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Rosarito
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If you want to escape the pace and noise of Tijuana, head for
ROSARITO
, about 45-minutes' bus ride on the old road to Ensenada. Since
beaches
in Tijuana are invariably crowded and dirty, Rosarito, is the better alternative as, while scarcely less popular, the town has a far longer, sandier strand and a much more restful atmosphere. It's not particularly attractive - the beach is grey, windswept, and none too clean, lined with condo developments and hotels - but it does make for a worthwhile afternoon. You could even stay out here; the motels lining the road are better value than those in town. Since 1997, the town has become an attraction for movie aficianados and even more southern Californians who have come to see
Fox Studios Baja
, just south of the town at km 32.8 on the free highway to Ensenada. This bit of Hollywood-in-Mexico, originally created for the filming of
Titanic
, is now a massive full-time production facility that utilizes its seventeen-million-gallon oceanfront tank for water-based films (including
Pearl Harbor
and
Deep Blue Sea
). Tours are available on Sunday (US$5) and some Saturdays (provided they are not shooting). The
Titanic
model, created at 95 per cent scale, has been disassembled, but much of the set is viewable there in storage.
To get to Rosarito from Tijuana, take one of the colectivo taxis that leave from Madero between 4th and 5th, or head for the old bus station at Madero and 1st, from where buses leave every hour or so; to get back , just flag down a bus or colectivo on Juarez, Rosarito's main street. Rosarito's tourist office (daily 9am-7pm; tel 6/612-3887) is inconveniently situated a twenty-minute walk to the north on the road to Tijuana, and is not really worth the effort. There are few budget hotels , among them the Motel Sonia (tel 6/612-1260; US$10-15) at Juarez and Plama, but a better option is the Hotel California (tel 6/612-2550; US$15-25). Right on the beach with ocean views is the Hotel Los Pelicanos (tel 6/612-5545; US$40-60), by the large terracotta-coloured hotel block. The style and charm that made the upscale Rosarito Beach Hotel (tel 6/612-0144; US$60-80) a Hollywood favourite during the Prohibition years has now largely been obliterated by modern refurbishment, but the older rooms still have some character. Along the single street behind the beach is a row of restaurants, cafA©s and bars, some of them pretty good, in particular the fish restaurants and a couple of cafA©s that serve decent cappuccino and cakes. The party-time focus is Papas and Beer , where beach volleyball and knocking back as much Corona as possible is the order of the day.
If you're
continuing south
to Ensenada and beyond, you can pick up long-distance buses (at least hourly) at the autopista toll booth 1km south of the tourist office, past the
Rosarito Beach Hotel
. The coast road down through Rosarito - now supplanted by the motorway to Ensenada - is an attractive drive, lined with seaside villas and condos. Other useful information
for tourists (each section contains more specific sub-sections): |
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Mexico,
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