Talk Baja Founder Ron Gomez Hoff Shares His Love For San Quintin

Slow Baja

Ron Gomez Hoff is the founder of the website and Facebook page Talk Baja. A Southern California native, Hoff fell in love with Baja as a teenager on a scouting trip in 1968. After high school, a stint in the Navy had him operating nuclear powerplants on submarines. When he left the Navy, he returned to Long Beach and joined his family business running testing laboratories in the oil and gas industry. With his father's passing, he expanded the labs into full environmental certification, including drinking water, wastewater, hazardous waste, and air emissions.

A consulting project had Hoff creating computer databases which led to a project in Mexico City. He enjoyed the people and the culture, but Mexico City was too large for his liking. Recently divorced and seeking change, Hoff headed to Baja and rented a house on Rosarito Beach. He realized that he could work from anywhere with an internet connection, so why not a beach in Baja?

While attending a weekend cooking class in Tijuana, he met the love of his life, Christina. The two married and began exploring communities South of Rosarito. They visited San Quintin and fell in love with the nearby fishing village of La Chorera. They loved the physical beauty of the location but were amazed by the beautiful people; Hoff says they are some of the finest people he's ever met. When the local building supply owner found out they had bought a property and began building a house, he extended credit to them immediately.

Gestures of trust and generosity were repeated over and over by their new neighbors. As a result, Hoff says he doesn't feel like a foreigner; on the contrary, "I feel like we've always been here. The people make you feel like you belong here." Embraced by his community, he has become an advocate for moving to Baja and a cheerleader for San Quintin and the region.