San Diego Travel Forum

Hi all, my wife are travelling from Australia and have rented an apartment in Coronado for mid May 08. We want to do some day trips or a 2/3 day trip into Mexico, but not in our hire car.
Does anyone have suggestions/experiences they can share. Not that keen on Tijuana as we have been there on a previous trip. cheers Matt

hi' matt.

make sure to make it south of ensenada.
that is where the real mexico start.
before that it's way too dominated by desperate people trying to make it across the border and american tourists coming for drugs and prostitution.
if you feel like a bit of a drive then santa rosalita is an absolutely wonderful town.

Thanks for that and I'll pencil it in. As for travel from Coronado, any suggestions on set tours into Mexico as we don't want to drive. Are there agents in San Diego who specialise in short Mexican adventures? cheers Matt

You could take a Copper Canyon trip; apparently, it's deeper than the Grand Canyon and stunning. It's a bit longer than 2-3 days.

http://www.calnative.com/coppercanyon/copper-canyon-tour-independent-4day.html

An area that a lot of tourists miss out of San Diego is Tecate, Mexico. Only a 45 minute drive east from San Diego on the CA 94 to the CA-188 south (in the USA)to the border at Tecate, California. Walk over to the Mexican side of Tecate and take a taxi to the Tecate Beer Brewery for a tour. The town has a more interior feel of Mexico, than a border city hustle and bustle like Tijuana. It is so close to the border that your costs to get into the main Plaza area and shopping are minimal, whereas to go further south from Tijuana to Rosarito Beach or Ensanada is a longer ride. You also could plan to take one of the train rides from the Pacific Southwest Railway Museum in Campo to Tecate for the day. Campo is about 1 hour east of San Diego. See the websites: for Tecate: http://www.baja-web.com/tecate/ and the Campo site:www.sdrm.org

A couple of people at my work go down to Mexico with their church groups to help build homes and/or rescue young girls from prostitution. They don't go anymore because it's getting more and more difficult not to get harassed by the police. They basically want money not to arrest you. This is not occuring in the tourist areas of Mexico. So, becareful if you plan to go just across the border. Me, personally, I would spend my time seeing the sights in California. We have a lot to offer - our beaches, Indian casinos - right near San Diego, horse racing in Del Mar (depending on the season), Laguna Beach is about an hour up from San Diego. Los Angeles, 2 hours.

Thanks Grace, sounds terrible that this sort of thing still goes on. It's something worth considering. cheers Matt

pashaaaa! I'll be down in Ensenada in 2 weeks. Viva Mexico!!! Ole! Maybe see some VTers at Hussong's Bar. An olde Irish saying, "If ye look for trouble, ye'll git it".

I suggest for you to get a reputable travel agent for a tour. I am from San Diego and I will not go to Tijuana since I heard a lot of sad stories happened to Americans. The border gets tricky....some Americans were not able to get our of Mexico in a day...make sure to bring all your documents.

Tijuana may have problems but I have not heard of any in Tecate. I'll be in Ensenada next Wednesday. We shall see what it is like further south of Tijuana.

One of my friends was in Ensanada on a cruise, and came back last week. Said she did not have any problems at all.

Vea, esto es por supuesto muy probablemente. Be happy, don't worry.

i'm sitting in mexico city writing this right now and i have felt very safe since i came here last thursday.
i just met up with a mexican girl i met last november in a restaurant in morocco and she invited me to stay at her familys place so i can only say that i feel damn good down in tequila land :O)

Be careful, Claus. Going to the family home, means marriage. As the vaquero would say, "Aye, Chihuahua".

Which area are you staying in Claus? We will be staying in La Condesa this fall.

i{m near tasquena at the moment in the southern part of town.
lovely family i stay with that owns several shope in the center of mexico city

We drove down a little south of Ensenada a year or so ago and in my humble opinion......... stay in California. I didn't feel safe from the minute I crossed the border. It's dirty, the people are desperate, and as I see it the place has little to offer. Tijuana is nothing more than a shooting gallery for drug cartels and I didn't think Ensenada was any better. The coast is beautiful, I have to give it that, but you always have to turn around and look the other direction. If you happen to go down check out a place a few miles south of Ensenada called La Boufadora........ the blow hole. It's a neat little place. Lots of shops where they want to sell their "stuff" and the Blow Hole is pretty cool. If you go be safe, don't speed, pay off the cops if need be, and avoid most locals as they don't have your best interest in mind. Good Luck.

I have to disagree with the reply not to go down to Ensenada. You should not do it in a rental car unless they say it is ok. You can enter Mexico from Tecate, which is an easier crossing with less tourist traffic. I was in Ensenada just last month and I found that the tourist section of Ensenada was clean, vibrant, and graffiti free. I admit that it can be a little crazy around the Mango Mango and Papa's & Beers, both pushing the alcohol, but it is usually Americans having the fun. The shops in town are touristy but a bit more refined than border towns, but that's why you go. As for the La Bufudora, I found that a little dirty with all the booths selling, for a better word, tourist junk. The blow hole itself is interesting but not that great, to me.