La Playa Motorcross

This NEW track is located just 10 minutes NORTH of downtown Rosarito Beach, Mexico, on the Toll Road K24 on the Hwy.
An incredible OCEAN VIEW track like no other!

Directions to the track:

From San Diego and LA: from Hwy 5 or 805 South, enter Tijuana, Mexico via San Ysidro. Follow the Rosarito-Ensenada TOLL-ROAD, look at the left at K24 on the Hwy (you'll see the track there, continue for about 1/2 mile, make a "U" turn at the RANCHO DEL MAR off ramp, going over the bridge, get on the Highway back to Tijuana, and Slow down for a VERY TECHNICAL exit.
The layout is the classic Outdoors MOTOCROSS Style.

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The Boys of Winter

Major League Baseball can often be very grueling and get tiresome after a while. Unlike football and basketball, which features a grand total of 98 regular season games combined, pro baseball players must endure through 162 of them. After this season is over, however, some players won't get a chance to catch their breath. Instead of sliding down the slopes of a mountain during their Winter off time, some ballplayers will continue to slide into second base.

Every year, the best athletes with ties to the Greater Antilles participate in a special sporting event known as the Caribbean World Series. It's a big event that attracts thousands of fans, and now for the first time ever scores of Latin athletes will be travelling to Mexicali to showcase their talent.

Political leaders from southern California and southern Arizona are thrilled that the games are going to be played close to home. They're expecting more than 15,000 fans to flock to neighboring cities and are already making the necessary accommodations in anticipation of the big series.

Bob Ingram with the Yuma Visitors Center says he expects about 2,000 rooms to fill up and believes the Desert Southwest's economy will benefit greatly as a result. "I think it'll be very beneficial for restaurants, museums and shopping centers," Ingram said. "It's our opportunity to show off Yuma."

Ingram isn't the only one who thinks that his city will improve economically, city leaders in San Luis and Calexico are projecting big gains as well and, needless to say, they're looking forward to February 2nd when the games officially kick off. In the meantime, however, the waiting game is on as preparations for the big day are still not quite complete.

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Mexico President Felipe Calderon Dedicates Sempra Energy's New Baja California LNG Terminal

SAN DIEGO, CA, Aug 28, 2008 (MARKET WIRE via COMTEX) -- Mexico President Felipe Calderon, Donald E. Felsinger, chairman and chief executive of Sempra Energy, and other dignitaries were on-hand today to officially dedicate Sempra Energy's (SRE 57.92, -0.66, -1.1%)Energia Costa Azul liquefied natural gas (LNG) receipt terminal in Baja California, Mexico, the first LNG receipt facility on the West Coast of North America.
In operation since May 2008, the $975 million LNG receipt terminal is capable of processing up to 1 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas. At the peak of construction, the project employed more than 3,000 workers.
"Over the past decade Sempra Energy has invested about $2 billion in Mexico's natural gas infrastructure and has worked with elected leaders, regulators and the citizens of Mexico in building new energy infrastructure for the Baja California region," Felsinger said. "We welcome President Calderon to today's historic dedication of Energia Costa Azul and look forward to continued cooperation with Mexico on future energy projects that address the region's needs."
Energia Costa Azul's first cargoes of imported natural gas arrived in April and May 2008.
The LNG receipt terminal is fully contracted. Half of the storage and send-out service has been procured by Shell International Gas Limited under a 20-year agreement. The remaining half of the capacity at Energia Costa Azul will be supplied from a new liquefaction facility BP and its Tangguh LNG Partners are completing in Indonesia. Shipments from BP should begin arriving in the second quarter of 2009.
The natural gas processed at Energia Costa Azul will be used in Baja California and the U.S. Southwest. Natural gas from the terminal will meet applicable Mexico and U.S. gas pipeline quality standards.
LNG is simply natural gas in liquid form. To reach a liquid state, natural gas must be cooled. The liquid gas is then transported aboard specially designed carriers for delivery to receipt terminals. These receipt terminals store LNG, return it to its gaseous state and dispatch it into pipelines for customer use. In LNG's 45-year shipping history, LNG carriers have traveled more than 100 million miles without a major incident.
In addition to the new Energia Costa Azul LNG receipt terminal, Sempra Energy projects in Baja California, Mexico, include: Termoelectrica de Mexicali, a clean, efficient 625-megawatt natural gas fired power plant in Mexicali; natural gas distribution companies in Mexicali, Chihuahua and La Laguna-Durango that serve about 100,000 customers; and natural gas transmission pipelines.
Sempra LNG develops and operates LNG receipt terminals serving North American markets. Sempra Energy, based in San Diego, is a Fortune 500 energy services holding company with 2007 revenues of more than $11 billion. The Sempra Energy companies' 13,500 employees serve more than 29 million consumers worldwide.
Sempra LNG is not the same company as the utility, San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) or Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas), and is not regulated by the California Public Utilities Commission.
This press release contains statements that are not historical fact and constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. When the company uses words like "believes," "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "estimates," "may," "would," "could," "should," or similar expressions, or when the company discusses its strategy or plans, the company is making forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of performance. They involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Future results may differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon various assumptions involving judgments with respect to the future and other risks, including, among others: local, regional, national and international economic, competitive, political, legislative and regulatory conditions and developments; actions by the California Public Utilities Commission, California State Legislature, California Department of Water Resources, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Federal Reserve Board, U.K. Financial Services Authority and other regulatory bodies in the United States and other countries; capital market conditions, inflation rates, interest rates and exchange rates; energy and trading markets, including the timing and extent of changes in commodity prices; the availability of electric power, natural gas and liquefied natural gas; weather conditions and conservation efforts; war and terrorist attacks; business, regulatory, environmental, and legal decisions and requirements; the status of deregulation of retail natural gas and electricity delivery; the timing and success of business development efforts; the resolution of litigation; and other uncertainties, all of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond the control of the company. These risks and uncertainties are further discussed in the company's reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission that are available through the EDGAR system without charge at its Web site, www.sec.gov, and on the company's Web site, www.sempra.com.
Media Contact:
Art Larson
Sempra Energy
(877) 866-2066

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Mexico to build port in Baja to serve U.S.

(08-29) 04:00 PDT Ensenada, Mexico -- President Felipe Calderon opened bidding Thursday for construction of a huge new seaport that could eventually compete with Los Angeles-Long Beach, the largest port complex in the United States.

Mexico's $5 billion Punta Colonet project would transform a wind-swept bay 150 miles south of the U.S. border into a booming port city, creating an estimated 80,000 jobs, drawing freighters from Asia and funneling manufactured goods north.

"We're looking to be sure we don't fall behind in making Mexico a strategic logistics platform for trade and global investment," Calderon said while touring the foggy beach where the port will stand.

A planned railroad would link Punta Colonet to the United States, allowing freight to skip Southern California traffic and head directly to points across the Midwestern United States, including Chicago. Planners have yet to determine where the tracks would cross the border - although El Paso, Texas, and Yuma and Nogales, Ariz., have been mentioned.

The port would be the largest infrastructure project of Calderon's administration, which has pledged hundreds of millions of government dollars for highways, railroads and airports in the last year in an effort to create jobs and pump cash into Mexico, even as the world economy slows.

At Punta Colonet, however, Calderon is seeking private bidders to build the port and accompanying railroad before running it on a 45-year lease.

The bidding should conclude late next year, and the port should start operating in 2012, said Jose Rubio, project director for Mexico's Baja California state, which is working with the federal government to develop the port.

By 2020, the port should be able to annually handle 6 million TEUs, or twenty-foot equivalent units, a measurement used to estimate container traffic - more than double the nation's current freight capacity, Transportation Secretary Luis Tellez said.

Los Angeles and Long Beach processed a combined 15 million TEUs in 2007 - 40 percent of all freight entering the United States, including 80 percent of imports from Asia.

Punta Colonet is one of several competitors to Los Angeles and Long Beach. A massive expansion at Canada's northern Prince Rupert Port will also use rail to move goods to U.S. markets. and a $5 billion expansion of the Panama Canal will make it easier for Asian freight to reach Miami, Atlanta and other southeastern U.S. cities.

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Port of San Diego Welcomes Carnival Elation's New Program

Carnival Cruise Lines' Carnival Elation will begin a new schedule offering three- and four-day cruises from San Diego to Catalina Island and Ensenada starting Feb. 12. The 2,052-passenger ship currently operates four- and five-day cruises to Mexico from San Diego and will continue that program until the new service begins. On its new route, Carnival Elation will depart on Thursdays on three-day cruises to Ensenada. Four-day cruises will depart on Sundays and visit Ensenada and Catalina Island. This marks the first time passengers can depart from San Diego and voyage to Catalina Island aboard a large cruise ship.

"We're pleased to have this new itinerary available," said Michael Bixler, chairman of the board of port commissioners. "It's a perfect fit for local residents who want a pleasant way to travel to Catalina Island as well as for visitors attending a convention here who would like to include a pre or post cruise." The three- and four-day cruises are expected to attract 226,000 passengers annually, a boost of 33 percent over the 169,000 annual passengers that have embarked on the five-day cruises. With the shorter cruises, Carnival Elation will complete 100 ship calls annually, up from 75 for the longer cruises.

Carnival will continue to offer seasonal eight-day cruises from San Diego to the Mexican Riviera aboard Carnival Spirit. Each homeport cruise ship call at the Port of San Diego has an economic impact of about $2 million. This figure is derived from the average amount that a cruise ship passenger spends while in the San Diego region, along with the employment associated with serving the cruise ship and the many businesses and services that support it. They include food companies, linen services, trucking companies, fuel companies, landside tour companies and florists.

In 2007, the Port of San Diego had 238 cruise calls with more than 700,000 passengers. By the end of 2008, the port anticipates that number to jump to 252 cruises and more than 800,000 passengers. The Port currently has nine cruise lines making calls here. To accommodate the growing cruise business, the port will be building a cruise ship terminal on Broadway Pier and updating the B Street Cruise Ship Terminal. The design for the new terminal at the Broadway Pier features a two-story structure with a modern design. It will include areas for passenger check-in, baggage processing and Customs and Border Protection. Construction for the approximately 50,000 square foot structure is planned to begin around late spring of 2009.

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Mexico plans huge Baja port for U.S. trade

President Calderon will open bidding for infrastructure contracts Thursday. The project is likely to transform the village of Punta Colonet.

By Marla Dickerson
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

August 28, 2008

MEXICO CITY — Mexico's government is setting sail with the largest infrastructure project in the nation's history, a $4-billion seaport that it hopes will one day rival those of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

President Felipe Calderon is scheduled to travel to northern Baja California today to open bidding on a development that his administration hopes will catapult Mexico into a major player in North American logistics.

Plans call for the construction of a massive port in the tiny coastal village of Punta Colonet, about 150 miles south of Tijuana, along with new rail lines to whisk Asian-made goods north to the United States. Mexico's aim is to snatch some Pacific cargo traffic from Southern California's ports, whose growth is constrained by urban development and environmental concerns.

Punta Colonet is expected to have a capacity of 2 million shipping containers annually when it opens in 2014, Mexico's transportation secretariat told The Times But officials envision it ultimately handling five times that amount. Last year, the ports of L.A. and Long Beach handled 15.7 million containers combined.

The massive development is to be privately funded, with the first phase estimated to cost $4 billion to $5 billion. The government is expected to award the 45-year concession in 2009.

A number of major players are expected to vie for the project, including Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim Helu, the world's second-richest man. Slim's infrastructure company, known as Ideal, has teamed with Mexican mining and railroad giant Grupo Mexico and New Jersey-based terminal operator Ports America Group to make a run at the deal.

"We've spent a lot of years working on this," said Miguel Favela, head of Mexican operations for Ports America. "It's going to make Mexico . . . much more competitive. "

About 30 million shipping containers crossed the Pacific Ocean last year, a flow that increased about 10% annually in the last decade. A weak U.S. economy has slowed the trade, but experts predict it will rebound.

With shippers increasingly worried about congestion at L.A.-Long Beach, Punta Colonet has emerged as an attractive alternative. It's close to the United States. It possesses a wide, natural harbor. And it's in a lightly populated area offering room for expansion.

When Calderon visits the dusty hamlet of about 2,500 people today, he is expected to talk about the big changes in store. The village will need extensive upgrades to its roads, housing, electrical grid and water supply. State and local officials are planning for a city of about 200,000 to spring up around the port.

The changes envisioned are alarming environmentalists, who worry about the potential destruction of the area's plants and wildlife. But the farmers who scratch out a living there are thrilled at the prospect.

"What we need is employment for our kids," said Jesus Lara, representative of several peasant landowner groups that are eager to sell. "Everyone is excited. Having the president come to your town is like winning the Lotto."

But whether Punta Colonet turns out to be lucrative for Mexico won't be known for years. Competitors up and down the Pacific coast are in the midst of major upgrades. Panama has begun a $5.3-billion expansion of its landmark canal. Canada's Prince Rupert port in British Columbia began speeding containers to the American heartland by rail last year and is planning a major expansion.

Little of the cargo bound for Punta Colonet will stay in Mexico, making the port vulnerable to the whims of shippers, who can choose other routes to the U.S.

"Nothing is guaranteed," said Asaf Ashar, research professor with the National Ports and Waterways Institute in Washington. "It's a big risk."

Building a seaport from scratch would be difficult enough. But the overland transportation piece is likely to make or break Punta Colonet. The deal is being structured as a joint port-and-rail project, requiring terminal operators, railroads and construction companies to team up in consortia to win the bid. The railroad's ultimate route and U.S. crossing points will depend on which railway operator is chosen and how it manages to link up with existing rail networks on both sides of the border.

Union Pacific Corp. of Omaha and Fort Worth-based BNSF Railway Co. control the U.S. side of the tracks at most of the key U.S.-Mexico border crossings. Striking a deal with one of those companies to get the cargo to the American side will be crucial, said Paul Bingham, managing director of the global trade and transportation practice for Global Insight, a Massachusetts- based consulting firm.

"They have the ability to essentially choke off that port," Bingham said.

BNSF spokesman Patrick Hiatte said Wednesday that the company was "very interested" in the Punta Colonet project. He declined to say with whom the firm might collaborate to make a bid.

Union Pacific could not be reached for comment. The company earlier had teamed with Hong Kong-based Hutchison Port Holdings to make a run at the project, but that alliance dissolved last year.

From www.bajainvestment.com

The Real Story About Baja as Told by American Expatriates

Baja California American and Canadian expatriates become stars of documentary

SAN DIEGO, Aug. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- After months of endless sensational news articles on ongoing and constant rehashing of old stories scaring visitors to stay away, American expatriates living in Baja California said, "Enough."

The Baja California peninsula is home to an estimated 250,000 American expatriates with some 30,000 of them living in Tijuana, Rosarito Beach and Ensenada. Rosarito alone touts over 14,000 American retirees, nearly 10 percent of their 150,000 population.

Melinda Bates, former Social Director for the White House during the eight years of the Clinton Administration, has lived in Rosarito for over three years said, "I read the same news everyone else reads, but I feel perfectly safe here." Mona Keys, originally from Denver who moved to San Diego only to find she couldn't afford to live along the coast so she and her husband moved to Baja Mar in Ensenada said, "My mother calls me from Denver because the news about Baja frightened her, but I tell her not to worry, we're perfectly safe here."

Anne Hines, Canadian expatriate living in Rosarito for 10 year said, "The biggest challenge my fellow expats and I have is allying the fears of our family and friends when they read the headlines and many embellished or just plain untrue stories of the dire consequences for anyone venturing down to Baja."

Many expatriates believe US journalists purposely do not interview them because it would belie the notion that Americans are not safe in Baja.

The expats quickly volunteered to be interviewed for the documentary, The North Baja Coast: Come Visit - Stay to Live, produced by San Diego based TransBorder Communications. The documentary shows the beauty of Baja but the stars are the expatriates who tell their stories on living in Mexico including their personal security, quality and costs of medical services, cost of living and quality of life.

The documentary also highlights each of the four Baja California municipalities: Tijuana, Rosarito Beach, Ensenada, Tecate and Mexicali along with San Felipe, Baja's Palm Springs with a beach.

The half-hour documentary will be shown 50 times from August 25 through September 14 on a number of Time Warner Cable channels in West Los Angeles/San Fernando Valley, Ventura, Orange and Inland Empire counties.

Contact:
Hector C. Molina
TransBorder Communications
http://www.transbordercommunications.com

From your friends at RE/MAX Baja Realty
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Baja Tourism Secretary Announces New Campaign

Oscar Escobedo Carignan, the Secretary of Tourism for the state of Baja California, Mexico, announces the implementation of a new campaign to promote tourism throughout the state of Baja. Rosarito artesan furniture event is part of initial campaign efforts.

Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico (PRWEB) August 24, 2008 -- In a statement issued in the just-released August/September issue of Baja Breeze magazine, Oscar Escobedo Carignan, the Secretary of Tourism for Baja California, Mexico, announced that the government is implementing a new promotional campaign to encourage tourism in the state of Baja.

Escobedo noted that this new effort has been designated as "do Baja". The initial campaign efforts are being launched primarily throughout Mexico and the United States, and focus on activities that are specific to Baja, such as gray whale-watching during their migration periods; sport-fishing; boating, bicycling, and off-road races; tours of the emerging Mexico wine country; historic tourism, featuring Spanish missions and exploration of prehistoric cave paintings, as well as the more traditional pastimes of shopping for silver, ceramic-ware and art, and native and handcrafted items from area artisans and regional Indian tribes.

The goal of "do Baja", says Escobedo, is to increase awareness of Baja's many destination locations, as well as to highlight opportunities for continued development in ecotourism, as well as the culinary, wine, olive oil and cheese industries. In addition, a special thrust will be made to promote conventions and meetings in Baja.

Among the first activities to be promoted as part of "do Baja" is Rosarito's Home & Furniture Expo, September 4-7, at the new Pabellon Rosarito Grande. This three-day extravaganza features vendors, a Tequila Show, wines from Baron Balche, and food festivals including Paella (Saturday, September 6) and Steak and Lobster (Sunday, September 7). The event is sponsored by AFAMARO, www.afamaro.com, a trade association formed recently in Rosarito Beach by manufacturers of fine and rustic furniture in wood and wrought iron, artisans and accessory dealers. Many of these vendors represent familial businesses that began decades ago in northern Baja and that have preserved a legacy of artesenal quality in the crafts and arts of Mexico.

Escobedo believes that what has been referred to as the 'Baja Bloom' is not over. He cites the fact that there are currently more than 100 residential and tourism developments under construction, comprised of approximately 23,000 condominiums and living units. He adds that Baja is the third most important destination for cruise line arrivals in Mexico, with more than 500,000 passengers arriving in the port of Ensenada, alone, this year.

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Double-Standards used to Sensationalize U.S. News Coverage of Baja California, Mexico

Monday, August 25, 2008

Double-Standards used to Sensationalize U.S. News Coverage of Baja California, Mexico

By Ron Raposa

In early April two San Diego TV stations reported that a local student was late in returning from spring break in Rosarito Beach, Baja California, Mexico. The stories strongly suggested he might have been the victim of foul play. One showed footage of a police action in Tijuana.

There were a few problems with the coverage.

First, the 21-year-old student had been in Rosarito only five days – a very common spring break stay – and classmates had seen him in Rosarito the same day the stories broadcast. He returned home the next day.

Secondly, if the situation had occurred anywhere except Baja California, it likely would not have been broadcast. Media outlets that time of year could fill their entire reports with coverage of spring breakers who come home late.

The young man’s parents, who went to the media, weren’t to blame for the premature and damaging broadcasts. It is natural for parents to worry and express concerns. The blame falls on media that use far different standards when it relates to Baja California coverage.

This use of double standards did not begin or end with the “missing student” story, nor is it unprecedented. But the most vivid examples began appearing last year and have developed into an ongoing trend.

Several months ago, many U.S. media outlets carried stories about a handful of crimes that targeted Baja California visitors in 2007 over several months and across several hundred miles of the large peninsula.

Each story repeated the same handful of incidents. Some were distributed by a wire service worldwide. They spawned a series of subsequent stories, each using the same few incidents. The repetition made five incidents seem like 5,000.

This is not to say that the crimes were not serious; they were. They needed to be reported and addressed. To be a victim of a crime is an ordeal. To be a victim in a foreign country is even more traumatic.

The problem was that stories lacked perspective and created the false impression that crime against visitors is rampant in Baja California. If the same focus had been used in covering San Diego, people would have become very frightened to visit that city.

The Baja California State Secretary of Tourism has received no report of a violent crime against even one of the millions of tourists here this entire year, a record that perhaps Southern California cannot match.

Yet stories in U.S. media, most recently the San Diego Reader, continue to suggest that it is not safe to visit Baja California. Lacking any new incidents to report, the stories continue to rehash the several ones from 2007.

During the same period as the Baja California incidents, an Australian tourist was beaten and thrown in a fire in Ocean Beach, crime rose dramatically on the San Diego Trolley system, and an off-duty policeman was accused of shooting a woman and her young son following an apparent traffic dispute in North County.

There were many other serious incidents – but none prompted any media outlet to do a story asking whether it is safe for tourists to visit San Diego. It is not likely that they will; much different standards are used.

For months, very little about Baja California except sensationalized crime stories have been published or broadcast in the United States. It has led to a very unbalanced perception of this area. Some of the reports are simply inaccurate and irresponsible journalism.

Yes, Baja California has brought some of the problems on itself. Police extortion of motorists in some areas went uncorrected for far too long and is still being dealt with. Corrupt and corrupting criminal cartels wielded pervasive influence along the drug routes leading into the United States.

But now Mexican federal, state and city governments have joined together in a serious effort to end that. This has led to shootouts, such as the April one in Tijuana that left 14 cartel members dead. However that incident was not connected to visitor safety any more than a major police action would be in the U.S.

The same is true of the discovery of four bodies in Rosarito several weeks ago. Some initial media reports, including in Mexican papers, claimed that four Americans had been executed in Mexico. It turned out that three were Mexican nationals, and the woman who was from the United States had an extensive criminal record, including in Mexico. Some U.S. media outlets still report that all were Americans.

Involvements in drugs or ties to other criminal activities are suspected in these sad shooting deaths. They had nothing to do with danger to tourists or the typical resident, no more than the death of a Mexican national involved in criminal activities in the U.S. would.

All that said, Baja California needs to do more to ensure visitor safety and sense of well-being – and it is.

In Rosarito, reformist Mayor Hugo Torres has created a special Tourist Police force to protect the well-being of more than one million visitors a year. More than 300 city residents have formed a citizen’s watch program for tourist areas.

Rosarito Beach has established an ombudsman office, where visitors can receive help 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This includes the reporting of crimes, which had been a difficult process. It is part of showing that Rosarito cares about its visitors.

Baja California State Tourism has established a 078 number for visitor assistance, among other significant steps.

Federal patrols on highways have been increased. No serious crimes against Baja California visitors have been reported in months, including during busy spring break and Memorial Day weekends.

Does all this guarantee that a crime against a visitor or U.S. citizen will never occur in Rosarito or Baja California? Of course not.

No place south of heaven can guarantee that, especially one that has more than 10 million visitors each year and scores of thousands of expatriate residents.

About 14,000 expatriates, most of them U.S.-born, live in Rosarito – which years ago established Mexico’s first Foreign Residents Assistance Office. Some of them are among the most upset about the recent coverage of Baja California and Rosarito, the place they call home.

I am a U.S. citizen who lived there most of my life, working primarily as a journalist. I also have been visiting Baja California frequently for 30 years, and have lived in Rosarito Beach full-time for three. I have never been the victim of a crime or police extortion here.

I know many other expatriates here who have had the same experience; others who have not been as fortunate. The ratio I believe is similar to what you’d find in the United States.

Most expatriates in Rosarito would welcome the chance to talk about their experiences living here. I don’t think any would ask that crimes against expatriates or visitors be covered up – after all it is their friends and family who are affected.

Some U.S. reporters who write about Baja California seldom if ever visit here. The San Diego Union-Tribune, which usually has balanced stories on this area, has a reporter who comes here frequently to cover stories and lived in Tijuana for several years.

The media surely has the right – and the responsibility – to cover tourist safety issues. But it also has the obligation to do it fairly, and to use the same standards on both sides of the border.

To U.S. media I would simply ask: report Baja California as you would Southern California, with perspective and some personal and in-depth knowledge. That’s what most people in the United States or Mexico want and deserve.

——————————

Ron Raposa, the international public relations representative for Rosarito Beach, also worked for 20 years as a journalist, most of that time in the United States. This commentary first appeared in the August 16 edition of the biweekly Baja Times English language newspaper.

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Misleading U.S. Media Coverage Conveys Unfair Picture Of Baja, Rosarito Mayor Tells Mexico Business Center

Misleading U.S. media coverage has conveyed an inaccurate picture of the risk of visiting Baja and has been the main cause of a tourism decline, Rosarito Mayor Hugo Torres told a meeting of the Mexico Business Center Wednesday.
“The public assumes there is a big danger,” guest speaker Torres told members of the San Diego Chamber committee, although Baja has not had one reported serious violent crime against its millions of visitors this entire year.
Among inaccurate media reports cited by Torres was that four U.S. tourists were killed this past May. In fact, three were Mexicans and all had extensive criminal records, including involvement in drugs, and they were not in the area for tourism.
Torres said that the media also conveyed the impression that violence from the Mexican government’s crackdown on drug cartels created a risk to visitors, while only police and criminals have been involved in some high-profile shootouts.
“They are mixing a fight against drugs with danger to visitors,” he said of some media reports.
The inaccurate perceptions led to Rosarito tourism being down as much as 60 percent the first part of this year, although the summer has only been down about 20 percent as people realize the area is safe and welcoming to visitors, he said.
“We firmly believe we are going to recover,” he said. “The people are beginning to come back.”
He said a lengthy border wait and especially a troubled U.S. economy also contributed to the decline in visitors to Rosarito, where 70 percent of jobs are dependent on tourism.
“When the U.S. economy has a cold, we get pneumonia,” he said.
The reformist mayor also told the group of 30 business and civic leaders of steps he had taken to improve Rosarito since taking office last year: “I wanted to make a change; security was bad.”
More than one third of city police who did not meet standards for honesty and performance have been replaced, he said, and the city has established a 24-hour-a-day ombudsman’s office for visitor assistance.
Rosarito also has established a special Tourist Police Force of its best officers, with some assistance from the Anaheim Police Department, which has special expertise because of its involvement with Disneyland and its visitors.
“The city also is committed to improving services and activities,” he said of Rosarito.
Media Contact:
Ron Raposa

www.bajainvestment.com

Baja Peninsula' the Home of Sun, Sea and Sands

Author: Rachelle Fuentes


Baja California, Mexico is simply divine. There are no words to express the free and non crowded beaches, the golden days filled with sunshine and the perfect weather that lasts the year around, cooled by the rich sea-laden breezes. There are just too many activities to do in the Baja peninsula, and appeals to just about everyone. So whether one is looking for a sports adventure or a quite trek through ancient ruins to, Baja peninsula has it all. The variety of water sports is mind boggling, with surfing and kayaking topping the list, along with other activities such as diving, snorkeling, sailing and fishing.

Affordable real estate lures immigrants

The magic of the free and unfettered lifestyle and simple lifestyle appeals to all people and thousands of immigrants flock the shores of Baja California Mexico. The inexpensive housing has sent the Baja California real estate flourishing, with many retirees and migrants seeking to own an apartment, a beach condo or a villa. Many wonderful options are available as the Baja peninsula boasts of beautiful sparsely populated beaches, coves and bays. Convenient oceanfront houses are available, open to the seas and sun, as well as villas and beach homes with all amenities like pool, play courts; club houses etc, in the Baja California real estate options.

There are timeshare options available to vacationers who prefer to share the ownership as they are only present in the vacations. There are about 200,000+ Americans living in Baja peninsula, some of them have jobs and have accepted this land as their home, other continue to hold American passports.

Vacation spots- easy to get there But no vacation in the Baja Peninsula is complete without a visit to Mexicali, the capital of Baja California, about 63 kms from the US border. In spite of its arid desert location Mexicali is watered through a system of aquifers in the valley, which was built to encourage agriculture. Mexicali Baja California now produces grapefruit, dates, vegetables, alfalfa, cotton, and cottonseed oil. Many US companies have set up base in Mexicali Baja California due to the availability of cheap labour.

Mexicali Baja California also relies on tourism and visitors cross by foot or car from Calexico in the United States every day. The welcoming atmosphere of Mexicali Baja California includes delicious food in Mexican restaurants, taco stands, music shows, bars and dance clubs attract tourists to this city. Shops selling Mexican crafts and souvenirs are also located in walking distance from the border.

Another attraction for the young students from many high school and colleges is the low drinking age of 18years in Baja California, Mexico, as opposed to 21 years in the United States.

Rosarito - Where the mountains meet the sea

Rosarito Baja California is another favorite vacation spot as it is conveniently located 20 minutes south of the border from San Diego, California; USA is a perfect weekend getaway. The proximity to the border and stunning location as the coastal foothills greets the Pacific Ocean, makes the Rosarito Beach one of the leading resort towns in Baja California Mexico.

Whatever be the reason, the enchantment of the Baja peninsula lures the tourist with its simple life and natural charisma. The dream vacation is closer than you think, and the way to it is inexpensive, so pack those bags and get moving!
www.remax-baja.com

Binational group forms to address border issues. Inspections are among the chamber's concerns

By Janine Zúñiga
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
August 14, 2008
SAN YSIDRO – The San Ysidro Chamber of Commerce has joined forces with all five Baja California border cities and with chambers of commerce from here to Calexico to create the Binational Chamber of Border Commerce.
The group will meet to tackle common issues that affect business on both sides of the border. Those issues, the group says, include inefficient border-crossing inspections and a lack of infrastructure.
Jason M-B Wells, San Ysidro Chamber of Commerce executive director and Binational Chamber of Border Commerce organizer, said the border business group can't sit idly by while politicians in Washington, D.C., and Mexico City decide what's best for ports of entry 3,000 miles away.
“We live this every day,” he said. “We know what works.”
Wells said the border between California and Baja California is home to the busiest land port of entry in the world, the second-busiest cargo crossing and the largest binational economy in the Western Hemisphere.
The group hopes its strength and single voice can help push initiatives to help speed up border-crossing times, such as putting in more “stacked” booths at San Ysidro.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection is testing the idea, similar to a method used in checkout lines at some big-box stores, where two checkers help one lane of customers. Stacking has proved to reduce border wait times, the group said.
The binational group also wants at least one 24-hour lane at all California-Baja California ports of entry, and additional agents on both sides of the border where needed. The group also hopes border officials will stop conducting secondary inspections in primary inspection lanes. They said officers at various ports often spend too much time with one vehicle, when they should send it forward for further inspection to keep traffic flowing.
Wells also organized an association of business and community groups in recent months whose members were concerned with plans for a redesign of the San Ysidro Port of Entry. When plans last year showed the loss of a considerable amount of private property, the Smart Border Coalition got involved. The federal government has since reduced the amount of land it planned to take.
Wells said the coalition's efforts gave him the idea for the binational group.
“We realized that a lot of the issues aren't specific to just San Ysidro,” he said. “We had to look at our entire border and make sure we had binational buy-in.”
Wells said the Smart Border Coalition introduced the idea of a southbound pedestrian crossing on the east side of Interstate 5. He said it would help local businesses. The current southbound crossing, on the west side of I-5, diverts potential shoppers away from them.
He also said a southbound crossing near the trolley, also east of I-5, would make it more convenient for people who use the transit system to enter Mexico.
“We need both sides in agreement for how that should be,” said Wells, referring to having officials in the United States and Mexico working out the design of the new pedestrian crossing.
Wells said increased border-crossing wait times have grown to unacceptable levels. Businesses and the economy are hurt when half or two-thirds of a company's work force is a half hour to two hours late, or doesn't show up at all, he said. He said increased border wait times also have a detrimental effect on the number of trips tourists and shoppers make.
Construction on the San Ysidro Port of Entry is set to begin this month. More than 50,000 vehicles and 25,000 pedestrians use the port daily to cross into the United States. Studies have pointed to an expected increase of the number of vehicles crossing of up to 70 percent by 2030.
The $577 million project will increase the number of lanes in each direction and is the federal government's largest border-crossing project.
Wells said many details on the San Ysidro redesign project aren't complete. He also said some projects such as the southbound pedestrian crossing are unfunded but included in the plans. He said the group will continue to push for improvements at all border crossings.
Members of the binational group from the United States include the chambers of commerce in San Ysidro, Calexico, Chula Vista and Tecate Community; the Imperial Valley and South County economic development corporations; and the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce.
In Mexico, members include the chambers of commerce in Tijuana, Ensenada, Mexicali, Playas de Rosarito and Tecate.