places to stay hwy 5 to 1

camping nad has a few room options km 53 south of Mexicali.

https://www.campomosqueda.mx/servicios

https://www.villasmosqueda.com/

i generally cross enter mexico at mexicali but am not bringing much.

from facebook,

https://www.facebook.com/groups/BajaRoads/permalink/1602716410232473/

The Drive South
We drive it every month, as we take our trailer with furniture, clothes, and food for a Charity just North of Cabo from the USA.
We do it in two days from Orange County CA to Guerro Negro first day (11 - 12 hours driving). Stay at Halfway Inn, we leave at about 6AM, hit the border at Otay Mesa to clear Customs at around 7.45AM. If you are crossing in Mexicali ignore the following drive east from Tijuana.
Before you leave, have a spare wallet with a minimal amount of cash handy, and if possible a good copy of your US license (or an old one). Hide any large amounts of cash, but make sure you have pesos if the gas station’s card readers are not working. The small amount of cash and the snide license come in handy if you are unfortunate enough to be stopped by a rogue police officer after doing something stupid like an illegal turn or speeding. Read up on how to handle this. I usually ask for my ticket, or say sure I’ll follow you back to your police station… they give up and walk away. If you’re in the wrong, give him a few dollars and move on with your day.
At Customs and entry, always declare anything that you are leaving behind in Mexico by valuing those items at swap meet prices. It’s better to pay 19% on a few hundred dollars than get a fine in the $thousands… and yes it happened to us when we mistakingly drove across at San Isidro with a trailer full of medical equipment and hospital beds that we were DONATING. We were pulled over by SAT (MX IRS) and told that we needed special paperwork and that to give the medical equipment we had already paid for, and were giving away we had to pay over $1,000 US as a fine. So the old adage ’no good deed goes unpunished’ applies. They accept cards, but pesos is the way to go.
Always have a copy of the registration for any vehicles you are driving, towing, or intend on using when you cross the border. The customs guys have been known to threaten to impound trailers and vehicle you cannot prove ownership of. Of course its a problem than can go away if you hand over a few hundred dollars in cash… but that’s what they do it for. Not all customs guys are on the take, but don’t risk it, or put yourself through the upset and hassle.
Fill your Tank just after crossing the border (we also fill a 4 gallon carry tank for emergencies or to help anyone stranded)
We cross at Otay Mesa on the way down to avoid the traffic in Tijuana from crossing at San Isidro. Otay Mesa is one road straight out of the border crossing, keep to the left, then turn left about half a mile in onto the 2 road leading to the toll road 2D. You can take either road East towards Tecate and Mexicali. We take the Toll road via Rumarosa (2 lane mountain pass) to pick up the 5 South to avoid the more dangerous and potholed free road (2). 5 South leads you towards San Felipe.
You have the chance to fill up at the Freeway services directly after Rumarosa mountain pass. This freeway truck stop has the best exchange rate for $/mx on the drive. Good little restaurant and a food/sandwich shop for snacks.
There is a National Guard check point here, just be polite and the young guys really appreciate a few sodas, some candy or fruit at every stop on the way down.
There are plenty of Gas Stations in san Felipe. When you get to San Felipe, you drive into the town and turn right at the big roundabout. It seems weird the first time you drive it, but you actually drive through the center of town towards the coast road.
The next gas station is about 2 hours south (165km)(29.774162479011665, -114.42715085784948) the remote location always looks closed, but the guy is there most of the day. Sometimes it only takes cash, so carry some pesos. We fill up here because the next gas is
After this you’ll drive about 3 hours (230km) through the dessert to Guerro Negro for your next gas. There is a Pemex about 10 miles before you get into Guerro Negro. (28.297005231472788, -113.99805900808744)… this is one of the stations that is one that sometimes wants cash.
Stay the night in the Halfway Inn, about $60US for a decent room. Food isn’t the best, but edible if you’re hungry, and they have a nice friendly bar of fellow Baja travelers… great parking for trailers or RVs right outside. Friendly and helpful staff, good clean showers, coffee maker in the room etc.
DAY 2
Up early, coffee in the room, on the road by 6.30AM… full tank - our next fill up is Santa Rosalia in three hours. There is a Pemex in San Ignacio about halfway to Santa Rosalia if you need. Good mechanic in San Ignacio.
Next Fill up in Loreto about 3 hours later
Next fill up Ciudad Constitution about 2 hours later
Last fill up La Paz about 2 hours later… this should get you to Cabo with gas to spare in about 2 hours. We usually arrive around 5 to 6 PM.
Best way to cross back to USA is to avoid TJ as the wait on some days is up to 7 hours!!! Cross at Tecate (open 6AM to 10PM… we try to hit it around 4.30 to 5.30 and the longest it has ever taken is 15 minutes.

check the other places to stay for more possibilities as this is the newest info for this route, i did not copy the other already listed ones.  

https://alfonsinas.com/reservaciones/
Bahía San Luis Gonzaga, Carretera Puertecitos, Chapala San Luis Gonzaga, Baja California, Mexico Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico



Puertecitos:
campground on a beautiful bay, great fishing, natural hot springs, sandy beach, 1 hour south of San Felipe.

san filipe

https://www.kiki.com.mx/