Ensenada for Cruisers

Sitting on the edge of Bahia De Todos Santos Ensenada is a busy fishing, commercial, and cruise port on the northern end of Baja California. It's surrounded by stunning landscapes that host vineyards and small farming operations producing fantastic wines, fruits, and vegetables. It is an absolutely beautiful place, and I'm glad I chose it as Echo's first overseas port of call.

Upon entering the bay, we hopped on channel 69 to listen to the local cruiser's net broadcast that comes on at 0800 every morning Monday through Friday and at 0900 on Saturdays. It's a great way to meet other people on cruising boats and get information on what, where, when and how. I didn't know it beforehand, but if you're planing on sailing to Ensenada it would be a good idea to get onto the cruiser's website and ask any questions you may have. We just asked about a good place to tie up on channel 69 that morning and were recommended Marina Coral.

What a good recommendation that was. We had just come off of a six and a half day cold voyage. We were wet, cold, exhausted, and couldn't have picked a better place to tie up Echo. The marina office was happy to help us with our customs and immigration paperwork, the price was reasonable, and they had amenities! We wasted no time and hopped in the jacuzzi tub, had a sit in the sauna, and went for a swim in the pool. At the time it seemed like the best hot tub in the world, especially after that long cold voyage.

We set about town, and thankfully our first day wasn't one when the cruise ships called into port. When the cruise ships are in, the town is crawling with tourists and the hawkers are pushy. However, on the days when there are no cruise ships in, everything is much more laid back. Ensenada is a great town to walk around, and if there is something that needs doing further away the public transportation system is fantastic. Buses are cheap and the drivers are friendly. Ten pesos can get you anywhere in town.

For a cruiser, supplies are easy to come by. There is a home depot, a couple of good chandleries, and at worst case there is a shuttle going from Marina Coral to the San Diego West Marine store on Mondays and Fridays. Just up the road is a really reasonably priced chandlery with a friendly staff called Agencia Arjona and they can order any sort of odd part that would be needed if they don't already have it in stock.

I've found Ensenada to be a terrific place for provisions as well. Fresh and available, it's all here and it's all extremely inexpensive by U.S. standards. I'm covering the food in Ensenada here in another post, but provisioning and eating here in Ensenada is not to be missed, I absolutely love the food here. Another little known fact about Ensenada is it's proximity to some fantastic vineyards and wineries, I was able to get out of the city for a day to visit them and some great wine comes out of this area. Unfortunately the wine is rarely exported due to high taxation by the Mexican government, but it is truly world class.

The biggest credit to the area is the friendly locals. Back in the States all that is heard about Mexico is the drug wars, but I have seen nothing of it. A little bit of care not to be walking down the wrong streets in the middle of the night is all that is needed, not unlike any major city throughout the world. Police are helpful and everywhere, people are kind and friendly, and I've never once felt threatened for my safety here in Ensenada like I have in other places. Drug war? I've seen nothing of it, and it's a shame that such a reputation has befallen an entire nation when incidents are in isolated areas of a huge country.

If it weren't for new places and continued adventure I could be completely happy right here in Ensenada, but the South Pacific awaits, and foreign shores are calling.

Check out a few photos from our time in Ensenada.