12/2007 San Diego, CA Vacation

We got into Mexico at around 9am (nobody asked to see papers or anything)...all we saw was a sign that said "Bienvenidos a Mexico" and kept right ahead going - no customs or anything. Once in Mexico the clouds turned gray, the streets dirty, and Tijuana made us just want to go back to San Diego. It is dirty, full of vendors jumping on your car...just plain not a good experience. So we saw a sign that said Scenic Road - Ensenada...and we jumped at the chance to get the hell out of Tijuana. While in San Diego one of the waitresses had told us to skip Tijuana and go to Rosarito Beach and Ensenada...so that is exactly what we'll do. Peace Tijuana...you suck! On the way back to San Diego expect loooooong lines to get through customs. The only documents we showed were our Florida Driver's license and that was enough to get us back to the US. I am told this will change soon. Again through the long lines you see the poor Mexican men trying to sell everything and poor women with their babies asking for change. This was a zoo and very sad!!!

If you are taking a short trip to Mexico from San Diego...skip Tijuana, skip Rosarito Beach, and come on down to ENSENADA! I'll tell you a bit about Ensenada but first let's talk about the scenic road that brough us here. Mexico Highway 1 scenic road which is a toll road. Plan on spending about $10 to $15 on toll roads for the trip to Ensenada and back to San Diego. There are 3 or 4 toll roads each costing $2.45 (although this changes with currency pricing fluctuations). The road is BEAUTIFUL...you go up and down coastline mountain highways and the whole time you can see the Pacific Ocean...there are various stopping points along the way so you can stop and take pictures of the scenery. I recommend Playa Mision ("Mission Beach" - km 69) where we stopped for about one hour and rode horses on the beach and surf with April. We picked the best two horses and off we went. We rode the horses on the beach and watched the surfers there. Wonderful experience...April loved it!! Then on we went to Ensenada where we walked along the boardwalk and spent $100 on souvenirs from the vendors...it was perfect and just what we were looking for. A calm place to shop from the local vendors. I didn't see much of a beach...I think it is because this is a port city but there were fun bars and definetely good shopping! I recommend Ensenada for your day trip to Mexico from San Diego.