Lobster, in an abundant supply, satisfies visitors' cravings for approximately US $11   LOBSTER RECIPE   A hankering for lobster? Click to CNN Food Central: Lobster Lover's Salad   CNN FOOD CENTRAL   Shellfish: Nutritional tables Seafood: Links and more info

In this story: A place where 'nobody says no' Cattle ranch becomes prime real estate Surfers, families escape to Puerto Nuevo Another popular hideaway: Las Rocas Resort If you go.... RELATED STORIES, SITES

June 18, 1999
Web posted at: 3:08 p.m. EDT (1908 GMT)

By Anne Z. Cooke

(Los Angeles Times Syndicate) -- Though the town of Puerto Nuevo, on the west coast of Baja California, has at least two dozen restaurants, there's only one thing on the menu: Pacific red lobster, the specialty of the region.

Never mind that this four-block cluster of weathered stucco buildings, perched on the lip of the Pacific Ocean 28 miles (45 kilometers) south of the U.S. border, is barely a village, with just one tiny market, two pharmacies, assorted craft shops and two long rows of makeshift souvenir stalls.

Lobster is what visitors have come to eat, and lobster is what they will get. As the sun slants westward on a Saturday, the familiar rhythms of strumming guitars and mariachi bands strike up the strains of "Cielito Lindo," calling the faithful to dine.

The lobsters, flourishing in the bay's rich waters, are fished out in apparently unlimited numbers. Weighing in at one to two pounds (about 1/2 to 1 kilogram), they come to the table bright red and deep-fried or, upon request, steamed, on platters heaped with rice, refried beans, salsa and tortillas. A complete dinner costs about US $11, not including liquid refreshment, usually margaritas or beer.

The Americans, mostly from Southern California and Arizona, are in town for a getaway weekend of sun and shopping, and they'll get that too, for Puerto Nuevo has almost as many craft shops as restaurants. In this village, the embodiment of can-do capitalism, anything goes where tourism is concerned.

"Why do I love it here?" asks businesswoman Debra Wilson, explaining why she left her California condominium 11 years ago, and moved to Rosarito Beach, 16 miles (26 kilometers) south of the border.

Shopping is another activity that occupies visitors' days. Craft shops line the streets of the small village

"Nobody says 'no.' In Escondido, (California) you couldn't build a fence. You couldn't have two cats. You couldn't park on the street. I still spend two days a week in San Diego, and as I drive back across the border coming home, I can feel the stress and tension drain out of my shoulders."

Wilson isn't the only visitor to appreciate Mexico's relaxed attitudes. On weekends, visitors stampede over the border to shop in Tijuana, eat in Rosarito Beach, sample the crush at two new wineries in the nearby Guadaloupe Valley or weekend in Ensenada, 30 miles (48 kilometers) south of Puerto Nuevo.

As you leave Tijuana and the ramshackle slums that pile up against the border, the countryside opens up to a series of rolling grassy hills. In summer and fall, the grass fades to yellow, to brown, and finally to pale gray. But it only takes a few days of winter rain to restore the landscape to life, turning it to a vibrant green.

In the last century this land was a cattle ranch, part of an ancient Mexican land grant. After the ranch owners sold a strip along the coast, small villages like Puerto Nuevo began to dot the coast. Since then, scattered hotels and beach clubs have sprung up, separated by empty land, trailer parks, pottery shops, souvenir stalls, scrap yards and the occasional tumbledown shack with wet laundry clinging to the barbed wire fence.

Zoning, as you might imagine, is not part of the vocabulary. But looking beyond the helter-skelter landscape at the string of scenic bays and rolling breakers, it's not hard to imagine a future time when this beachfront property will be bought, cleaned up and over-built.

Meanwhile, Puerto Nuevo is a secret with families, fanatic surfers, beach people and escapees from El Norte's predictable order. The village is close enough for a day trip, but many visitors stay overnight at one of several nearby resort hotels.

The closest is the New Port Beach Hotel, directly south of the village. The 143-room hotel, built in 1990, is a sandy-colored stucco building on low bluffs. Five stories high and V-shaped, its rooms face the ocean and a heated pool, surrounded by a paved patio and terraced lawns that slope down to a children's play area.

The pool, very large, is the social center, where people swim, sun or order from the pool bar. Children play in an adjoining wading pool; the atmosphere is so casual that nobody says "hush up," when they shout and splash.

The lobby interior is a warm pink, a close match for the Mexican pavers tiling the floors. The restaurant is on the lower pool level; a lounge, bar and gift shop are on the lobby level. A map on the lobby wall, mounted just above a surfboard rack, shows all of northern Baja's best surfing beaches; at certain times of year, surfers make up a good percentage of the hotel's weekend guests.

The rooms are plain but large and clean, with telephone, television, new mattresses and modern bathrooms. I'd rate them three-star. The management says you can drink the water safely, and we did. The restaurant, on the lower pool level, is a good place to eat. When a new general manager came on board in 1994, he revamped the menus and hired a professional chef.

The other popular hideaway is Las Rocas Resort and Spa, on the ocean five miles (8 km) northward. An older establishment, this 74-room hotel feels more settled, with nicer landscaping and bigger palm trees. The location is prettier, too, on one of the coast's loveliest coves.

A petal-shaped pool and tiled patio hug the edge of the bluff, inviting swimmers to hang over the rim facing two spectacular mammoth rocks, las rocas, offshore. The downside, however, is that the rooms are smaller and a bit worn. Many of them have mini-kitchenettes, two king beds and a fold-out sofa.

Las Rocas's main attraction, in addition to the beautiful pool, is the spa. A surprisingly elegant facility overlooking the sea, its pink marble floors, hot tubs nestled in cozy rooms with ocean vistas, comfortable treatment rooms and a large salon give it an elegant air. The program, open to non-hotel guests, offers 10 types of massage, body wraps and aromatherapy, mud, salt and oil baths.

Hotel guests can use the steam bath, sauna, showers and spa robes for $10 daily. Other spa packages are offered, or in Baja style, you can put together your own. Sit in a hot tub, relax and forget all those frantic contemporary lifestyle problems. Then head back to Puerto Nuevo for a lobster platter.

If you go....

Recommended reading: It's a wonder how author Joe Cummings managed to write 490 pages about Baja California. I didn't realize how much history and culture there was on the peninsula. But Cummings gets every last detail in his guidebook, "Baja Handbook," published by Moon Travel Handbooks, in Chico, California. At $16.95, it's worth every penny. Highly recommended.

Where to stay: Call the New Port Beach Hotel at (800) 582-1018, or fax 001-526-614-1174. Double rooms start at $70 per night on weekends.

Call Las Rocas Resort & Spa at (888) LAS-ROCAS. Double rooms start at $69 per night, Monday through Thursday; $89 per night on weekends and holidays.

Driving: If you fly to the San Diego Airport in San Diego, California, and/or rent a car through Avis, the New Port Beach Hotel will give you a room discount of 25 percent on weekends and 50 percent on weekdays. Ask for the discount when you book your room. Call Avis at (800) 331-1212.

If you drive from Los Angeles or San Diego, avoid any possibility of trouble by buying Mexican auto insurance. Signs close to the border mark the way to a half-dozen insurance booths, or you complete all arrangements over the phone through Ada-Vis Global Enterprises, in Temecula, California. Call them at (800) 909-4457, or fax (909) 506-4884.

A one-year policy with liability and property damage starts at about $58. Returning over the border, be prepared to wait in line for an hour on an average day, and up to three hours at mid-day on holiday weekends. Your best bet is to return very early, or late in the day.

Copyright © 1999, Anne Z. Cooke
Distributed by Los Angeles Times Syndicate

Weather: Ensenada, Mexico
World Maps and Guides: Mexico