ROSARITO AREA, MX
The Rosarito area of Baja is one of the most popular destinations on the entire peninsula. There is great surf here, with only a small fraction of the crowd just an hour across the border. It's about a 45-minute drive from the border to get to this region that has a noticeable gringo influence, and is significantly safer than Tijuana to the North. The area is home to many gated communities that are primarily filled with gringo retirees or expats living there full-time. Or even those commuting up to work in San Diego daily. Something easily done with the newly released SENTRI pass that lets you pretty much just cut the line into the States. A lot of the surf spots in the area are unfortunately right in front of these gated communities, and it can be hard to access them — if not impossible, without knowing someone who lives inside, or renting an Airbnb. But even so, it's possible to get into most of them by parking outside and just walking down. This part of Baja is popular for weekenders coming down to score some waves and stay in nice places right on the water for relatively cheap. Gringo havens like Las Gaviotas are well-known and popular spots that actually draw pretty large crowds. There's also a few popular places to go eat, drink and go out. But there won't be too much of a nightlife, or travel community outside of your group here. I'll get into some of the best things to do here.
LOCATIONS
The namesake of this guide. Rosarito is the main town. It has your grocery stores, restaurants and even chain restaurants that will have a taste of home. It's where you should come if you want to stock up on food, to get a nice dinner where you actually sit at a restaurant, or to go out for a drunken night. Good waves in the area as well. There is also a sprawling beach, but the water isn't usually very clean, and can be cold most year round.
As mentioned above, Rosarito is about 45-minutes south of the border with the States. The town of Rosarito is pretty big, and has a lot of the western comforts you may be looking for. Grocery stores — even a Carl's Jr. All of your essentials will be here. Also, any real nightlife you would want to find is located here. But this section is about the entire area surrounding Rosarito as well, which is pretty large. Since this is a guide for an area, I will go into more depth on the locations within the area.
Here I will cover from Rosarito, all the way south to pretty much Ensanada.
One of the mellower and more down to earth gated communities in the area. It's located just north of Rosarito town. There should be a number of Airbnb's you can find here for a pretty decent price, with an ocean view.
Another gated community. I have realized this section is going to be a lot of those. But that's how Rosarito is. Baja Malibu is a cool spot though. Can't get in through the gates unless you live there or are renting but there is a great wave out front. You can park on the street. Also located just north of Rosarito town, and is a nice place to get a spot for the weekend. One of the best waves in Baja is right out front. More in the surfing section on this.
This is another small town south of Rosarito. It's not much of a destination, but there is a gigantic Jesus statue that's actually pretty cool to look at. It's like Christ the Redeemer, but a little Mexican version. It's also the home to k38 surf house. The best, and one of the only, surf hostels in the area.
Yet another gated community. This is the most 'famous' one however. I referred to this as 'Mexican Orange County'. It's extremely luxury, and I personally never set foot inside. Wasn't in my budget, or what I was looking for. But if what you want is a really nice house, and to not really feel like you are in Mexico, then Las Gaviotas could be perfect for you. There is a great wave out front you can't get to without being a resident, but you will find large crowds here from all the SoCal people down here in their vacation rentals or second homes.
This is an interesting spot. It's a fisherman village that has some walking streets, and a lot of restaurants. It seemed to me like this was where a lot of the people who lived in and around Rosarito would come for a night out or for dinner. It was a cool stop, but you'll run into a lot of heckling from people trying to get you to come eat at their restaurant. Great spot for some cheap lobster though. Also a grocery store here if you need. Just blew through this spot. The biggest town outside or Rosarito in the area.
Super small little spot on the way to Ensenada down by k60. It has a rad campsite on the cliffs, and an awesome beach. It's down here that the water-quality has all but cleaned up, and you have escaped the Tijuana and San Diego runoff that plagues the northern part of this area. There's a little tienda here, and a few places to grab good tacos. Nice spot to take a rest for the night as well if you can camp. — Loved it here.
HOSTELS, CAMPING, AND HOTELS (IF ANY)
THE REST
There's a lot of other little stops around here. Other gringo gated communities that I won't get into. Other little towns with stops that are worth it. Getting lost is the whole point of going to Baja.
This place is pretty legendary. Almost any old dirtbag Baja surfer you meet will know about Roberts k38. And has probably stayed there. It is probably the best place to find a bed in northern Baja when you are on a budget and want to surf. The place will usually be teeming with other dirty surfers looking for accommodation in the area for cheaper if they aren't camping. It's a great place to meet other surfers, and one of the last places for a long time that has a hostel vibe to it. Nice wave out front as well, and you can get away from the Las Gaviotas crowd. If that's what you want.
The primary form of hospitality here in the Rosarito area will be Airbnb or camping. In my case it was almost all camping. There are also hotels, but I know nothing about that world here. Some luxury resorts as well, but I would be surprised if anyone was here for that reason. Below I will describe some of the camp sites and some hostel accommodation as well that I found great here. The list won't be too long — most of the camping starts further down when the development starts to diminish. Look on iOverlander on your phone for more places.
If you are looking to rent a house, I would recommend just looking on Airbnb and there is stuff available across price ranges. I don't have any recs when it comes to specific ones or anything like that.
Really awesome camp spot about 30 minutes south of Rosarito. It's pretty much your first beach-front camp spot in Baja. Above here is pretty developed and most of the beach-front spots have houses on them. But here you have a sprawling cliff-top camp site that's usually going to have some motor homes, and no shortage of overlanders scattered around. Great wave out front. Great place to spend the night. Or a few.
This is probably my favorite campsite north of Ensanada. It's an awesome spot, with individual and numbered campsites on either the beach or on little cliffs. Beautiful sunset views and most, if not all the campsites have little fire pits which will save you some time and keep you warm on those cold Baja nights. It's an awesome drive in as well, down a windy road with stunning views the whole way. I think there's also little cabins you can rent down here.
EATS
Baja has some of my favorite food in the whole of Mexico. I'm sure you can assume but the term Baja-style fish tacos or Baja-style shrimp tacos gets its name from this part of Mexico. The beer battered shrimp and fish tacos are everywhere, and amazing.
These roadside, or small restaurant tacos are something I still think about and drool over to this day. I don't know most of the taco stands I ate at by name, so just keep your eye out for any lady in a small structure on the side of the road and you can't go wrong. Other than the tacos, there are some cool gringo spots to check out that I have outlined.
Street Food
These have got to be my favorite tacos in northern Baja. It is this side of the road taco truck serving up some of the best Baja-style fish tacos you will ever have. It's a small spot — just a truck on the side of the road, with a few tables. It's a MUST if you ask me.
Was an excellent little taco spot off the side of the road that we stopped at one night outside of Puerto Nuevo. It was delicious, and cheap, and quick.
Another little side-of-the-road stop in Primo Tapia along highway one. There are tons of these places, and this was just a really good one that we went into. Solid and cheap tacos conveniently right on highway 1.
Roadside Tacos
Just to reiterate what I mentioned above, the taco stands are excellent here. Just keep your eye out for little stands on the side of the road and you probably can't go wrong. Just order some tacos de pescado, or tacos de camaron and you will be happy. Shouldn't put you back more than about 15 pesos per taco. Try as many as you can.
Gas Station Tamales
I'm sure a lot of you will read this and be kind of confused. But for a while I survived off of little more than these tamales. If you go to a gas station there will usually be someone selling premade, precooked and wrapped tamales out of a cooler. They are about $1 each, and are honestly enough for a full meal. It's a great way to support local — they are delicious, cheap and filling.
Keep your eyes peeled...
There's tons of stuff around on the side of the road. Fruit, tacos as I have already mentioned, veggies. People selling all sorts of tasty stuff. Don't sleep on the stuff on the side of the road. It's the stuff you'll remember. The real stuff, made by real hands from the place you are. Don't be scared to try the food, it might change your life, if not at a minimum, your day.
Restaurants
One of the more well-known taco restaurants in the area. I stuck to the stands on the side of the road, but if you want to sit somewhere this place is apparently good.
Always on the list of best places to eat in Rosarito. It's more expensive restaurant food. It's a steakhouse, and it's good I guess. — Never went.
A trendy, happening brewery spot right on the water in El Portal (near Jesus). It's very western and the crowd will be mostly gringo but they have good food and beer.
Great little taco shop near k38 in El Portal, and pretty much next to Robert's k38.
A really cool brewery and restaurant spot near Las Gaviotas. It's got surf vibes, obviously, and they have good food and beer. Mostly a gringo crowd.
If you are staying at La Fonda (k58) this is going to be one of your limited options to eat. Great food on the cliff. Not the cheapest option, but good.
and many more...
Go explore. There are restaurants all over the place. I stuck to the street tacos mainly, but there's tacos stands and restaurants everywhere so go eat your fill. Also some nicer stuff if you fancy bein' fancy.
NIGHTLIFE
Bars and Clubs
So nightlife in the Rosarito area can certainly be interesting. I didn't really partake in any of it, but I can share what I have heard. A lot of it is centered around gringos down in Baja for the weekend, letting loose because it's Mexico and nothing matters in Mexico right? I don't subscribe to that way of living but that's what it will feel like if you go out on a weekend night in Rosarito.
People come and drink too much tequila, and have themselves a wild weekend. However, outside of going out in Rosarito there's not a whole lot going on. Not to say people aren't going out, but for the most part people will be going out with the group they came with. If you are traveling with a small group, or on your own, outside of actual Rosarito town, the nightlife will be pretty mellow and you won't find yourself meeting a ton of people. Which is okay. It's Baja. Things move slow.
I don't really know much about the nightlife, but a few spots I know of, or went to, are outlined below. I didn't spend much time going out in Baja, so these sections will be light.
The place is certainly famous. It's been a gringo hotspot for years. It's a loud, crowded and rowdy club that goes day and night in Rosarito. Usually filled to the brim with people about a million margaritas deep. Never went myself, but this is certainly the center of nightlife in the area.
Mentioned in the food section as well. But it's a bar as well considering it's a brewery. It's a nice place to hang when the sun is going down, and they frequently have live music so it's a nice little spot to spend some time.
Other spots...
That's pretty much all I know of personally. If you want to find nightlife, just go to Rosarito and if you want to find it, I'm sure it will find you. Below is the picture I found from just googling 'Rosarito nightlife'.
SIGHTS
From a sights perspective in this part of Baja I don't really have much to add. The views along the highway are stunning. Those in their own right should be a sight to see. I found myself in awe, time and time again, as we turned another corner to a beautiful view of an endless coastline. Throughout Baja you'll find yourself thinking, "this is what Southern California would look like without all of the people". What a difference a border can make.
I don't have any specific things to see here though. Except maybe Big Jesus in El Portal but that's up to you. Surfing is the main attraction here. That's what there is to see, and do.
SURFING
Now onto the important part. The real part most people, well I won't speak for most people, but I'll speak for myself, come here. There are waves all over the place. One after the other. They are relatively uncrowded for the most part. It's one of the last places in North America that you can find true exploration from a surf perspective. There's something magical in this day and age about surfing somewhere and having no idea what it's called, or where you are. One of my favorite things to do on this earth. That's not quite as true up here in the Northern part, and doesn't really begin until you get down to the "Real Baja". I get to that in different sections but it's still pretty great up here.
The water will be cold. Shockingly colder than its nearest neighbor to the North in San Diego. There is some sort of upwelling phenomenon that occurs off the coast of northern Baja that causes the temperature to decrease substantially. I am no scientist, so I have no idea why this is, but it's true. I even brought a hood after hearing about this. It gets cold, and the cold don't stop till the bottom of Baja.
But the waves are great. As I mentioned above, unfortunately a lot of them are guarded by the gringo lock and key, and behind the gates of these communities. But if there is a will there is a way. Below I will outline some of my favorite waves here in this part of town. But as I mentioned earlier and I will exhaust going forward, please, if you plan to surf here, get yourself a copy of 'The Surfers Guide to Baja' by Mike Parise. It's available at a lot of local SoCal surf shops, or online for $17.95. As always, no spots that are not of public knowledge, or for the purposes of Baja, mentioned in that book, will be mentioned.
