Boating in Baja Still Down

Baja California Reports Tourism Down — but Not Boating
By: Capt. Pat Rains Thursday, February 07, 2008 12:00:00 AM
Last updated: Thursday, February 07, 2008 2:31:00 PM
Reports are mixed on nautical tourism, but mostly good.BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO — Despite concerns about a recent crime wave in Northern Baja California, many U.S. boaters continue to visit — by land and sea. However, some have changed their travel plans.

Photo by: Pat Rains photo
Coming Back — Like this boat’s crew in Ensenada Harbor, many U.S. boaters continue their love affair with Baja California. However, generalized fears spawned by last year’s attacks on land-based tourists may be keeping some boaters away — especially trailerboaters who must travel between Tijuana and Ensenada.
“The image of the security problem has hit the state very badly,” said Oscar Escobedo Carignan, tourism secretary for Baja California, in a report in the San Diego Union-Tribune. Along with a government effort to beef up security along the Tijuana-to-Ensenada toll road, tourism officials are fighting back by launching a new campaign to attract U.S. visitors, with the slogan “Come Back.” In addition, a “Get Your Passport” campaign being launched this month will offer discounts for U.S. tourists at many Northern Baja California hotels, restaurants, bars and retail businesses. On the Road“Tourism just plummeted from right after Thanksgiving through the end of 2007,” said Carol Kramer, owner of Discover Baja Travel Club in San Diego. “It was all due to three reports of attacks on tourists that kept getting repeated,” she said. “But during January, our business was up more than 10 percent over last January,” Kramer said. Discover Baja provides tourist cards, fishing licenses and insurance to about 350 U.S. citizens heading to Mexico each year by land. “As far as the number of trailerboats heading south, we haven’t see a decrease,” said Monica Garcia, also with Discover Baja, “although everyone is pretty much aware” of the violence in Tijuana, she added. “Most of our club members have been going to Baja for years, and they’re not too worried about going down there,” Garcia said. The most significant change is that “More people have been calling us to make sure their insurance is in effect (for their boat, trailer and RV or tow vehicle) before they drive down Baja with their boats and RVs,” Garcia said. “But they’re going.” However, not all trailerboaters are going back. Rick Rochmes of San Diego said he used to trailer his fishing boats to San Quintín, El Rosario and Cabo San Lucas, making “half a dozen trips down Baja a year. But after what’s happened, that’s it. It just doesn’t feel safe anymore,” Rochmes said. Rochmes, whose parents lived in San Felipe for 18 years, said he frequently used to drive there at night — until several years ago, when he said he was threatened by armed men at an unofficial roadblock one night. “For people driving down, the main safety precaution is still the same as it’s always been: Drive during the day, not at night,” Garcia said. On the WaterEnsenada, in Northern Baja California, is the first city south of the border with large pleasureboat harbors. Here, boating tourism is booming, thanks in part to the return of the California state sales tax exemption for boats delivered offshore and kept out of state for more than 90 days. When asked if the number of U.S. boaters using Marina Coral has gone down recently due to fears of attacks on tourists, Dockmaster Fito Espinosa said, “No, not in our case. In fact, our occupancy rate is growing, not shrinking. … For the larger yachts, we have a waiting list for slips.” Marina Coral has 500 yacht slips and a floating fuel dock within a breakwater 2.75 miles north of Ensenada harbor. Acknowledging that some land-based tourism has dropped due to fears about crime, Espinosa said, “We do have a small number of boaters who have said that they don’t feel as comfortable as they used to about driving between Tijuana and Ensenada. Some of them now take the bus up and down.” Regarding land alternatives for better security, Espinosa said, “We have had a few more marina guests using the pickup service” in December and January. The marina is part of Hotel Coral Resort, which can pick up guests at the U.S. border or at the San Diego airports and bring them to Ensenada in a shuttle van. “Of course, there’s a fee for the shuttle service,” Espinosa said. A reservation is required for the marina’s shuttle service. Similarly, U.S. boaters are also present in large numbers at Cruiseport Village Marina in Ensenada, according to dockmaster Gerald Wiseman. “We’ve had no cancellations in slip reservations,” Wiseman said. His marina has 210 yacht slips inside the harbor’s cruise-ship mole. Wiseman said some long-term marina guests keep cars in Ensenada for driving to the border and back, and no problems have been reported. “There’s just as many shoppers on Mateos Street as always,” Wiseman said. He said none of the restaurants, hotels or other tourist businesses in Ensenada that he knows of are offering discounts or other incentives to lure tourists as is the case in Tijuana’s shopping district. Wiseman noted an increase in Mexican navy security patrols within Ensenada harbor, but as of Jan. 30, he hadn’t seen any of the additional federal police or military in downtown Ensenada. Increased Border SecurityMexico’s President Felipe Calderon on Jan. 27 announced a major offensive against drug cartel violence in northern Baja California and across Mexico, partly in response to pleas from tourism officials in Tijuana, Ensenada and Baja California. Secretary of Interior Francisco Javier Ramirez Acuña said during a news conference in Mexico City that the offensive is sending 2,620 soldiers, 21 airplanes, nine helicopters, 28 boats, 247 vehicles and a canine unit — and that the Mexican navy is sending high-speed boats and helicopters to intercept criminals along the coast. Requirements for passports or other identification have been in effect for mariners for decades, so recreational boaters are not significantly affected by the new law that went into effect Jan. 31. At the U.S. border checkpoint in San Yisidro, the first day of the new passport requirements was reportedly “business as usual,” according to reports in the San Diego Union-Tribune. “I did notice long lines of cars backed up on the Mexican side of the border last week (Jan. 28),” Kramer said. “It looked like 15 to 20 federales were checking cars and trucks heading north.” Southern Baja CaliforniaFarther south, the new Marina at Puerto Los Cabos in San Jose del Cabo is reportedly operating at maximum capacity, “considering that we’re still in construction,” said a marina official. In La Paz, one marina-based resort has offered incentives to lure more land-based tourists south of the border for specific dates during January, February and March. Marina CostaBaja’s new “Play with the Whales” package includes round-trip airfare from Los Angeles, a four-day whale watching tour to Magdalena Bay, tours of La Paz, plus meals and lodging. Marina CostaBaja offers 250 slips and a floating fuel dock just north of La Paz harbor. According to Marina CostaBaja’s assistant dockmaster, no U.S. boat owners have cancelled slip reservations.

This article first appeared in the February 2008 issue of The Log Newspaper. All or parts of the information contained in this article might be outdated.