Ensenada Travel and Tourism Guide

Ensenada is the third-largest city in the Mexican state of Baja California. It is located about 70 miles south of Tijuana. Ensenada is also the municipal seat of Ensenada Municipality, one of the five into which the state is divided. Ensenada is locally referred as La Bella Cenicienta del Pacífico (The Cinderella of the Pacific).

Located in the Bahía de Todos Santos — an inlet of the Pacific Ocean — Ensenada is an important commercial and fishing port as well as a cruise ship stop. There is also a navy base, an army base and a military airfield, which functions as an airport of entry into Mexico.

The city is backed by small mountain ranges. Due to its location on the Pacific Ocean and Mediterranean latitude, the weather tends to be mild year-round. Although the winter rain season is short and the area is prone to prolonged droughts, Ensenada sits in the heart of a wine country that is widely regarded as the best in Mexico. It is said that the first vitis vinifera made it to the peninsula (specifically to the San Ignacio Mission) in 1703, when Jesuit Padre Juan de Ugarte planted the first vineyards there.

Ensenada's proximity to California also makes it a destination for short cruise ship trips from the Los Angeles area. There are four ships that make weekly trips to Ensenada as of 2005.

A few minutes south of town on highway 1 is the largest of three known major marine geysers in the world. This one is known as "La Bufadora" ("The Blowhole").