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    Playa de Popotla

    3.9 (22 reviews)

    Playa de Popotla Photos

    Recommended Reviews - Playa de Popotla

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    Giant pig just snoozing away
    Justine S.

    Really fun, local experience although it was totally overwhelming with all the sights & sounds & chaos & zero English! After wandering around totally clueless for about 15 minutes, we finally approached one of the kitchens who told us to go buy fish on our own. So then we headed over to the fish stalls and started pointing. We ended up with a nice sized lobster, a quarter pound of scallop, a full pound of shrimp, and a red snapper for about $40. Then they waved us over to the "limpio" station where we got all the fish cleaned (just need to tip the guy). I'm not squeamish at all but this is definitely the station where I started wondering if we were going to get sick! Once cleaned, we took our treasures upstairs to one of the 2nd floor kitchen/restaurants and I wish I'd caught the name of the place we went to because they cooked our seafood amazingly, and the host spoke perfect English which was super helpful for us. All in, they charged us about $20 to cook all the fish, which included rice/beans/tortillas, and a couple beers apiece. We showed up on Sunday around 1pm-ish and it seemed like that was primetime. There's a super chaotic but organized lot where we paid a few dollars to park for as long as we wanted. We had a bit of a tough time finding Playa Popotla at first since google maps took us about a mile too far, but the best way to do it is to find the giant rundown arches that mark Fox Studio, and it's just south of that. As several other reviewers have said, Playa Popotla is definitely not for the faint of heart! I have a lot of foodie friends who I think would faint before they would eat here, but I had fun. Come with a sense of adventure and don't think about sanitation at all. Good luck! It was definitely an experience!

    The best catch of the day. I would have loved to turn it into sushi, but it did make for tasty ceviche.
    Aaron G.

    I discovered this place after watching a Munchies video where the host is served 'martian' crab at a restaurant in Puerto Nuevo. I'd been to Puerto Nuevo before, and saw no crabs, but a little research led me to Popotla. It's a relatively quick and pleasant drive down from Tijuana. As soon as we arrived at the little beach, scattered with tables covered in seafood, I rushed over to find our crab. There was no martian crab to be had, and I was told they are not that common. It still worked out to be an enjoyable and worthwhile visit. We picked out some uni, clams, and had a bunch chunk of tuna made into ceviche. The atmosphere felt relaxed, and the feeling was reinforced for the giant pig strolling, and rolling, around the beach.

    La Reyna
    Anne A.

    Right around Fox Studios where Pirates of the Caribbean, Titanic, etc. was filmed, you'll see a turn for Popotla Beach. Turn right into the parking lot, then walk straight to the beach. There you'll see some vendors selling freshly caught seafood -- huge spider crabs, fish, and all kinds of local clams. I heard much about "La Reyna" so we looked for her seafood stand. You tell her what you want and claim a table. We enjoyed an assortment of clams and micheladas right on the beach. This is THE place for inexpensive seafood just caught from the ocean and brought to these vendors. It's as good as you can get for fresh seafood. You'll see much of the seafood laying out on the tables without any ice to chill them. We walked over to one of the crab vendors close to the entrance where we bought a $9 spider crab. They took us to a local restaurant where they cooked the crab for us. You're given a stone to crack the crab open. There was so much crab that we couldn't finish it between the three of us. Not bad for $9. Just walking around Popotla Beach was a nice excursion watching the locals eat fresh seafood on the beach and listening to live music. All my senses were awakened. It's nice to know I can have this experience as a day trip from Los Angeles.

    Michael C.

    There's no sign from the road I don't think, you just gotta know. The seafood BBQ smells worked up our appetite. Drank chilled Pacificos from the bottle on the sand and felt bad-ass, the only gringos on this crowded beach. They only mind a little if you take pictures - they'll shoot you a glance. But I still feel more comfortable here than the San Fernando Valley. Once bought here from a fishing boat the biggest crab I've ever seen, an algae-covered monster from the deep; I have the scar on my hand to prove it. The two of us downed two pitchers of margaritas and could not finish that crab as hard as we tried. LOL Don't bother to bookmark this review - you don't have the balls to come down here to this beach. Just keep on driving down to Puerto Nuevo and pay too much for lobster. I love coming down to Popotla, but it's not for the faint of heart. In a weird, wild, sun-drenched, ocean-wet, off-beat, alcohol-hazed, half-assed, seafood cocktail way, this is as good as it gets in Baja California.

    Fish tacos
    Bill S.

    Visited Popotla Beach for some seafood eats as recommended by one of the staff at the Rosarito Beach Hotel. Taxi ride was offered to us for $15, but dropped to $13 after a few seconds. We thought the fare was still a bit high for a 10 minute drive south of the hotel, but hey, transportation options were limited. You know you're almost there when you turn under a big white arch that's falling apart and continue to drive down this dirt road for about 1/2 mile towards the beach. Typical of most all vendors, you're solicited to eat at their place, most offering a free margarita or some appetizer. We kindly said to all that we want to check out the other places down towards the beach, they were all cool about it. Popotla is the seafood mecca of Rosarito. Everything we saw looked freshly caught. We settled into one of the restaurants and had a great lunch with a couple beers. I'd imagine you can't go wrong with any of the places there to eat. You have to be somewhat of a foodie explorer to enjoy it here. If you're not comfortable with locals approaching you or a bit of a germaphobe, you may want to forgo this place and opt for a restaurant in your hotel. But if you're looking for a foodie adventure, this is your place.

    Linda Elizabeth S.

    Awesome quaint little beach town with an amazing fish market and great views of the baja beaches. Lots of food options and coco locos for sale on the beach.

    A beautiful sunset at Rosarito!
    D L.

    The sunset here is amazing! A family of four ate and ate until we couldn't ear anymore and only came out to be $58 US dollars. I've added the picture of the sunset while we ate. Enjoy. A must come in Rosarito!

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    Many little shops and restaurant all down on the beach and around the parking lot. So much to choose from.

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    6 years ago

    Fish is very fresh, the only thing that it was too cold and windy. We were very tempted to get some shrimp but the cold air did not help.

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    Playa de Popotla Reviews in Other Languages

    Review Highlights - Playa de Popotla

    Just walking around Popotla Beach was a nice excursion watching the locals eat fresh seafood on the beach and listening to live music.

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    La Paloma Beach & Tennis Club - Too much I guess everyone gets a cut

    La Paloma Beach & Tennis Club

    4.1(58 reviews)
    3.0 km

    We traded our Tahoe condo into WIVC La Paloma in March 2020. There are two companies here plus…read moreindividually owned units. We were in a one bedroom with a full kitchen and daily maid service. The beds were comfortable. Not too hard. I love a firm yet not "European" firm mattress. There was a safe and a gas fireplace too. We were quite pleased with everything. We flew into San Diego then took an Uber to the border. Walked across the border, then took a taxi to the condo. We tried to get an uber but there must have been a cellphone reducer in the area. We had great service as we crossed the border but when we were at the corner with all the taxis, we couldn't get service. After haggling, we paid $30. (Uber was $20 but no biggie.) We didn't order a return pickup as suggested on the review sites since we didn't get an Uber. It wasn't necessary as there were cabs EVERYWHERE in Rosarita. And we could call for an Uber which was cheaper. We found out later that Ubers are banned in Rosarita but they are still there if you call. Either way, get a price before you get in. It is only a mile to town so we walked mostly but a taxi was only a couple dollars. They took USD as well as pesos. We didn't need to exchange much but you need small bills. No one can give you change in USD. The office exchanged some for us just so we were more comfortable, but we really didn't use much. If you did the math, you could save a few cents here and there if you use pesos vs USD at restaurants, etc. But if you use your visa, accepted in many places, make sure you tell them to use pesos (do not convert to US) otherwise you will end up paying more. Also use a card that doesn't charge you international exchange fees. There's a grocery store across the street next to the gas station that had pretty much everything we needed to eat at home for breakfasts and lunch plus beer, wine and coffee. The driveway is actually an offramp from the highway and heavily used to get onto the Free Road, so watch how and where you cross the road. Our concierge gave us a name of a taxi driver who took us to the wine route in Valle de Guadalupe. Jorge Diaz cell: 661 138 03312. He was awesome and reasonably priced. We chose the wineries but he normally chooses them if you don't have a preference. (Some wineries will not take you without reservations and some are closed on different days, so do your research and emails or call in advance if you want to choose your wineries.) I love to research, so I picked our breakfast place as well as the wineries and did the timing and directions. I just handed him a map with it marked off. That is important as you can loose GPS out there. The town is full of awesome taco places. Best Meat Taco: Tacos El Yaqui - Calle Mar del Norte, Rosarito, Mexico 50 Pesos for each Taco. Tacos Perrones come standard with beef, pinto beans, salsa), onions, cilantro and guac. But you can customized by asking to add or leave something such as peppers, radishes, etc. Long lines but AMAZING!!! Get a beer at the Mercado on the corner and meet the people you are in line with. We met a nice man the first time we went who gave us a bunch of tips about Rosarito. Best Fish tacos: El Taco Loco - Boulevard B. Juárez 97 Col. Rancho Chula Vista 22710 Rosarito We had the octopus tacos, the fish, and the spicy shrimp tacos. All amazing.!!! The salsas were hot and yummy too! Go to Mercado Del Mar to do a Tequila tasting. We learned so much about the differences between tequila styles. I had no idea. Located on the Free Road at Kilometer 29.5, look for the bicycle mounted on the highway divider. Almost directly across is the Mercado del Mar. Head into the market and then go to your left. Once inside, you'll find another large room with a massive selection of Baja California wines, different liquors, and 350(?) types of tequila. there are over 1,000 different types of liquor in the store. We took an uber there (a few kilometers south from the condo) on our way to Puerto Nuevo (Lobster Village) for cheap YUMMY lobster and delicious margaritas. That was another amazing experience. We chose El Guero from local suggestions. WOW. But first we looked at ocean view options. We ended up going to a place with delicious margaritas on the deck by ourselves... Well, there were gaviotas... We ordered a pitcher as the waiter told us it was the same price as two margaritas but my husband got an extra. It was a bit up, maybe midtown? I tried to find it but with covid... Maybe it is gone? My check in is gone as well or maybe it was the margarita... Cerveceria Tinta Negra was our go to place to try new Mexican beers. I love IPAs and many are doing an awesome job with them. We went to town via the beach (stairways use your card) and via the street. If you go via the beach know that you will have to wade through one stream of water. One day it wasn't bad, another it was pretty intense. Take off your shoes and bring a towel, lol.

    Positives: the place is nice and clean…read more negatives: security was crazy rude. I went there with my sister and 9 year old niece. We didn't realize that she couldnt go in the jacuzzi. She was there like 3 minutes. Security shows up and says she cant be in there.. we are like no prob wont happen again. He stays there next to us just staring. After a few minutes we are like, is there anything else? yes, you have to wait for the security manager to come and give you a written warning and if it happens again you will be fined. Like what?! he stands there 10 minutes waiting for manager.. it was so uncomfortable all the guests were staring at us it was embarrassing but funny you wouldve thought we smuggled in cocaine..see pictures.. it was so weird.. There is security everywhere i guess that's good but they were writing citiations constantly i guess thats how they make money on the side!

    Photos
    La Paloma Beach & Tennis Club - Seriously?

    Seriously?

    La Paloma Beach & Tennis Club - Gross!!

    Gross!!

    La Paloma Beach & Tennis Club - Torn.

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    Torn.

    Las Gaviotas Rosarito - Las Gaviotas  Entrance

    Las Gaviotas Rosarito

    4.5(28 reviews)
    9.1 km

    Las Gaviotas, located 42 kilometers south of the San Ysidro border crossing is one of the premier…read morecommunities in northern Baja. The entire perimeter is fenced in with a security guard at the entrance who keeps tabs on everyone in the complex. A 2 bedroom home can accommodate 4 guests, and they are strict about this. You will not be allowed to have additional guests even for a few hours, therefore it is very safe and private. I love the architecture which ranges from Mexican Baroque to traditional Spanish Colonial and the entire compound has cobblestone streets and cement walking paths. There are several little gardens of roses and other lovely flowers making this a great place to take walks and enjoy the scenery. The large pool/jacuzzi area has plenty of lounge chairs and shaded seating, a shuffleboard court, a gym, and a banquet room. There is also a large surfing beach with several sturdy palapas for all guests and owners to use. A visit to Las Gaviotas is certainly a treat. I love to relax, enjoy a good book followed by a leisurely walk, then swimming and a relaxing dinner when I visit.

    Such a beautiful location and beautiful homes. Staff and security are very friendly. We rented a…read morefull week; for adults it's a relaxation paradise! If you have teenagers there's not too much to do for longer than 3 days. About 3 miles down you can rent atvs which we're a blast!!! We stayed in house 137- the only issues we had was a broken umbrella which wasn't a huge deal at all especially since it was pretty chilly during our stay and the showers are not ADA. I had to get into the shower and help my mom in as it's a tub with no way in except about 2 feet high and no rails to hold on to. We will definitely be back!!

    Photos
    Las Gaviotas Rosarito - 12 Picudas  West Terrace Roof

    12 Picudas West Terrace Roof

    Las Gaviotas Rosarito
    Las Gaviotas Rosarito

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    Playa de Popotla - beaches - Updated May 2026

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