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Ensenada Mexico |
If you are driving to Ensenada Mexico from Tijuana,
just take the toll road going south and you can be there in just
over half an hour. If you prefer to leave your car in the parking
lots on the US side, you can catch a bus to Ensenada Mexico for about
$8 USD at the ABC bus station in Tijuana.
Ensenada Mexico is a nice town for a weekend getaway, or a mini
vacation at one of the resorts by the beach. While it's not what
anyone would call a real Mexico vacation destination . . . It's
close to the border, so it's a very popular
weekend getaway for Southern Californians. Why not . . . Ensenada
is a nice little town with affordable hotels on the beach.
If you want to do more
than lie around the hotel pool and soak up some rays, you will
find plenty of things to do in Ensenada. . . You can take a tour
of the town in a horse drawn buggy, go on a day trip to La Bufadora
(a natural blow hole by the sea which shoots water into the air like
a geyser), go to the beach and swim, go for a horseback ride, rent
a jet ski, tour the harbor in a boat, go dancing in one of the Ensenada
night clubs, or relax between shops at one of the fine Ensenada restaurants.
Ensenada Mexico also has plenty of places to shop,
but since the Ensenada
cruise ships began to come on a regular basis, most of the larger
shops know that the tourists have money and they are a lot less likely
to bargain with you over price than in Tijuana. So if you are shopping
in Ensenada for bargains, your best bet is to stick to the small
shops, street vendors, or take a walk up to the stores in the Mexican
section around Juarez Street and shop where the locals do.
Ensenada's Hotels are a little more expensive than the old hotels
on Tijuana's Revolucion Blvd., but they are also a lot nicer. If
you are looking for cheap lodging, you need to check the
small hotels where the Mexicans stay when in town (between 2nd and
5th streets). You will still be within walking distance of the tourist
section by the harbor, but you may be without the amenities of the
larger hotels. If you do opt for one of the non-tourist zone hotels,
be sure it looks like a busy street that has plenty of light at night
. . . and that there isn't a bar on the same block . . . unless you
like extremely loud music all night long :(
As for the dining in Ensenada Mexico, you will find plenty of good
seafood places, Mexican restaurants, and even several places to have
a pizza or hamburgers if you have finicky kids.
Tip : While you can easily use dollars in Tijuana or Ensenada .
. . if you know for sure that you are going to spend cash in Mexico,
draw that cash from an ATM machine within Mexico. It's fast, easy,
and you get the official International exchange rate. You can use
dollars, but bear in mind that you are not going to get as good an
exchange rate from local businesses. -- And don't draw more pesos
than you will spend while in Mexico . . . Exchange rates at US banks
for Pesos are usually pretty bad. |
