Call it a case of unmistaken identity.
Driving along this two-lane highway past a blinding expanse of blue water hugged by dusty brown hills feels vaguely familiar. Though this roadway winds along the coast north of Ensenada through the Chapultepec Hills, it's got Big Sur written all over it. Even the waves crash with a familiar gusto.The rocky coasts of central California and Baja California Norte - separated by a mere 550 miles and an international border - aren't identical, but they're definitely cut from the same tectonic cloth. And were it not for a pact in 1848 at the end of the Mexican-American War that established Baja as part of Mexico, the two may have shared a common state.
Both have spectacular Pacific Ocean views accessed by roadways with similar names. In central California, it's Scenic Highway 1. Baja Norte, however, has two - Highway 1D (the free road) and Highway 1 (the toll road). The two run roughly parallel as far as Ensenada where they merge to become Mexico Highway 1, which continues another 1,600 miles to the southernmost tip of the Baja peninsula. It takes both routes - starting on Highway 1D in Tijuana, hopping onto Highway 1 in Rosarito and returning to 1D at La Mision - to keep this road trip a coastal adventure.
It's only about 80 miles from the U.S.-Mexican border to the Bay of Todos Santos, the body of water that defines the port city of Ensenada. But the time it takes for this coastal drive depends less on distance and more on how many side trips you take, how many times you stop to photograph dramatic cliff-side villages, how many taco stands you sample and whether you brake for sunsets. Three days would be a minimum, and it goes without saying that midweek is always better than weekends for lighter traffic and room availability.
From Los Angeles to the border via Interstate 5, all roads lead to Tijuana, the former and still somewhat tacky border town that has grown into Mexico's fourth largest city. (After crossing the border into Tijuana, don't forget to stop and buy Mexican auto insurance that costs about $12 to $14 per day).
A favored lunch stop is Caesar's Palace, a restaurant with a hint of faded elegance that bears no semblance to its Las Vegas counterpart. This spacious establishment, near the corner of Avenida Revolucion (the main shopping drag) and Calle 4a, has its own claim to fame: the birthplace of the Caesar salad. A white-haired waiter in a three-piece suit named Tony tells the story of that fateful day in the early 1920s when chef Caesar Cardini ran out of food. In those days, he explains with wide hand gestures, most of the food for the restaurant was brought in daily from the United States and could not be replenished at a moment's notice. Stumped for something to serve his waiting guests, Cardini threw together everything he had left in the kitchen and - voila! - a salad was born. A salad alone costs $4.40, while entrees (which all come with a Caesar salad) run $9 to $12.
Leaving Caesar's, the slightly overwhelming one-way roads jammed with traffic have well-marked signs leading to the southbound highways. The dense urban crush of Tijuana gives way on Highway 1D, a route that hugs the coast through Playas de Tijuana and Bullring-by-the-Sea.
Staring at this seaside stretch booming with new stucco homes topped with satellite dishes, it's hard to believe that early attempts to settle this area by Spanish explorers in the 1530s failed. It would take more than a century for Jesuit priests to successfully set up a string of Catholic missions, primarily in the south and central part of the peninsula.
Between Rosarito and Ensenada, little clusters of seafood restaurants and stores make up villages as small as dots on the map. Puerto Nuevo, also known as Lobster Village for the numerous restaurants that line its cobblestone streets, caters to lobster lovers. (Warning: Though the lobster has a reputation, other fish entrees can be pretty passe.) A tiny pull-off called Cantamar is little more than huge sand dunes - a perfect spot to laze around and catch a stunning sunset.
La Fonda, a tiny village pitched on the side of a cliff about 20 miles south of Rosarito, is a good spot for an overnight stay or romantic seaside dinner.
The main highway from La Fonda continues down the coast, but a brief detour on Highway 1 leads to a little inland village called La Mision. This dusty village, void of tourist shops and English speakers, contains the ruins of La Mision de San Miguel Arcangel de la Frontera, a Dominican mission built in 1787. A plaque at the base of a cross marks the site of the former mission, which has been reduced to a few eroded adobe brick walls. But exploring a dirt road from the center of town into foothill farmlands turned up an orphanage where a well-preserved adobe that was part of the original mission still stands.
Heading back to the coast and south on Highway 1D. A billboard along the roadway boldly describes the resort and golf course Bajamar as being "rather like Pebble Beach in 1918."
Just north of Ensenada is a well-marked turnoff at El Mirador, which reveals expansive views of seaside cliffs and churning emerald waters. But this is not your typical vista point. An elaborate pink stucco restaurant-gift shop complex was built a year ago on this isolated hilltop, and, like Nepenthe's in Big Sur, draws visitors who are more intent on taking in the view than the food.
From El Mirador, the highway's hairpin turns showcase more views of the Bay of Todos Santos until the road smooths out at Ensenada, a working port town that caters to tourists.
Returning to Highway 1, it's easy to bypass the traffic and tourist crowds in Ensenada and head to Estero Beach Resort, an inexpensive complex whose beach faces a still-water estuary.
Heading south to Maneadero, a stretch of roadway with many road bumps, westward Route 23 leads out to Punta Banda, a village on a gorgeous little peninsula at the southernmost tip of Ensenada's bay. The drive is beautiful along sprawling undeveloped acres of coastline where goats scurry along the road, cows graze in seaside fields and brightly colored stands advertise olives, carrots and other homemade pickled foods in huge glass jars. The views along are superb all the way to La Bufadora, the most popular tourist spot in Ensenada.
A brisk tourist trade bustles along the narrow road into Punta Banda - stands with T-shirts, tacky statues, colorful blankets, mangoes, fresh coconuts, churros (dough-and-sugar confections) and mariscos (seafood). Open-air taco stands with stools offer up tempting smells with a view of rocky cliffs and sea. Again, the central coast of California comes to mind.
La Bufadora, an Old Faithful-esque attraction, doesn't fail to disappoint. Even on a midweek day, there are hundreds gathered around the cement-wall above the rock where the ocean crashes against a chink in the surrounding cliffs, sending water spraying 20 feet to 50 feet into the air. Onlookers squeal and laugh as they get doused with water in La Bufadora's wake.
On the side of the walkway, a stairway leads up above the jet of water where visitors elude the crowd, stay dry and get a good view of the show. The slick cliffs, the foamy sea and the shrieks and cries that come with each "eruption" begs the question: What would Big Sur would be like with a blowhole?