The Cultural Renaissance of Baja Norte's Gold Coast

The Cultural Renaissance of Baja Norte's Gold Coast 

- by Kennedy Carr

I have been traveling down to Baja regularly since the early 80s. Back then, my visits included Rosarito Beach Hotel, Housongs Cantina and La Bufadora. On my journeys, I would always notice all the unfinished 20 story condominiums and empty gated subdivisions that had security shacks but no houses on them. These obvious financial disasters made up a large part of the coastal landscape from South Rosarita to Ensenada. Projects that would seem to run out of money before they became completed.

Then about 10 years ago I started noticing that all those unfinished condos became completed and the subdivisions all had houses in them. The Gold Coast of Baja Norte is now known to be one of the richest, most educated, and most developed areas in Mexico. The rich coastlines along Tijuana, Ensenada, and Rosarito are the most visited places in all of Mexico. Cruise ships arrive daily at the Port of Ensenada from the nearby ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach, and San Diego.

Baja's Gold Coast has experienced recent rebirth of a Cultural Renaissance like no other time in history. Large amounts of creative activity by many local and foreign artists are reflected in offerings of fine art, music, science, technology, architecture, and spirituality. Alternative Wellness Centers, Yoga Studios, Surf Retreats, Music, Food and Wine Festivals, Vegan Restaurants, Juice Bars, Organic Winerys, Micro-Breweries and Art Galleries are now popular destination spots that many international travelers are accustomed to visiting in these enriched coastal communities.

Baja has become a international Mecca of Transformational Tourism. These tourist are defined by being seekers in a shift in perspective, self-reflection, development, and a deeper communion with nature and culture. They seek to find the courage and strength to overcome challenges—physical, psychological, or emotional. Travelers of 2019 are looking for a deep shift that lasts long after the physical journey ends.

Wellness Retreat Centers are opening up through out Baja. Staffed by mental and medical health care professionals, nutritionists and life-coaches providing a variety of treatments and services for the health of their clients' minds and bodies. Holistic wellness is an approach to being healthy that looks at a person's health in a holistic way. If someone has physical pain, their mind and spirit will suffer.

Baja California continues to be a world leader in medical tourism as Americans increasingly seek less expensive health care across the border in Mexico. The number of tourists arriving in Baja California due to medical issues has tripled in the last five years, as in 2014 nearly 800 thousand travelers arrived at the destination, while for this year the figure increased to 2,400,000.

As recently as fifteen years ago, yoga in Baja Norte felt like an exotic discipline. You could count the yoga teachers with the fingers on one hand, and students in one session were never more than five. Most thought yoga was a religious practice, few resorts gave space to it unless their guests booked a private yoga class, and to be seen upside down, on top of the head, in meditation, was seen as a superpower.

Because of the natural beauty, many retreats are organized in Baja by local and international yoga teachers. Several Baja studios offer classes on a daily basis. Most all resorts and boutique hotels offer yoga, and some have now designed spaces specifically for its practice.

The rising popularity of veganism dining and natural juice bars in Baja’s cultural landscape has become the norm. Statistics show that diet-related health issues are common within the Latino populace, and a shift toward plant-based eating may benefit the community greatly. it’s increasingly clear that the movement is well on its way in Baja Norte.

The Guadalupe Valley is like no other wine region in Mexico. It is known as a center of organic wine production. The Guadalupe Valley of Greater Ensenada is a wine locality that in part began with vineyards in Napa Valley. Wineries are small, with limited production, and wines are by definition- exclusive. Wine made in Guadalupe Valley, is the talk of wine connoisseurs around the world.

The dry Mediterranean climate and sea breeze give wines from the Guadalupe Valley their characteristic terroir, high alcohol levels and berry aromas. This land produces select wines: exquisite tempranillos, cabernet sauvignon, merlot, grenache, shiraz, zinfandel, nebbiolo and carignan. Full-bodied wines with high alcohol levels that taste of berry and sea. These great wines are 100% Mexican grown.

Think Mexico, think beer and the names are easy to recall, Corona, Pacifico, Tecate with a number of darker brews. But Baja California is poised right on the edge of being well known for its micro brewers and they are springing up all over the city of Ensenada. Now passionate brew masters have opened the door of opportunity and caught the attention of Carnival Cruises, who have launched a new Mexican Craft Beer and Brewery Tour into Ensenada. The brewmasters are pushing the envelope as they incorporate el sabor de México, the flavor of Mexico, into golden liquid. New brewers are opening for the summer tourist season and several well established breweries are in full operation.

Over the last half dozen years, Baja Norte has progressively developed a sophisticated electronic House and Techno music scene. In years past, beach clubs and bars have catered mostly to college students, ages 18 to 25. Loud p.a systems pulsate EDM music into the streets from Tijuana, Rosarito to Ensenada. Now there are EDM music festivals through out the year, with peak months starting in April to November. These festivals are drawing international artists and audiences of a wide age range of dance enthusiast.

Baja has been a legendary surfing hub since the 1940s, both the northern and southern tips of Baja California offer incredible right-hand swells and barreling beach breaks.

Baja California Norte may not have the glamour and glitz of the south, but it has something even better: uncrowded beaches, year-round surf, and the biggest waves on the peninsula. Remote beaches, fast point breaks and epic reef breaks make northern Baja the perfect spot for beginner, intermediate to experienced surfers.

With all this being said, whether you live in Southern California or are traveling from international countries, the Gold Coast of Baja Norte is the best value money can buy in the North Americas. Hotels range from $18 a day to luxurious villas at half the price of any other comparable accommodations around the world. Searching for a life transformation? Look no further, Baja has arrived.