The Best Mexico Day Trip from Southern Cali
When our family travels, we go hard. By that, I mean we cram as much as we possibly can into whatever length of time we have available to us. We’ve speculated about slowing our pace someday, and doing a destination trip in which we spend our time in one place. But, so far, that hasn’t materialized. On our most recent holiday trip out West, for example, we visited Las Vegas, Red Rock Canyon Park, Joshua Tree National Park, the Spring Mountains (in a major snowfall) San Diego (where the girls went surfing), Baja California, Mexico, Los Angeles (Getty Museum, Reagan Library, Rodeo Drive/Beverly Hills, Hollywood…and a family reunion)…and we did it all in 10 days! It was non-stop.
One of the best parts of this trip was a last-minute idea from our eldest daughter Katie, who has made it her personal mission to collect as many passport stamps as she possibly can. She suggested we ring in the new year by spending January 1st on a day trip to Mexico. Faster than you can say “¡Ay, caramba!”, she had us booked on a 12 hour day trip from San Diego to the Baja California peninsula of Mexico, via an amazing tour company called Baja Border Tours and its owner/operator, an energetic, and extremely personable gentleman named West Barba.
West is originally from Colombia, but a peripatetic career in broadcast news (he was a CNN news videographer) eventually led him to settle in southern California. Like most of us veterans of the TV news biz, West has a hankering to explore new places. And, he’s an avid surfer. He quickly fell in love with Mexico - its people, culture, food, tequila and epic waves - so he bought property in Baja California and opened a tour business. He leads each and every tour personally, and does so with enormous passion.
Mexico has a checkered reputation both here in the US and internationally, with its drug trade, illegal border crossings and infamous “Montezuma’s Revenge” affliction upon digestively-vulnerable foreigners. Regardless, West is determined to show sometimes skittish tourists that there is much to love, admire and enjoy in this beautiful country, if you’ll just give it a chance. To wit, he took our group (the 5 Robinsons, a Brazilian, and 3 generations of an Indonesian family) on a whirlwind extended day through his favorite tucked-away corners along the breathtaking Mexican coastline. We explored tumbledown villages and expansive Pacific overlooks, tasted local tequila & Mexican hot chocolate, learned about the border wall, and had some pretty amazing food (and one fried grasshopper) along the way. If you’re visiting the San Diego area, here are a few of the adventures you can experience with West and Baja Border Tours:
The Wall
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Regardless of your politics, it is undeniably poignant to stand before the colorfully painted US-Mexico border wall at Friendship Park in Tijuana. Only a few yards separate two worlds. West explained that, a few times a year, the single iron door at the Tijuana section of the wall opens, and families can reunite with each other in a courtyard. The rest of the year, loved ones separated by the wall can only connect through concrete slats and a mesh barrier that allows just enough space to touch fingers. The wall trails off into the Pacific and you can see the US beach just a few yards away, on the other side. It looks completely swimmable, except that the current is wicked, and there are border security cameras monitoring the water 24/7. The wall gave us all pause. The issues around illegal entry into the US are complex, but we all were reminded not to take for granted the enormous opportunities and prosperity we enjoy here in America; they are rare things that many other countries simply don’t have, and for which all humans yearn.
Rosarito
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Our next stop was Rosarito, an oceanside town where A-List movie stars such as Marilyn Monroe and Frank Sinatra often vacationed during the golden age of Hollywood. The Rosarito Hotel & Spa is fun to meander; it has beautiful tile work and spectacular ocean views. For us, the highlight was renting ATV’s and riding them on the beach just outside the hotel! $30 buys you a half hour of fun zooming over the sand dunes with the Pacific sparkling by your side. You can also ride horses here, if that’s your fancy. After several laps on the ATV’s, we’d worked up an appetite and headed to Restaurante el Nido, which is a feast for the both eyes, and the stomach! The amount of food they serve is simply gargantuan and we couldn’t do the poblano tamales justice, but we did manage to finish off a delicious margarita and the baskets of warm tortillas - yum! The owner took great care in decorating Restaurante el Nido in a vintage Mexican aesthetic - part cave, part lush garden. You can visit the basement wine cellar…you descend steps to a lower cave, walk across a little stream and find yourself in a cellar that looks like something out of the Mask of Zoro - the stone walls lined with horseshoes, each holding a bottle of wine aging its way to perfection. Even though you’re only a couple of hours from San Diego, you feel transported.
After Rosarito, West took us to another tiny coastal village whose name I’ve since forgotten, but it was pretty magical. We walked down to the beach and saw fishermen cleaning their catch of the day, played games with the locals, accepted the culinary “dare” of eating a fried grasshopper dipped in chili and lime (which tastes as bad as it sounds, but heck - we’re committed to the experience…) and met the gigantic village pig who boasts the singular talent of smashing a can of coke, and drinking it up. All this activity was set against the backdrop of the Pacific ocean, with flocks of squawking seagulls and authentic mariachi bands filling the air with their music!
Just outside of Rosarito lies Pepotla, and an incredible arch-like rock formation overlooking the ocean. We stopped to capture some spectacular photos and take in the natural beauty of the Baja California coast. We would never have known to pull over and see this natural gem on our own!
Puerto Nuevo
Our 3rd official stop was Puerto Nuevo, where we saw a giant Jesus statue reminiscent of a similar and more famous statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. By this time, daylight was slipping into sunset over the Pacific, and the views were breathtaking. Because West is a former CNN cameraman, he has serious photographic skills, and he happily takes epic photos of his guests, right on their iPhones. In Puerto Nuevo, we tasted tequila, saw and sampled authentic Mexican hot chocolate (the process involved a blow torch) and watched local artists make paintings from spray paint and broom bristles. We also tasted treats from a local sweet shop, including candied mango…all of it unique and flavorful. We finished our adventure back in Tijuana, for dinner at a popular local taco restaurant, and we probably didn’t do it justice because we were so stuffed from a day of gastronomic indulgences. Throughout the day, I was struck by the natural beauty of the Baja California, the friendliness of its people, the easy pace of life, and the awareness of a truly unique and different culture just a skip and a hop away from San Diego.
So, to sum it all up - if you go to San Diego, you should definitely give Baja Border Tours a day of your time! I promise it will be worth it. I’m not affiliated with them or compensated in any way, I just highly recommend them! West also offers wine tasting tours and whale watching tours, and I’m sure those are equally amazing! If you go, remember to bring cash (US dollars) for tips, ATV rentals, horseback riding, and souvenirs. Our entire family truly felt we had experienced authentic Mexican culture in one activity-packed day, and it was an unforgettable way to kick off a new year!
Things Worth Noting:
Wesbite: Baja Border Tours
Cost: about $100 per person
Getting there: West picks you up at your hotel or Air BnB in the San Diego area.
Bring: Cash and your passport, sunscreen
West provides bottled water
