Rosarito Tours | Travel Tips - USATODAY.com

Rosarito Tours | Travel Tips - USATODAY.com

• Overview

  Halfway between the wild border town of Tijuana and the bustling port city of Ensenada lies a small town that began has a hideaway for the rich and famous and has been a favorite tourist spot for more than 80 years: Rosarito. Where once you had to explore this lovely hamlet on your own, now there are plenty of guided tours, so grab your passport and head for the border.

• How To Get There

  San Diego visitors or residents will find that it is simple to book a bus excursion directly to Rosarito Beach from any number of hotels. If you choose to go by car, be purchase Mexican car insurance before crossing the border. Rosarito is a half-hour south of the Tijuana border.

• The Lobster Village

  Head a few miles south of Rosarito to the Lobster Village of Puerto Nuevo, where more than 40 restaurants serve pretty much the same fare: deep-fried lobster, unlimited beans and rice, chips and salsa and margaritas made with a variety of tequilas. You can book a lobster tour from San Diego, or just take a short cab ride from downtown Rosarito and make up your own tour.

• Personal Tour Guide

  Rosarito Beach Hotel has its own resident tour guide, Fernando, who will be happy to not only fill you in on the illustrious history of the hotel, but also take you on a tour of La Cetta vineyards, one of Mexico's most famous wineries, in nearby Ensenada. There, you can enjoy some wine and food pairing samples while taking in a panoramic view of the vineyards.

• Revisit Titanic

  Known in the 1920s as the Mexican Hollywood, Rosarito returned to the spotlight in 1996 when Twentieth Century Fox decided to build a studio on the beach 3 miles south of town in order to film James Cameron's "Titanic." Now, the movie studio is open to the public and fans can see pieces of the reconstructed ship used for the movie, along with replicas of the ship's china, lifeboats, salons, boiler room and staterooms.

• Art Route

  Rosarito takes pride in the number of art galleries that line its streets. From folk art to fine art and everything in between, you'll find it on the art route, whether you choose to drive or walk. A map of the galleries can be picked up at the Tourism Secretariat on the south end of town or downloaded from the Rosarito website.

• Beach Hotel History

  The town of Rosarito sprouted up around the famed Rosarito Beach Hotel, a movie star hangout since it opened its massive carved doors in 1926, through which, as the sign above the entrance boasts, passed "the most beautiful women in the world." Take in the history by wandering around the hotel, viewing the Mexican art and old photographs, and make a stop in the Beachcomber Bar for a Cocoloco (a pina colada inside a fresh coconut) before strolling out on the long pier to get a closer view of the seals basking in the sun on Seal Rock. Spend the rest of the day cruising the scores of shops and kiosks that line the downtown boulevard, or head down the beach for an hour of horseback riding and a dip in the ocean