Ensenada is a pretty touristy place. Cruise ships arrive every weekend and lots of people from Southern California come to visit. The big landmark is an amazingly large and beautiful Mexican flag.

It is so tall that sometimes the top disappears in the clouds as seen in the following picture:

And it makes a nice background for other pictures. Christi’s Dad, John, was visiting us.

Lots of tourists means lots of shops and restaurants near the harbor area. We ate at a few different places. In just about every place we went to, we found something we liked, and something we did not. Grilled or broiled local fresh fish tasted good. We did not like the fried or non-local seafood as much. So far no one has gotten sick, though.

We did have a excellent time with boating friends Mary, John (left), and Richard (next to Christi).

Baja California is famous for off road racing. The Baja 500 (as in 500 miles) happens to start in downtown Ensenada. A friend of ours was part of a four man riding team on a motorcycle. There are all forms of off-road vehicles that participate. Here are some pictures and action at the start of the race.

• Video Action
  • Motorcycle 206x Start Sequence – After waiting in the long line off he goes!
  • Four to Two Wheels – This car got up on two wheels taking this first corner at high speed.
  • Quads in Line – Rumble rumble rumble.

And time to answer a couple FAQs:

• Q: How is the border wait?
• A: Getting into Mexico from the USA is easy, and there is hardly any wait at the border. Coming back to the USA the border wait varies. Here is the border wait site.
• Q: How is the security at the marina you are staying at?
• A: It is very good. For example here is a picture of some of the clearly labeled marina security vehicles.

Ok, well maybe that is Spanish for the Marines and they were on display for the Baja 500, but we stand by our statement, our marina security is very good.