Puerto Nuevo Lobster Run

Two weeks ago, I made a lobster run from San Diego to Puerto Nuevo Mexico. It was a fantastic time!

The coffee shop phenomenon has reached Tijuana years ago, so there are plenty of places to get a good cup of Joe. My friend’s favorite place is Blue Luna.

From here we drove through Rosarito, past beautiful ceramic stores and an enormous Jesus statue to reach Puerto Nuevo an hour and a half from the border.

Puerto Nuevo is a very small town with numerous restaurants serving lobster and seafood. There are a number of Villa Ortega restaurants throughout. The nicest one is probably Restaurant Villa Ortegas overlooking the ocean in the southwest corner of town with parking.

There are mariachis, waiters are in uniforms, it is very clean, and views are amazing. Good Instagram photo opportunities. It probably also cost the most in town. We ate there because it was my wife’s first time to Puerto Nuevo. When I go with my best friend, we tend to hit one of the smaller establishments. Almost all will give you rice, beans, tortillas, and salsa to go with your lobster. At the Villa Ortega’s it was $36 for large lobster and all the fixings – which my wife and I shared.

In comparison, when my friend and I went a couple years ago to a smaller place, restroom in backyard, no air conditioning, view of buildings across the street, we got 3 small lobsters each (6 halves!) the usual fixings plus tortilla soup and a beer for $18. We literally could not finish our last halves. There is beach access, but it is a steep walk, and not a beach to layout on. There are lots of vendors and lots of people asking you to come in their shops or park in a certain spot. Very much like the Tijuana of old.

On the way back, we visited a couple ceramics shops, stopped in Tijuana for some churros, walked along Revolucion, and then crossed the border before dark.

Tips: CASH ONLY. I did not see any restaurants or vendors in Puerto Nuevo that take credit cards. Villa Ortega has a sign that says cash only. Bring sufficient cash that you are comfortable with bringing – dollars or pesos are fine. If you pay in dollars, expect a crappy rate from the vendors, but nothing too obscene. I used dollars the whole time, my friend went to Costco in San Diego and bought pesos. We both did fine.

Returning across the border, takes a long time. Otay Mesa may be a better choice depending on conditions. It’s not that long of a detour. But check your driving directions for updates.

If everyone in your car has a global entry pass and your car is registered in the Sentri program, then you can use the sentri lanes and save a ton of time on the way back. However, things change all the time, so please research the global entry pass and Sentri lane requirements on your own. This goes with passport requirements as well and any U.S. government advisories.

If you are driving, look into buying Mexican auto insurance in the U.S. before you cross the border. There are a number of places in San Diego to buy it for a day or however long you will be in Mexico.

Have fun!

10 Tips for a Puerto Nuevo Lobster Run

“Three Lobsters for $16!”

My friend and I were wandering the dusty narrow streets of Puerto Nuevo hearing offers left and right from a score of men trying to lure us to their restaurants. $16 was the best offer we had heard so far. The clincher was not the included promise of beans, tortillas, chips, salsa, and tomato soup, but the one free margarita or cerveza to go along with the meal.

My friend and I used to go on an annual lobster run south of the border and taco runs more frequently until the drug violence and kidnappings reached a fever pitch in the late 90’s. Since that time, we had talked wistfully about returning but never did. Until last year, when we walked across the border to good Old Revolution for some tacos and beer and to see what had changed.

A lot.

There were fewer American tourists not of Mexican descent there than in the 90s. The restaurants and bars were relatively empty during our day trip. But the cheap beers and delicious tacos had remained the same. After this trip, we felt good about driving to Puerto Nuevo. It helped that each of us had coworkers recently visit with nothing but good things to say about their experience.

In the end, we were served more delicious lobster than we could possibly eat, ate fresh paletas for dessert, saw great sights new and old, and met many friendly people.

There are a number of things that you can do to help ensure that your trip is successful:

1. You need a passport or a PASS card to visit Mexico.

2. You need to buy Mexican insurance before you leave the United States and keep it in your car during your trip. You can purchase it online or at a few places in San Diego.

3. Drink bottled water – never tap water - or risk Montezuma’s revenge.

4. Check to see what your cell phone plan covers in Mexico. With my Verizon Unlimited Plan, I was surprised to hear that calls and data were covered in Mexico.

5. Map out your trip before you go to Mexico, making copies to keep in your car in case you lose cell service. We indicated our destination as Villa Ortega’s in Puerto Nuevo.

6. If you do use your phone, driving apps are great albeit a little tricky as the streets in Tijuana seemed purposefully confusing.  Waze did not work for me once across the border. However, Google Driving Directions did. It really was a lifesaver when we missed our first turnoff after crossing the border and found ourselves deep into Tijuana where I’m sure few Americans ever venture.

7. Take the toll road. It is faster, smoother, and feels safer.

8. Once in Puerto Nuevo, just know you will pay for parking. The streets are few and narrow and are a pain to drive.  Save yourself time and frustration and pay for parking in one of the first lots you see.

9. There are lots of lobster restaurants in town, all with different specials. Villa Ortega’s has multiple locations throughout the town as they claim to be the original. We ate at one of these.

10.. A second option on crossing the border on the way back is to cross at Otay Mesa. It usually can save you a bit of time.

Have fun!