La Bufadora — Attraction in Ensenada

I came here on a tour, while coming off a cruise ship, 8.5 to 9 years ago with my gf. We specifically paid for a tour to get away from Ensenada and were promised it would be a village away from tourist areas. On the tour, about 90% of the time, the tour guide on the bus spoke in detail on everything we passed - agriculture, cost of living, etc. for the Mexican people. She would often say "We have no idea how good we have it." "How absentminded we are as privileged Americans" or "These specific avocados and tomatoes are not going to the people but instead, America", along with 100 other statements designed to inspire guilt. She indicated herself as American, despite being a Mexican native.

After an hour to an hour and a half of this, we came off the bus hoping to see a village. Instead, it was 40 to 60 shacks, bound together in a row. They were selling the lowest quality synthetic merchandise you could imagine, all the same items from the same factory in Mexico. You could not walk more than a few feet without someone harassing you to buy something. We walked the ultimate tourist gauntlet to get to the viewpoint & restaurant at the end. Someone had overheard me mention the lack of a bag to carry something, and pressured me to an extreme degree to buy a bag. He wanted 50 dollars for something you would find at dollar tree. Most of the items there were of the same value or less than dollar tree. I had to eventually tell him this, that it was no insult, but I couldn't buy things at a 15x to 50x mark up. Unfortunately, most of Ensenada was like this. Imagine paying $3 to $5 for a taco in Mexico.

I tried to buy tequila from them there, but everyone said it was too precious to sell aside from several hundred dollars. The only place I was able to get tequila was a little shop back in Ensenada off the pier exit that sold me a 1 oz or 2 oz bottle for $6 dollars. I understand it is rough living out there, but the tourist markup makes you effectively poorer than the locals. I don't know if there is a good experience to be had in Northern Baja California, but I get the impression it would only be if you're quite wealthy. We were definitively lower class and got our Cruise 75% off. It would take at least a $1000 for me to be paid to go back to La Bufadora or Ensenada, and I would not stay a minute longer than required. If you were fluent in Spanish and disguised as a local, it might be an entirely different...

La Bufadora Blowhole Located 17 miles south of Ensenada at the tip of the Punta Banda peninsula, La Bufadora (The Blowhole) is an amazing natural marine geyser that is capable of shooting water well over 60 feet in the air. La Bufadora is considered to be the second largest marine geyser in the world (the largest is located at Makapuu Point in Oahu, Hawaii) This marine geyser phenomenon is caused by ocean waves being forced into a partially submerged sea cavern, causing great amounts of air and water pressure to build. The air and ocean water are expelled through the only exit, launching it several stories into the air. Getting to La Bufadora is very easy, and the drive provides spectacular views of both Bahia de Todos Santos and the mountain range on the southern end of the bay. Head south out of Ensenada on the Mexico 1 for about 30 minutes until you reach Maneadero. There are clearly marked signs for the exit to La Bufadora. You will proceed west along the base of the mountains and drive for about twenty minutes. The road is paved and well marked with signs that lead into La Bufadora. There are several parking lots to choose from, and it costs a couple of dollars to leave your car in a lot with an attendant on duty. If you visit with a tour guide, especially from a cruise ship, you may have to be patient since most tour guides will stop at several road side vendors and introduce you to the product that they sell, including leather goods, silver jewelry, clothing, food etc. Because of the path from the parking lot to the blowhole watch area is lined on both sides with shops and vendors of all types, including pharmacies, Mexican foods and drinks especially tequila, and Mexican made ware. So it takes at least 15 to 30 minutes to walk the 150 yards down to the blowhole viewing area. However, if you go there by yourself, you can ignore the pestering vendors that tried very hard to sell their ware to you. You can also take time to check their ware out after you visited the blowhole. The spray of the blowhole is spectacular and you may get wet if you view from the very edge of the retaining wall. The timing of the intervals of the water sprays depends on the roughness of the sea, wind direction and speed. They could be every minute or five minutes. And if the sun is shining, rainbows are formed from the water mist right after each...

Took a cruise to Ensenada and this was one of the few places recommended to see while there. A few of us took a shuttle to a drop off point in town. Walked around a little bit while there but didn't really feel comfortable going too far so we decided to go see what they called the "blowhole" or La Bufadora. The tickets for the ride there were about $17 each, supposedly half what it cost from cruise line. Boarded another small bus for a 45 minutes or so ride out of town and up into some mountainous areas. Once out of town the view was prtty awesome! The tour guide was very nice and gave us some great info about the history of the area. Also gave us some pointers of what to expect and what not to do when we arrived at the blowhole. Arrived at the attraction and it was a bustle of people and vendors selling a wide variety of things. Tour guide told us to be sure and not pay the full price for merchandise. You can haggle for a lot lower price on everything! He also told us where the free restrooms were. The rest charged from $.50 to $1.00. After a short walk thru a guantlet of vendors trying to sell you their various wares, which also included Mexican food and drinks we reached the "blowhole". It was worth the wait! Apparently it is caused by a crevice eroded by the crashing waves into the land. The waves would build up and hit the gourge in the rocky shore and make a loud whooshing sound followed by a large spray of water into the air! It was an awesome sight to experience! If the wind was just right the viewers would get a nice splash of ocean water. You can loiter as long as you like. The shuttles back to town left about every 30 minutes. All in all it was a great experience to take in. Would definitely recommend it if you go...