# Ensenada



## jwducks (Apr 18, 2015)

Hi All:

I have lived in San Diego for the last 14 years and love the area and of course the weather. Interested in retiring and relocating to Ensenda in a few years in an expat community that is safe and secure. Also, I am concerned about travel to and from Ensenada from San Diego. Can anyone provide guidance?

Thank you.

jwducks


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

Expat community? Why? Living in Mexican cities, on a normal street in a normal neighborhood is what we did for some 13 years in Chapala, while those expats who flocked together in insecure ‘gated communities‘ generally suffered from occasional break-ins, or worse. Unless you are involved with drugs, flash your riches or hang out in questionable places, Mexico is generally as safe, or safer than the place you have left behind. If you speak some Spanish, or will learn, you will enjoy wherever you land in Mexico that much more. It is a fine country for retirement; maybe even the part of Baja you are considering, although that proximity to the USA does have its disadvantages and border waits can be very hot and long. Have you considered other areas, with even better climates? Are you a city person or a country person, who might enjoy smaller towns with more rural surroundings? 
In any case, welcome to the forum and keep on asking your questions. There are a lot of folks here to help answer them....or even offer so many options that your head may spin.


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## jwducks (Apr 18, 2015)

Thank you for the input. We would like to stay near San Diego for visitation with friends and family. A native of Texas, I am now addicted to this souther Pacific Coast weather. What other areas of Mexico would you recommend?

jwd


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

I can understand a Texan being attracted to that climate, but I am afraid that I dislike the cool, foggy mornings much of the year. Putting aside proximity to San Diego, you might like La Paz, Chapala, or even Mazatlan. One has a seaside desert climate, an inland lakeside microclimate that is impossible to beat for year round comfort, and the last has a more humid seaside climate with good beaches and wonderful centro.


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## Hound Dog (Jan 18, 2009)

jwducks said:


> Hi All:
> 
> _I have lived in San Diego for the last 14 years and love the area and of course the weather. Interested in retiring and relocating to Ensenda in a few years in an expat community that is safe and secure. Also, I am concerned about travel to and from Ensenada from San Diego. Can anyone provide guidance?
> 
> ...




Welcome jw. I see you live in Carlsbad, not San Diego proper and, as I remember. although I lived in San Francisco and only worked occasionally in San Diego, the weather in Carlsbad is a bit more favorable than some coastal zones up there in the San Diego Metropolitan area.

The drive from the U.S. south of San Diego to Ensenada is more dangerous in the U.S. than in Mexico but why do you want to live in Ensenada, a coolish and foggy town smelling of fish guts, in enclaves among the San Diego types you are fleeing? As a San Franciscan, I always found San Diego extraordinarily boring. Fresno with beaches. Ensenada is an exurb of San Diego and about as Mexican as Boyes Hot Springs, California. You are planning to retire to one of the most beautiful and interesting countries on the planet but Ensenada is as boring as an apple on the teacher´s desk. Move on south.


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## chicois8 (Aug 8, 2009)

Hound Dog said:


> [/I]
> 
> The drive from the U.S. south of San Diego to Ensenada is more dangerous in the U.S. than in Mexico but why do you want to live in Ensenada, a coolish and foggy town smelling of fish guts, in enclaves among the San Diego types you are fleeing? As a San Franciscan, I always found San Diego extraordinarily boring. Fresno with beaches. Ensenada is an exurb of San Diego and about as Mexican as Boyes Hot Springs, California. You are planning to retire to one of the most beautiful and interesting countries on the planet but Ensenada is as boring as an apple on the teacher´s desk. Move on south.



Come on Dawg, tell us what you really think of Ensenada and remember just because a southerner lives in San Francisco for a short time does not make the a San Franciscan......


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## Hound Dog (Jan 18, 2009)

[_QUOTE=chicois8;7010418]Come on Dawg, tell us what you really think of Ensenada and remember just because a southerner lives in San Francisco for a short time does not make the a San Franciscan......[/QUOTE]_

Good point, Chicos8. Dawg only lived in San Francisco (North Beach) for the short period of some 40 years but resided in my birth state of Alabama for 22 years.  Now, I´ve lived in Mexico in both Jalisco and Chiapas for 15 years. Does this define me as an Alabamian, a Californian or, since I am now a Mexican citizen, a Mexican? 

Actually, I lived in Kenya for a lengthy period of time in the 1960s and loved that country. Perhaps I am an African.

Get serious or get quiet. 

And, San Diego is the most boring place on the planet outside of Texas no matter from where one originates.

Incidentally, I moved to San Francisco for the "Summer Of Love" in 1967. Perrhaps we have met. Was I good?


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## coondawg (May 1, 2014)

jwducks said:


> Thank you for the input. We would like to stay near San Diego for visitation with friends and family. A native of Texas, I am now addicted to this souther Pacific Coast weather. What other areas of Mexico would you recommend?
> 
> jwd


Welcome, jw, to this Great Forum ! I, too, am a Texan (from outside Houston), and have spent a couple of weeks in Carlsbad some years ago, and enjoyed the weather (was there in winter). Just too many people and too much "hustle and bustle" for me. Now live part time in the Hill Country.
Had lived many years in Chapala and enjoyed my time there, but Chapala is not a sleepy village any more. 
Can't help with your OP, but wish you well.


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## mes1952 (Dec 11, 2012)

If you plan to retire in a few yeas rather than now things will change so much that all this information will be outdated including the weather which continues to become warmer and warmer every year due to climate change - including the coast of California and Baja.


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## vantexan (Sep 4, 2011)

mes1952 said:


> If you plan to retire in a few yeas rather than now things will change so much that all this information will be outdated including the weather which continues to become warmer and warmer every year due to climate change - including the coast of California and Baja.


Ensenada was 65F at noon Pacific time today with forecast highs for the week in the 60's and 70's. Global warming may be happening but it's not going to turn that stretch of coast into Costa Rica anytime soon.


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## terrybahena (Oct 3, 2011)

Ok I guess I'll chime in. I live about half an hour/ 45 min south of Ensenada, and really- it's what you make it. It's true there's SO many Americans and Canadians in Ensenada, but you have to choose what you want to surround yourself with. We shop mainly in the next town of Maneadero which is all Mexicans, eat at the stands, and in Ensenada tend to spend our time in areas that are not frequented by Americans. I guess it helps that my hubby is Mexican. 

Actually where we live is mostly expats but the landlords of the ejido are all Mexicans. We do not socialize in the American enclave...just our choice...but we did want to live at the beach so we're here. Our dogs run free, we are left alone and it's quiet here. Our particular "camp" is not very populated, after a power struggle about 15 years ago people were forced to leave their homes by the military..and so there are more empty houses around us than with neighbors living in them (hence the quiet). Nearby I teach a free conversational English class to locals and getting to know them is a joy. We're getting invited to occasions (like baptisms, birthdays) and it feels like Mexico. The Mexico we lived in down south...yeah we have to look a little harder to see it, but we're happy.
Yes there's morning fog! I come from above San Francisco (Petaluma) where morning fog became a way of life. It's never super cold and almost never super hot -altho we've just been here a year and a half. But Mexico is a huge country....visit lots of places! We have been all over the place and lived in a couple of places before settling here. 

Buena suerte


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## Hound Dog (Jan 18, 2009)

_


vantexan said:



Ensenada was 65F at noon Pacific time today with forecast highs for the week in the 60's and 70's. Global warming may be happening but it's not going to turn that stretch of coast into Costa Rica anytime soon.

Click to expand...

_
The problem with the north coast of Baja California down to Ensenada is that the climate along the coast is modified by the cold California Current which makes the seaside communities a bit chilly while nearby inland desert areas are quite hot in the summertime. I might also add that the Pacific off of Ensanada is not an inviting place to swim and Ensenada itself is an unattractive and forlorn fishing harbor. It´s a shame to move to a country with countless kilometers of extraordfinary beaches and warm crystal seas and settle on a craphole like Ensenada . To each his own.


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