Monarch...What to do in Ensenada?

[Hobie]

Can veteran Monarch cruisers post some ideas about what to do in Ensenada.

Are you able to walk from the ship dock into the main part of town?

Is the shopping good or a rip off?

Has anybody done the Rosarita Beach excursion?

 

Thanks for your help.

Hobie.

[takeavacation]

If you've never been to Ensenada -- you can go to La Bufadora -- it's one of the the few true blow-holes in the world. Don't go on the ship tour though -- take the shuttle to town and they will tell you the price directly thru them -- it is pretty cheap. At the blow-hole there is a market with lots of vendors.

 

Many people do the wine tasting tour thru the ship and enjoy that. I'm not a wine person -- so, I can't help you there.

 

Shopping in town is good -- depends what you are looking for and prices can be negotiated.

 

When I was there in early 2007 -- we could walk to town. But, I just heard a couple of days ago that friends were turned back at the security gate and made to pay the shuttle to drive them in/out of the pier area.

 

Have a great cruise!:)

[Mary Jane 711]

Hi. I was there earlier in January this year. We got off the ship and boarded the shuttle outside the shops at the dock. The price was $3 per person round trip. The shuttle drops you off in town and you pick it up anytime you are ready to go back at the same location. They give you a voucher and I believe you pay on the the return trip. This route is fine if yo just want to walk about twon and shop or eat or drink. You can get deals, but it depends on what your looking for. This trip I was looking for a leather purse and ended up buying two. We also had a nice lunch and drinks at Mango Mango restaurant. We had been there before. Its pretty tame during the day.

I have also done the La Bufodora tour twice and its alright. You can get better deals on shopping thre, but the vendors are in your face..literally. The blow hole is okay, but not wonderful. Still, it is something to see at least once.

I have also done the winery tour. They bus you out to wine country. A very nice drive. The wineries are right next to each other, and you see them both. They show you the operations and its really intersting. Then they take you to the tasting room/sales area and you can taste and purchase wine. When we went, one of the wineries gave us a free bottle, which I still have. It was fun, and everyone on the bus lightened up on the way back.;)

I must say, there is plenty to do in Ensenada and everyone's experience is different. Have a good time and just watch you wallet. I heard a guy on our cruise got pick pocketed. But he was drunk and stupid and not being smart.

[rclcruzer]

Just back Monday. This was our 3rd time with 3 other couples. There is a small shopping center with knock off purses, sunglasses, pharmacia, alcohol, cheap junk etc....then on the other side you can grab one of the many shuttles for $3 bucks rt into town. They drop you off in the middle of town and we usually just shop for about an hour then go to Hussongs, then fisnish our day at Papas and Beer.

There are many many poor little children and vendors that are somewhat pushy, but it's just a "no Gracias" and they leave you alone.

My friends have been to La Bufadora, but like the above poster mentioned, book it when you get off the ship. Cheaper and totally nice and safe excursion. There is also a wine tour that seems to be popular. There is horseback riding as well.

Have fun !

[Hobie]

Thanks a lot for your advice. Very detailed responses which I really appreciate.

 

Sorry for one more stupid question. Once in town, can you walk to Hussongs or Papas & Beer? I'm sure there are many people who can point me in the right direction.

 

Thanks again, Hobie.

[Bruin Steve]

Hobie,

With several of these under our belt, we've settled into a sort of standard Ensenada routine:

 

First, we take the shore excursion to the Wineries in the Guadalupe Valley...It's a nice ride out into the countryside. First (order may vary depending on how many buses they have), they stop at the "bullring" at the LA Cetto Winery for some nice views of the valley, then a tour of the winery itself with a nice explanation of the history and the winemaking process...then a stop in the very comfortable winetasting room for ample samplings of both wine and olives (they also grow olives and sell olives and olive oil)...then across the way to the Domecq Winery for another tour and more winetasting...We're not bigtime wine drinkers, but we really enjoy this excursion...

 

When the tour gets back to town, they offer the option of getting off the bus in the center of town--right near Hussong's and Papas & Beer...We do that and pop into Papas & Beer for some Fish and Shrimp tacos and some Margaritas...

 

We then walk back to the ship along the main street, shopping along the way...It's a few walkable blocks back to the ship...

 

I don't care much for La Bufadora...find it a waste of time...

It's not hard to find Hussong's or Papas...the town isn't that big...Papas has a family-appropriate restaurant downstairs and a rowdy bar upstairs...If for some reason you can't find what you are looking for, anyone can point you to it...

[PaddleAddict]

Thanks to the OP for posting this and all the great responses... this really helped me out!

[IBookHePays]

Can anyone tell me how long a drive it is to the winery tour?

[katstoy]

We've done La Bufadora both by ship excursion and on our own in town. Once you factor in the price of the shuttle getting you into town, they ended up being the same price and you were there for the same amount of time. The actual blow hole is pretty interesting to see. If the sea is cooperative it can be a sight. I've been there 3 times and each time it was blowing. Once was really good (December visit) and it blew up several stories above the overlook, lots of kids were getting soaked!

 

The shopping down there is definitely Mexican trinket/jewelry/blankets. Some will deal, others will not. They do get in your face, but a smile and no thanks (while you keep walking) works. Try the churros! The bus ride to and from La Bufadora is about 40 minutes each way and is pretty. For about the last half of the drive you are traveling along the coastline.

 

We've also done the winery tour. It's an hour bus ride from pier to wineries. I'm a "wino" and the wines at La Cetto were good. It was interesting to go into the aging rooms and at Domeq down into the caves. My favorite wine was the $3.50 per carafe Padre Kino. Yum Yum Yum!

 

Shopping is pretty much one main street, they'll bargain too. We avoid the Papas and Beer type places (although it's fun to watch the drunks make spectacles of themselves) and opt for smaller, quieter places. The food is usually great and the liquor cheaper!

 

One of our favorite things to do is not even get off the ship! If it's nice weather you'll have the pool to yourself! And then it's fun to watch the drunks get back on board starting about 2:00ish.

[critterchick]

I takes 45 minutes to an hour to get up to the wineries. We went once, and that was enough - a nice trip and (if you have a good guide as we did), you'll get a history of Ensenada along the way. The wines are tasty enough but unremarkable IMHO.

 

Our routine: we get a massage in town. There are several good, legitimate, places that will give you a fabulous one for less than half the price on the ship. We go to a place called "Massage and Facial Care." They have 2 locations; one on Avenida Lopez Mateo (the main drag) and the other on Miramar, which runs perpendicular to Lopez Mateo. We prefer the first location because it's quieter, plus we've gotten to know the manager and wouldn't want to take business away from her. But are both terrific in terms of their facilities - clean and well-maintained. spatherapy@hotmail.com

 

After the massage we usually have lunch at El Pueblo, which is around the corner from Papas & Beer & Mango Mango. It's not a party place at all, but they do have good food and margaritas.

[Happy ks]

The last couple of times we got off the ship we wished we had followed our normal rountine, which is to stay on the ship!

 

If we were going to get massages like Jean and Don, then we would go for that.

 

We've done the winery, the cheese and bread was the good part. I'm glad we finally went and we won't wonder about it any longer. We did enjoy the scenery out and back, all except the dead horse in the field next to the road. It's kind of sad such a pretty area is so full of litter along the highway, so I tried to keep my eyes up and off the trashiness of it.

 

We've done the shopping in town, same stuff store after store. Neither of us are vacation shoppers, I do enough of that at home!

 

We used to get off to get DH's OTC meds, but he thinks what he purchases there is not as good as what he buys here.

 

We've not been to the blowhole, but really don't have much interest.

 

We really enjoy the day on the ship with absolutely nothing to do, no worries, no errands to run, no phone to answer. Just a day of vegging out with a good book, a long walk of laps above the pool deck, maybe a movie. We have hardly any days where we can be lazy and not feel guilty about it, so we take advantage of it on a weekend away.

 

Whatever choice you make, I do hope you have a great little cruise on Monarch. We enjoy that ship and are so sad to see it leaving So. Cal. I do hope RCI replaces it soon!

[rclcruzer]

We've done La Bufadora both by ship excursion and on our own in town. Once you factor in the price of the shuttle getting you into town, they ended up being the same price and you were there for the same amount of time. The actual blow hole is pretty interesting to see. If the sea is cooperative it can be a sight. I've been there 3 times and each time it was blowing. Once was really good (December visit) and it blew up several stories above the overlook, lots of kids were getting soaked!

 

The shopping down there is definitely Mexican trinket/jewelry/blankets. Some will deal, others will not. They do get in your face, but a smile and no thanks (while you keep walking) works. Try the churros! The bus ride to and from La Bufadora is about 40 minutes each way and is pretty. For about the last half of the drive you are traveling along the coastline.

 

We've also done the winery tour. It's an hour bus ride from pier to wineries. I'm a "wino" and the wines at La Cetto were good. It was interesting to go into the aging rooms and at Domeq down into the caves. My favorite wine was the $3.50 per carafe Padre Kino. Yum Yum Yum!

 

Shopping is pretty much one main street, they'll bargain too. We avoid the Papas and Beer type places (although it's fun to watch the drunks make spectacles of themselves) and opt for smaller, quieter places. The food is usually great and the liquor cheaper!

 

One of our favorite things to do is not even get off the ship! If it's nice weather you'll have the pool to yourself! And then it's fun to watch the drunks get back on board starting about 2:00ish.

these drunks didn't get back to the ship until 3!!:p:D:eek:

[DrivesLikeMario]

Can veteran Monarch cruisers post some ideas about what to do in Ensenada.

Are you able to walk from the ship dock into the main part of town?

Is the shopping good or a rip off?

Has anybody done the Rosarita Beach excursion?

Thanks for your help.

Hobie.

 

Just got off the Monarch (for the third time) a couple weeks ago. This time, we did the winery tour. Even though we live in an area surrounded by 25 wineries, we really enjoyed this tour. You book it through RCI & the price was very reasonable. The chardonnay was excellent at L.A. Cetto Winery & I'm not a chardonnay person! Yum!

 

Prices can be very high in Ensenada when they know a ship is in port. Know your prices and think before you buy.

 

Many other people did the La Bufadora Tour and were disappointed. Even though we've been to Ensenada about 10 times, we've never done it, so I can't personally report on it.

[MomeeToEm]

Hobie,

We ended up doing the LaBufadora tour. If you want to see pictures of it click on the Monarch pictures at the bottom of my signature. Then, scroll down to the thumbnails of the pictures and they're in the last full row of pictures, starting at about the 9th picture in that last row.

Have a great trip.

[eandmrock]

we took a cab with another couple and went to estero beach for the day. we rented jet skis, saw people horseback riding but didn't try that. they had a few hotels right there and there is a museum with cool stuff you can buy. we had a blast. there was good tacos and cold beer to. you can get messages there at the hotel as well. told cab when to come get us and they were right there. we went back cleaned up and headed to pappas and beer to watch the craziness then walked back to the ship. we had a great time. more fun when the late ones had to make a run fo the ship.:)

[sdmike]

stay on the ship and enjoy your floating resort. Ensenada is not worth getting off the ship for

[boaterette]

Just a heads up for you first time visitors to Mexico. You can't put toilet paper in the toilets. You must put it in the trash cans. Also if you are going to the blow hole take toilet paper with you. They do charge you to use the restroom and they only give you two sheets of paper. While in Ensenada don't think that the restroom at the Mcdonalds will be better than any others. It isn't. It was really gross.

[sunsetme]

It was quite chilly for us So Californians. We did the winery tour, I've been to the blowhole previously. Not that much has changed in Ensenada--still a lot of junk stores.

We missed Catalina by the way--the swells and wind were a factor although it didn't look too bad. We ended up sailing back and forth all day.

[UltimateDevotion]

Just a heads up for you first time visitors to Mexico. You can't put toilet paper in the toilets. You must put it in the trash cans. Also if you are going to the blow hole take toilet paper with you. They do charge you to use the restroom and they only give you two sheets of paper. While in Ensenada don't think that the restroom at the Mcdonalds will be better than any others. It isn't. It was really gross.

 

The restroom upstairs at Mango Mangos was surprisingly nice. My sister (who just turned 18) spent a couple hours in there - it was her first time with tequila :)

[cruiserbryce]

for us Ensenada is just a day to walk around the town and venture through the shops...last time we had a nice time just walking and going to Papas n Beer for lunch...it has nothing on the ports that you go to on the longer trips but is a nice day getaway...La Bufadora has gotten some nice reviews...friends of ours went and had a good time, but none of the excursions really get us too excited....