 1925, during the administration of General Abelardo L. Rodríguez, territorial governor, that San Felipe began to incorporate, when the first fishing camps were established and the government organized the first sub-delegation and school. Octavio Vega Ruiz was appointed sub delegate and the basis for the growth and development of San Felipe were established during his administration from 1926 to 1942.

The sea transportation of both people and cargo also contributed to the integration of San Felipe as a township. Among the most celebrated ships of the era were José Ascolani's Trieste, and Pacita and Río Colorado, owned by Arnulfo Liera. By the end of the 1920s, San Felipe had nearly 100 permanent inhabitants, and in 1940 appeared for the first time in the census with 287 inhabitants.

By 1947, the Compañía Industrial del Golfo de Cortés, owned by José María Rodríguez Luján, bought the land from Guillermo Andrade's estate to build an international tourist center. The Mexicali-San Felipe highway began paving in 1948 and was completed in 1951. At the same time, the 15 room Hotel Augies (later the Villa del Mar, Trucha Vagabunda and Las Palmas Inn) opened. In 1959, the motel El Cortés was opened to the public.

Many new hotels were established in the 1960s, including Hotel Riviera, El Pescador, Arnold's del Mar and Arco Iris, and the tourist camps of Costa Azul, Las Arenas, Miramar, Playa Bonita, Playa de Laura, and Rubén's. The port had electricity by 1963 and piped drinking water by 1967. The 1970s saw the establishment of the government building, restaurants, bars, gas stations, a small boat anchorage, airport, sea walk, main boulevard and sewage system, as well as the first four-star hotel, the Playas de San Felipe, followed by the Fiesta Hotel. The La Hacienda opened in the 1980s; the Marina Resort and Spa in 1993.

San Felipe International Airport is an international airport located 11 km south of the central business district (CBD) of San Felipe, Baja California, Mexico, a town located on the Gulf of California coast.

Some may want hotels in the city or near the city.

Find a Villa from Across Europe

Grand World Villas - Find a Villa from anywhere in the world

Grand Global Villas - Find Villas from Around the Globe

Planet Villas

An Index with links to almost all our sites

Holiday to - Great places to go on Holiday to
Holiday to 2 - More Great places to go on Holiday to

Holiday to 3 - More places to go on Holiday to

Holiday to 4 - More places to go on Holiday to

Hotel in 6

Hotel in 7

Hotel in 8