BajaNomad - A "Perfect" Tijuana Weekend! (Labor Day '07)

A "Perfect" Tijuana Weekend! (Labor Day '07)

Ken Cooke - 9-22-2007 at 06:04 PM

I know, I know...Tijuana=Drugs & Guns and bad food. For the tourista who looks beyond the Zona Norte, there is so much fun to have there. Especially on Labor Day weekend at Playas de Tijuana! I had such a wonderful time there with Chris 'Big Dog' Glass and his family from Tijuana, Mexico.

Check out Big Dog's Ford Explorer. It turns everyones head down in Tijuana. And those are 37" Goodyear tires he's running on the street, too. Not bad for hauling the family around Tijuana and for heading to the occasional off road event! :light:

Ken Cooke - 9-22-2007 at 06:05 PM

On our way to the beach - Playas de Tijuana with all of the familia:

Ken Cooke - 9-22-2007 at 06:15 PM

Setting up on the beach. It was a warm, and free of clouds...at first.

Ken Cooke - 9-22-2007 at 06:17 PM

Willy and his family stopped by to hand out some flyers for his off road event that took place the following weekend in Jacume:

Ken Cooke - 9-22-2007 at 06:19 PM

The beach was packed with party-people for as far as the eye could see!!

Ken Cooke - 9-22-2007 at 06:28 PM

As the song goes, "Tijuana Makes Me Happy!"

TIJUANA MAKES ME HAPPY [video]

Bravo, Ken

Gypsy Jan - 9-22-2007 at 07:04 PM

There are so many hard working Tijuanaenses (forgive my spelling transgresions, fdt) who are out there everyday; commuting, earning a living, providing for their families and trying to improve the city that they live in and... have a little fun on the beach, too.

[Edited on 9-23-2007 by Gypsy Jan]

Mango - 9-22-2007 at 07:13 PM

Looks like you had a great time. Thanks for the photos and report.

Every time I see your Jeep... it makes me want one a Rubicon even more.

Ken Cooke - 9-22-2007 at 07:23 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Gypsy Jan
There are so many hard working Tijuanaenses (forgive my spelling transgresions, fdt) who are out there everyday; commuting, earning a living, providing for their families and trying to improve the city that they live in and... have a little fun on the beach, too.

I agree. Good, hard-working people who are trying to have a decent life. Friendly people, too.

I am going to Colombia in 6 weeks, and I'll (of course) have a full, new batch of photos to share...Maybe, I can stick a "Got Baja?" sticker on a military tank, if the soldiers there aren't looking??? :light:

fdt - 9-22-2007 at 08:27 PM

As always, thank you Ken for posting your experiences here, to bad the good news does'nt make the big headlines. Algun dia.

DENNIS - 9-23-2007 at 09:27 AM

Ken....
Did you see Oldhippie while you were there? That's his beach.

oldhippie - 9-23-2007 at 09:36 AM

Playas is a fun place. Typical morning walk time.

playas1.jpg - 29kB

oldhippie - 9-23-2007 at 09:41 AM

beachside park

[Edited on 9-26-2007 by oldhippie]

playas2.jpg - 43kB

oldhippie - 9-23-2007 at 09:43 AM

the beach

playas3.jpg - 40kB

oldhippie - 9-23-2007 at 09:44 AM

neighborhhood

playas4.jpg - 44kB

oldhippie - 9-23-2007 at 09:52 AM

Seafood patio restaurant

patio.jpg - 44kB

mikeintj - 9-23-2007 at 11:35 AM

Those pics bring back memories! I must have run up and down that beach about 500 times!

Ken Cooke - 9-23-2007 at 02:44 PM

I didn't see Old Hippie, but how could he miss us???
PLUS, I was rockcrawling up this knoll right behind were we were parked, and I nearly rolled the Rubicon in front of about 100 spectators!! :no:

Sharksbaja - 9-23-2007 at 02:59 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Ken Cooke
I didn't see Old Hippie, but how could he miss us???
PLUS, I was rockcrawling up this knoll right behind were we were parked, and I nearly rolled the Rubicon in front of about 100 spectators!! :no:

Sounds like you fit right in! Wow, what a busy place. I sometimes forget. A wee bit too busy for my taste.

oldjack - 9-25-2007 at 12:03 PM

This is a good example of what happens when a great "secret location" is revealed to a few friends... those darn beach-types(former surfers I think)... did you notice all the porta-potties?????

David K - 9-25-2007 at 07:43 PM

Keep in mind that is the beach for the city of Tijuana to use, looks about normal for a big city beach.

How come nobody is crying about people driving on that beach (where it could actually hurt somebody)? :lol:

Ken Cooke - 9-25-2007 at 09:09 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by David K
Keep in mind that is the beach for the city of Tijuana to use, looks about normal for a big city beach.

It was sure busy on Labor Day Sunday - the same day that the Bottle Throwing Bonanza took place down in Mission Beach/San Diego!! Something like 22 people were arrested in that incident...

Iflyfish - 9-25-2007 at 11:32 PM

So many Mexico's and so little time! Thanks for this great post of a place I have never been. Looks like a blast.

Iflyfish

bajadogs - 9-26-2007 at 12:17 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by David K
How come nobody is crying about people driving on that beach (where it could actually hurt somebody)? :lol:

It's a matter of time DK. We must remember when the Rosarito beach looked like that (Guilty here as I used to enjoy the fun).
Then beachgoers were killed by beach racers.

baja1000 and families on the beach don't mix.

It does look like a great time though. Pollution aside.

oldhippie - 9-26-2007 at 06:45 AM

Driving on the beach in TJ is normally not allowed and the lifeguards will chase you down. If you look at the picture I posted of the crowded beach you'll see just lifeguard vehicles. On big weekends they focus upon keeping the swimmers safe. They are well equipped with new trucks and jet skies to respond to incidents. The beach is about five miles long and things are a bit looser at the south end because it is not guarded. The north end is where all the families go. There are only three ways to get a vehicle down the bluff to the beach and the trails at mid beach, where I live, and south beach will soon be closed off due to development. The north entrance is what the lifeguards use and it is policed.

Pollution is a problem especially if it has recently rained. A US federal judge has recently ordered that the debate about how to fix the pollution problem must come to an end and that the treatment plant in the US be expanded. Most of the single point sources along the coastline in the TJ area have been closed off and the runoff is being collected into a new storm system and piped to an outfall at punta Banderas.

There are many dilapidated buildings along the beach at the north end near the bullring because they are now essentially worthless. The federal exclusion zone has been remapped and because of erosion, development along the beach at that end has been frozen. In the US they would be condemmed and torn down. It appears it doesn't work that way here.

I invested a sizable chunk of change into a beachfront house here so naturally I'm a booster of the area. It is improving every day. There are huge houses being built along the bluff at the south end. And it's not Americans building the houses, it's rich Mexicans. TJ is the fastest growing city in Mexico. If you wait until things are perfect, the good deals will be gone. It's a great place, especially if for personal reasons you must stick close to the US. I've left my house and gotten onto I-5 in 20 minutes using my Sentri pass, where beachfront houses cost two or three times as much.

[Edited on 9-26-2007 by oldhippie]

David K - 9-26-2007 at 07:34 AM

Thanks for the good information!