GETTING THERE
Ensenada can be a little tricky to get to, so we’ve put together a few options to make your journey easier.
Hot tip: just book the private shuttle. We’ve tested all the options, and the shuttle is by far the easiest, fastest and best value for money.
If you’re flying in just for the wedding, we recommend you shuttle directly from LAX.
If you’re travelling beforehand, starting from somewhere closer, like San Diego or Tijuana, may make more sense. The shuttle can pick you up from either.
Unfortunately, driving yourself isn’t really viable - most rental companies don’t allow tourists to take hire cars across the border, and if they do, the insurance will cost a bomb - so we don’t recommend this option.
Once you’re on the road, it’s a beautiful journey down the pacific coast!
Before heading to Ensenada, you’ll need to fly into a nearby airport. These are your best options:
San Diego
San Diego is the quickest and easiest entry point into Ensenada (but do read the LA section below - it may be a better fly-in option).
How to get to San Diego - fly directly into SAN or arrive via flight/bus/train/car from nearby cities. From San Diego, you have three main ways to reach Ensenada:
Option 1: Private shuttle (recommended)
This is the the simplest and most reliable option.
We’ve sorted a tour company that will collect you from San Diego, take you through the San Ysidro border crossing, and drop you off in Ensenada. The drive is around 2 hours, plus border wait time (less than an hour with their fast pass access).
They’re grouping our guests, so everyone can access a discounted rate, or you can also request your own private vehicle - pricing is per vehicle so, the more people you share with, the cheaper it becomes.
Booking:
https://www.vinosobreruedas.com.mx/mbd/sophie-jake/ or message them on WhatsApp to confirm your options
(+52 646 197 2895 - don’t be shy, they’re really helpful!)
Estimated cost:
USD 140-160 per person (return). Final pricing varies based on pick-up points and numbers. Please contact them with your travel plans before the RSVP deadline (26 Jan). From February, they’ll finalise departure times and exact costs.
Important notes:
For pre-wedding travel: aim to land in the morning so the shuttle has time to get you to Ensenada - if not, you may need to travel down the following day.
For travel after the wedding: book afternoon flights so the shuttle has time to get you back to the airport.
Friday’s have heavier border traffic and early morning travel is fastest.
If you have a connecting flight, you’ll need to consider how the commute times work
If you’re unsure, please speak to the shuttle company or ask us - we know there’s a lot of information!
Option 2: Crossing the border yourself
This can be cheaper, but often takes more time and can require an extra hotel night in San Diego - we tested this recently, and while it was easy enough it added travel time and an extra hotel night, so please do weigh cost vs convenience.
How it works:
1. Take the San Diego Trolley (blue line) or a bus/taxi to the San Ysidro Port of Entry (https://www.sdmts.com/transit-services/trolley)
2. Walk across the border into Tijuana - it’s well signposted and you can easily follow the crowd
3. Follow the path to Roma Pharmacy, then take an Uber to Tijuana Airport (10 mins)
4. From the airport, take a bus or private transfer to Ensenada
A note on car rentals in Tijuana:
Online prices look reasonable, but many companies add fees at the counter that can triple the cost. We cancelled ours on arrival and switched to an Uber (see below).
Option 3: Uber + Uber
For those that are happy to wing it, Uber or Didi is another cheap option.
Typical costs:
Uber from San Diego -> San Ysidro = USD 45
Walk across the border
Uber from Tijuana -> Ensenada = USD 80 - 100 (1.5-2 hours)
What we recently experienced:
Some drivers cancel long-distance trips
Most drivers do not speak English
One driver asked us to cancel the Uber and pay him in cash - cancelling the ride removes the app’s location tracking and he didn’t speak English, which made us uneasy although we arrived safely.
Paying through the app is safer - drivers may ask for a few extra dollars for tolls
Uber is really cheap in Tijuana, but we’d only recommend it to seasoned travellers or Spanish speakers.
Los Angeles
Los Angeles is often the easiest city to fly into - many flights to San Diego transit through LAX anyway - so it can make sense to start your journey from here.
Although LA is further from Ensenada than San Diego, once you factor in transfer times and extra connections, travelling from Los Angeles may be the smoothest option - it really depends on your travel plans.
Private shuttle from LA
You can book the same private shuttle service from Los Angeles (see option 1 above for details) costing USD 190 - 210 per person (return). We trialled this route recently, and it’s what we’ll be doing for the wedding.
The drive took around five hours, although you should allow extra time for traffic and border crossing. The vehicle was really comfortable and the driver was happy to stop for coffee, toilet breaks, etc - obviously we used this opportunity to get In-N-Out.
Travelling via San Diego
If you’re not using the shuttle, you’ll need to make your way from LA to San Diego and continue from there.
Drive time: ~2.5 hours
Alternatives: bus, train or short flight.
Tijuana
Tijuana is the closest airport to Ensenada - because you’ll already be in Mexico you won’t have to factor in border crossing. The trade-off is flight availability: there are very few direct flights into Tijuana.
Most direct routes are domestic flights from other Mexican cities, with one additional option from Phoenix, Arizona. If you’re travelling around Mexico before the wedding, this may be a convenient entry point.
Once you’re in Tijuana, getting to Ensenada is straightforward. You can continue by private shuttle, hire car, Uber or bus. For step by step detail on travelling from Tijuana, see Option 2 above.