TalkBaja.com » Baja Mexico Forums » Fish Tacos, Lobster & Prime Rib

Originally Posted by Bajahowodd

I'm thinking that Cecelia's closed last year and would be emblematic of what you are saying. With the downturn in tourist traffic, all the Bufadora folks have to look forward to is the buses from the dwindling number of cruise ships. That said, restaurants along the highway from Mex 1 to La Buf would not be having any customers from the cruise ships, anyway. So, how is La Bufadora restaurant doing these days? Obviously, you are the expert on Sharkey's. How is Sharkey's doing these days?

Celia's was in the red from the day she opened the place. No idea why she kept it open as long as she did. Perhaps for her employees is my guess.
Tourists off the ships do nothing for the restaurants in Ensenada. They don't come into town to eat and they are fed to death on board.

Sharky's and The Buf are the two restaurants which I referred to. I feel so bad for both of them I didn't even want to mention names. The owners/operators are really taking a pounding and they've tried about everything immaginable. Their food is excellent, but like I said, there's nobody to sell it to.
Sharky's bar is all that keeps the doors open.

If they did close I am sorry to hear it. Good food and nice people. It is tough running a restaurant and especially in these trying times. When a bar can't stay in the black then you know it really is time to call it quits...

Originally Posted by DENNIS

Celia's was in the red from the day she opened the place. No idea why she kept it open as long as she did. Perhaps for her employees is my guess.
Tourists off the ships do nothing for the restaurants in Ensenada. They don't come into town to eat and they are fed to death on board.

Sharky's and The Buf are the two restaurants which I referred to. I feel so bad for both of them I didn't even want to mention names. The owners/operators are really taking a pounding and they've tried about everything immaginable. Their food is excellent, but like I said, there's nobody to sell it to.
Sharky's bar is all that keeps the doors open.

Dennis- you are correct that the "real" restaurants in Ensenada don't benefit from the cruise ships. However, even well-fed cruise passengers tend to stop at the fish market for their "Ensenada-style" fish tacos, and Hussong's and Papas & Beer get their fair share of business, merely from legend.

Originally Posted by Bajahowodd

However, even well-fed cruise passengers tend to stop at the fish market for their "Ensenada-style" fish tacos, and Hussong's and Papas & Beer get their fair share of business, merely from legend.

Those fish tacos alone will kill a tourist industry. Worst in town as far as I'm concerned.

Hussong's etc. gets a little bit of traffic off the ships...not all that much. What these folks are looking for is souvineers. It's perfect for Ensenada in a way. They don't have cars so parking isn't a problem for them. It is for everybody else as employees on Lopez Mateos, the tourist zone, are now making a decent wage and can afford cars. Consequently, they take up all the parking available and leave no space for a tourist parking. It doesn't hurt so much today, but if everybody gets their wish and day tripper tourism picks up, it will have an impact.

What is the Ensenada cruise traffic volume like today compared to five years ago?

Originally Posted by BajaGringo

What is the Ensenada cruise traffic volume like today compared to five years ago?

There's less although I don't have any numbers. The only way I can tell is the tour bus traffic to the Buf that goes by in front of my house. There used to be more.

And I suspect those that are still coming are spending less these days...

Right now, the Carnival Paradise, with a capacity of +/- 2,000 passengers is the only ship that regularly calls on Ensenada. Twice weekly from LA. Royal Caribbean withdrew from the market some time back. After Carnival, the most frequent caller is a Princess ship (Golden Princess, capacity 2,600) that makes trips to Hawaii, the Jones Act not allowing foreign flagged ships to embark and disembark passengers at US ports without making a call at a foreign port. Princess runs 14 day round-trips from LA to Hawaii spring, fall and winter(last for the season departs 4/25). Beyond that, it's more or less random calls by ships re-positioning or making the Panama Canal transit.