dean miller
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Posts: 456
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La Buffadlora of yesteryear
The following reflecions on La Buffadora has been extracted from my past writings which I would like to share with you and yours
" "La Buffadora" is a spanish name, which best translation is the snorting sound a buffalo makes, but for so many visitors it is simply known as the
"Blow Hole."
In the early 1950s was in college and had been a goggler/skin diver for 5-6 years. We had heard via the "grape vine" that the road to Ensenada had
been paved and the water (at that time) was crystal clear
During the Christmas break of December 1951, four hardy young college students were off on a Mexican diving adventure. The paved road stopped at a
movie house near Hussongs Cantina.
We headed for the water and a shock of our young lives..the water was bone chilling! Exposure suits--wet suits were many years in the future..we like
most SoCal "divers" were using GI surplus wool sweaters and long johns for thermal protection which was useless in the fridged Mexican water.
So a walk around town, a huge bowl of turtle soup,with great dissapintment we slowly headed home to SoCal.
After college and my Koren war obligation to Uncle Sam was fullfilled, I returned to my beloved SoCal -by then the wet suit had arrived and dive
manufatures and divers had increased like two rabitts in a 3 foot cage.
One of my first post USAF purchases was a WW11, surplus 4x4 1942 Dodge ambulance, which was modified with a roof rack made from a bed frame, jerry can
racks and a bench seat from a civiliain automobile.
The first test trip was to La Buffadora. We cramed 3 or 4 divers into the ambulance and an equal number in a late model (1950s) civilian auto and away
we went off to high adventure.
The year was about 1956 or 57, Ensenada was still a small sleepy fishing communiuty, every thing south of there were just small villages with names
like El Cepress, Los Olivos and of course Mandeneo at the end of the paved road was just a small Mexican government building where toruist were
required sign their name and to pay a $1.00 US tourist tax.
The turn off to La Buffadora was about a 100 yards south and from then on it was dirt road. Away we went down that deserted dirt road. Our mission was
to find and dive La Buffadora, which we did --it was difficult to miss it was at the end of the road.
We had 3 great days of isolated camping and virgin diving in an area that had seldon seen a diver. Every day we feasted on a varriation of sea food,
lobster, scallops, fish, breakfast lunch and dinner.
Then the final night of our adventure it began to rain and rain and rain. The next morning we hastlily packed up and departed. Once again away we went
with my 4X4 leading the way, with the auto following, but not very well. It was certainly not an off road vehicle, every so often I would stop to
attatch a rope and pull the auto out of a rut or dislodge it from a mudd hole, all the time it was raining and all the time we were soaked and
miserable.. After seven (7) long hard wet miserable hours we reached the main paved road. Thus ended my first trip to La Buffadora.
Not detoured by the rain and mud of this trip I returned many times in the years following.
A few years later the land around La Buffadora was aquired by a rich and powerful Mexican Army General and not to any one's suprise the road was paved
to the end. Construction immediately began on a hotel resort above La Buffadora, but for a number of reasons construction never progressed past the
foundation stage which is still visable..
Now the area has transitioned into a ex pat residential area and an often visted tourist- dive- camping area with all the facilities of a modern week
end dive resort.
sdm
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DENNIS
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Posts: 29510
Registered: 9-2-2006
Location: Punta Banda
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Thanks Dean...you predate me by a while.
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64850
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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Mood: Have Baja Fever
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Awesome! 
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