Over the last three decades, I’ve made dozens of trips across the border and down the scenic highway to the port city of Ensenada, developing a go-to list of taco shops, steakhouses, cantinas, wineries, hotels and even sportsbooks.
On a two-hour jaunt down the coast in late February, I escaped another atmospheric river hitting San Diego and discovered a side of Ensenada I never knew existed — the south side of town.
On one action-packed day, 40 minutes south of downtown Ensenada, I visited the Pai Pai Ecotourism Park in south Ensenada. There, I petted a baby jaguar as he nibbled on my knee, watched monkeys eat grapes out of my hand, and ziplined over a cage of tigers.
Our group then drove a few miles to Las Cañadas Adventure Park, where we took an ATV off-roading over boulders, through two feet of muddy water and up a treacherous path to the top of a mountain that overlooked the massive facility. Kayaking at La Bufadora blowhole with Shawii Outdoors was also on the agenda, but the weather didn’t cooperate.
Pai Pai was created by Edger Perez, an accountant who dreamed of one day owning his own zoo. The 12-acre property is the only zoo in northwest Mexico with an animal conservation center, allowing visitors to interact with jaguars, lemurs, snakes, horses, monkeys, and other farm animals. Perez said he’s just getting started with his animal oasis.
“I’d like to add giraffes, chimpanzees and rhinos in the next few years,” Perez said. “A hotel is in the long-term plans.” After playing with the animals, adrenaline junkies will love Pai Pai’s bicycle ziplining, bungee jumping and wall climbing.
It was off-season for Las Cañadas’ main attraction, the outdoor water park with a wave pool and water slides, but we made an afternoon out of ATV riding through the mucky terrain. We’ll return over the summer for ziplining (linked by hanging bridges), horseback riding and camping.
A kayaking tour at La Bufadora, guided by legendary kayaker Victor Leon, is also on this summer’s agenda. Leon’s tours for beginning and intermediate kayakers start at $55, and private tours are available to elite paddlers.
Not all the fun happens south of town, so on the three-day trip, we hit a few of our favorite drinking establishments in downtown Ensenada: Bar Andaluz, Wendlandt Brew Pub, Bodegas Santo Tomas Winery, and the iconic Hussongs Cantina. We also discovered some new restaurants: Victor’s, Gepetto’s Pizzeria, Tacos Don Zefe, and Temaky Sushi Bar.
We noticed that there seems to be a friendly competition in town between Bar Andaluz and Hussongs over who invented the margarita. Hussongs claims they created the tequila-infused drink in 1942, Bar Andaluz swears it was in 1948.
Hussongs serves its margaritas over a salt-rimmed glass and blends them with a shot of silver tequila, triple sec and lime juice, selling hundreds of the frosty drinks a day. There wasn’t a vacant table or seat at the bar the night we went; two roving Mariachi bands played local music, and locals sang along between sips of Hussongs’ Mexican lager beer, brewed especially for the bar by Wendlandt’s brewery. It was mostly locals, but a few Americans were sprinkled throughout the tavern.
“We’re probably 70-30 locals in here these days,” said Lui Hussong, a fourth-generation Hussong. “We hear this all the time from Americans, ‘If you haven’t been to Hussongs, you haven’t been to Ensenada.’ “
We spent an afternoon touring Bodegas Santo Tomas, the oldest winery in Baja California and one of Mexico’s largest producers, with over 125,000 cases a year across 40 labels. Santo Tomas is a perfect option for wine lovers who don’t have time to drive 30 minutes to Valle de Guadalupe wine country. We tasted several varietals, but the rose and cabernet were worth bringing home.
When you think of Ensenada, you usually don’t think of sushi or pizza. But we were blown away by the thin-crust pizza, pasta and desserts at the family-owned Geppetto’s, which we visited after happy hour ales and appetizers at Wendlandt. The sushi at Temaky, on the bottom floor of Hotel Marea Vista, was as good as anything I’ve had in San Diego. We loved everything on the menu, but we devoured the Mazatlán roll with salmon and smoked marlin.
The trip ended in spectacular fashion with a to-die-for seafood lunch and a wine tasting from Corona del Valle Winery at Jean-Loup Bitterlin’s stunning beachfront estate, appropriately named the Home with Seven Patios, five miles north of downtown overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Bitterlin, who owns the 77-year-old El Rey Sol French restaurant and Posada del Sol hotel, designed and built the Seven Patios to be the family home of his mother, Dona Pepita.
The elegant 8,600-square-foot mansion with six bedrooms, beautifully decorated with paintings from Mexican artists and family furniture from France, has since become Ensenada’s top wedding venue, offering stunning ocean views, three-night packages and accommodations for large wedding parties.
We’ve been staying in Airbnbs when visiting Ensenada, but we switched it up this time and checked out a few hotels, Posada El Rey Sol and Hotel Coral & Marina. The Coral & Marina is the largest hotel along the water, offering 147 well-appointed rooms and magnificent views of the marina and Todos Santos Island.
For boaters, the resort offers 350 boat slips and is the first fuel dock for those making their way down the Baja coast. The Coral’s BC Bistro and Cava offers a hot breakfast buffet, highlighted by the “conchas,” or Mexican sweet bread. Posada El Rey Rol, a recently renovated boutique hotel in the heart of Ensenada, is within walking distance of dozens of restaurants, bars and shops and is equipped with a pool and a gym in case you need to work off all the calories consumed on your trip.
