ROUGH CLIFFS
i just copy/pasted stuff to word as I read it all...
baja123.com
Not sure what is new and not. The newer buildings around here seem super gnarly, like 100% resorts with pools, jacuzzis, restuarants...way too nice for me basically. Las Olas grand and Las Olas Mar y sol are 2 new buildings. From your requirements it sounds like that's where you want to be, and even las gaviotas may not be nice enough for you. This guy jake (Imtheocean) made a youtube video about his place, and something like that sounds like it'd be good for you. It was a bit out of our price range anyways, but a nice place.
More power too you if ur ballin like that, those places DEF won't let you down. Calafia I hear is pretty nice as well. fwiw though I hope u want a really nice place due to just wanting something that sick and not for safety reasons. Every condo has 24 hour security and everyone is real chill anyways. We walked to 7-11 at like 3am last night.
How much are you trying to spend here?
A house in town (not beach) you can get for like $500/mo.
A nice 3 bedroom condo on the beach around 1k.
super sick insane place with people waiting on you hand and foot prob like 2k/mo for 2 bedroom. and from what it sounds like this is more what ur looking for? Private cabanas with their own personal jacuzzi to use for free, multiple infinity pools, gym and sauna literally like 10 feet from the water and insanely modern. I kinda hope ur gonna move into something extremely sick like that, cuz we'll defffff be comin over to kick it
Prices aren't set in stone, obv...it is mexico, just giving you a rough idea.
oh, as far as a list of most baller to just normal baller:
Las Olas (grand, and then Mar y Sol) (Skyrise)
Las Ventanas (Condo complex)
Las Gaviotas (Condo complex)
There's a few buildings that seem similar, although I haven't looked into them. La Jolla Del Mar seems nice, but CafeNoir lives there and doesn't like it, maybe talk to him. Calafia is another, OverDose lives in La Jolla de rosarito and likes it. Marena and Las Palmas are others. These are all skyrises.
Condo complexes are las ventanas, las gaviotas, mission viejo, la paloma... many many more.
If you just want to book something online that's great, you can pretty much tell how sick all the places are from the price. Good to ask about location though, if that matters to you. Obviously coming here directly and looking on your own you'll have access to probably 10 other complexes that aren't listed online from what I can tell.
There's prob 10 skyrise condo's that are similar, and another 10 condominium complexes that are similar.
Spoke to a poker player from mexico. He suggested Puerto Vallarta, said it was safe and amazing. He also said PDC was safe too. I had done a lot of research and felt that Rosarito was safe for the most part, but the mexican player said that it was too close to Tijuana for him to think it was that safe (but he did admit he wasn't sure about this).
I agree with Bolivar that Puerto Vallarta seems like the best choice, but the convenience of being close to the states is hard to beat. Plus I know that some people from the states retire to Rosarito, so if that's true, how dangerous can it be?
ensenada could be cool, there's alot of fun stuff to do there. I feel like most of the things I would go there for would be for fun daytrips and such though where I don't mind driving the 40 mins or so. Don't know much about san felipe, but it's 3-4 hours from the border. At that point im just going to move further south in mexico and fly to get places.
Sorry for being brash, but people need to stfu already about safety issues. If you are a sheltered american influenced by media hype and worried about things, then stay home. I realize that many poker players could fall into this category, others are simply concerned about travelling to a new place and would like some info, and others like me really don't care, because they know that 90% of the places in the world that safety isn't going to be a concern for them if they aren't ******ed and have any kind of logic and street smarts. I would much rather focus my attention on what attractions/travel opportunities/food/activites there are to do in any given city...isn't that the point of travelling??
For those players who lock themselves in their room and grind 60 hours of poker, 40 hours of Call of Duty, and 20 hours of masturbation and call it a week... you are screwed...have fun grinding on merge and bodog because relocating just isn't for you, so stop trying to force it. Black friday really didn't affect me at all, as I couldn't wait to finish grad school and move to a new country to play poker anyways.
I've personally been to Mexico City, Oaxaca, San Cristobal de las casas, Palenque, and a few other places in mexico, as well as travelled pretty extensively throughout central america, and rosarito is no worse than any of these places. Tijuana is no worse than any of these places. I think there is an extremely tiny difference between safety issues in tijuana and rosarito, and that's simply the difference between living in a city with over 2 million people and a city with less than a hundred thousand. Same with living in New York City or upstate new york. Chicago compared to the suberbs. It's a different life, sure...but people are still just humans trying to live their lives. Maybe I'm naive for having faith in humanity, but in the ~25 countries I've been to so far I've experienced almost zero problems...and I generally get into alot of crazy **** and hang out with locals everywhere I go, and I'm a scrawny ass white kid.
That being said, prob 80% of the people I have been in contact with through 2p2 would probably agree that I've been very helpful when it comes to daily life/getting back on stars, getting acquainted with mexico, setting up their new lives, etc. I do this because I want to create a cool community of players living in mexico that have similar interests, in poker and life. Please don't hesitate to contact me if you need help, a realtor referral, advice on where to get a bank accout/cell phone/car insurance/good seafood/clubs/strip clubs.....
Btw,anyone who decides to come down here and needs a realtor, hit me up. My realtor has been amazing,she has driven me all around town helping me set up my bank account,phone line and just showing me around. She has basically been my translator and has made things go so much quicker.
-overrdose.
Here's a site that has some info on Rosarito's restaurant's, shopping, night clubs etc.
http://rosaritoinfo.com/
for house/condo rental info (repost)
http://www.baja123.com/RENTALS__IN_R...e_2310011.html
Hey man, I may have to update this in a week or so, but here's some random expenses so far:
bag of 25 M-80's = $5
Those fireworks that launch up like 200 ft and explode/whistle = $2-3 each
Streetfood Tacos/corn on the cob/bacon wrapped hot dog = $1 each
My realtor said he feeds his 4 person family for $100 a month, I call BS, but I mean if you eat cheap enough it could be done.
Taxi - $2 for 5 mins into town. I think $15 to tijuana.
Colectivo (minivan that's like a taxi on a semi-fixed route) - $1 to tijuana
Internet 3G card w/ 3gb - $40
10Gb monthly plan for 3G card - ~$55
5mpbs internet - $30/mo
10mpbs internet - ~$40/mo
they have some thats like 15 mpbs or something for ~$80/mo
Cell phone - I got prepaid and there's a bunch of different plans - but 85 minutes calling the US was like $8, and that's prob the most expensive way to call the US. You can set it up so you have 5 "friends" on your network, then incoming calls from them are free.
Beer at a club - $2-3. All you can drink $12
Lobster dinner at puerto nuevo - $12-15
Car insurance for the year $60
Cigarettes - $3. prob less for wack brands
Meat is for sure cheaper - ground beef was like $1.50/lb.
Food is really depends on if you eat cheap and local or if you eat lobster and shrimp everyday.
After awhile of being down here things will probably get 20% cheaper overall as we learn what to not overpay for and make friends that hook you up on stuff (everyone knows someone that can hook you up with something)
I honestly haven't been paying much attention to prices though, things are cheap and I just buy them without worrying about it. You can always negotiate or knock a few bucks off or make a buy 3 get 1 free deal with whoever. Since we just got here we aren't really paying bills yet either. Car insurance for $60 a year should explain about how cheap normal things are down here. I believe the minimum wage is like .92 cents.
it's mexico, you really don't need anything. I've been stopped by military checkpoints many times (they have a checkpoint between my house and puerto nuevo) and they don't ever ask for ID or paperwork, they wanted me to pop my trunk once.
You can get an FMM visa as soon as you cross the border...that's a $24 tourist visa good for 6 months.
Once here, you can get an FM-2 or FM-3 visa, and the laws are always changing, but those will give you Mexican residency for 1 year. I'm not sure of the difference between FM 2 and 3, and neither are really necessary, but it does 100% establish residency and makes it easier to do things like prove to stars that you live here, open any kind of bank account at any bank, I believe you need it to get a Neteller account?, show police you're living/working here full time, and gives you a legitimate Mexican ID card.
I don't have the FMM visa. I guess I'll get one next time I cross the border, but really not worried about it.
Me and my wife will be driving down to rosarito at the end of the month from oc. ( we are a young couple not old btw lol 30-25 ) Our lease is up at the end of the month and gotta start working again asap...
I read this thread and banking in mexico thread but just to verify I will have some questions;
1. We are looking at a furnished 1br or 2br at a price up to 1000 usd in a safe-guarded beach front complex for 3 months contract or month to month option... I checked baja123.com there are good options but if you guys have something in mind or have a rental in your complex, would love to be with other poker players nearby... I feel like it makes everything easier for both parts...
At that price you're going to get beachfront, extremely nice, 24/7 security, and either gated or garaged parking. Baja123 has plenty of places that'd fit your needs, but it can be tough for them to organize viewings of some houses (getting in touch with other realtor and owner). I think it's a good idea to just go to a few condo complexes and ask them if they have anything available as well. You must do at least 3 months for stars verification purposes. They've let month to month leases fly before, but they specifically asked others to include the page of the lease agreement that states how long.
Mostly depends on location, but I could recommend Las olas mar y sol, maybe la jolla del mar, las gaviotas, mission viejo, las ventanas, calafia....there's tons of places for you to start looking
2. I`m confused about banking situation since there are some opposite posts regarding this;
* What is the best option for having a usd bank account with english supported online banking? and what are the requirements ( passport and rental contarct enough to do that?
I really don't know, and only really got a bank so that stars would take me back. Banamex, Santander, HSBC I believe are banks that confirmed will open an account for you. I need some 6 digit PIN before I can use online banking, and just haven't cared enough yet. You need passport, rental contract, utility bill, references (just write down 2 names of people you do or do not know, it doesn't matter.) For utility bill pretty much anything goes, I've been told that a utility bill from my house in the US would work (HSBC), and my roommates here have used a utility bill with my name on it but not theirs and it worked (Santander)
* Is there a minimum amount that I have to deposit while opening the bank account? does it change bank to bank?
* Since I`m a Turkish citizen with green card, I am planning to sign up for neteller and have their atm card for withdrawals or maybe moneybookers. Anybody has experience with it? What kind of docementation neteller and moneybookers ask for?
Santander it was 6000 pesos...but you open your account and then go to someone else to deposit money, so there is really no actual need to deposit cash to open an account. Lots of weird rules about deposit limits..the HUSNG guys know exactly, but I think 5k deposit limit monthly (which blows if you play 1k SnGs.
I have no idea about neteller, as I heard we couldn't use their services and I forget why, but maybe because we don't have FM2-3 cards? Moneybookers is easy to setup. You sign up and then verify your debit cards, bank account, and address with them to increase your transaction limits. Turkish citizen may allow you to use Neteller, but everyone down here only has experience with MB
3. Which internet provider should I go that provides mexican ip`s?
Telnor works fine, but was a bitch to get setup (needed landlord approval basically, wasn't too bad if someone just told us what to do from the beginning). Baja Wireless is supossed to be good, but expensive...they install a big ass antennae on your roof...the HUSNG guys just got it installed.
I think Multi Cable was the one with routing issues, but they got it resolved anyways like this week or last
4. Can I put one of my 23 inch monitor into the car and cross the border with it? I never crossed the border to mexico so I don`t even know if you just drive or stop to have visa on the border?!
My roommate was worried about this too, but yea, you're fine. He had PS3, 3-4 monitors, projection screen, etc. You can honestly bring as much electronics, weed, guns, rare exotic animals, or strawberry milk into mexico as you want, nobody ever checks you.
I`ll really appreciate info on these since I gotta tell the whole game plan to my wife before we make the move you know how it is...
Thanks a lot! Hope to meet u guys down there!
La Jolla de Rosarito a few blocks north of Papas and Beer or La Jolla del Mar 5min south of town? Anybody have an opinion between the two?
depends what ur looking for. del mar isn't in the city, so much more secluded and stuff...still plenty of little taco shops and restuarants around, and ur super close to popotla fishing village with bomb seafood.
bryce (skillzdatkills) lives in the northern one, as well as overdose...u could ask them.
scott (cafenoir) and john (jlevu) live in the del mar one...you could hit em up as well.
it depends on what u want, imo. Being in the middle of town or not, is basically the choice.
"No Keys" "No Cash"!
this. my realtor wanted a 'good faith' deposit and i told him to go **** himself. The real estate game here is different.
I think another reason they do it is because they may show you some condo online or even in person, then talk to you later and say someone else is interested in it. This is a way they can either start a bidding war and make them seem like heroes because they "got" the place for you.
I also think they do this for properties that are unavailable, but once they have some of your money you essentially have to go through them and they are making commission no matter what now.
My realtor wanted a 1k wire transfer when I told him I would be there in 3-4 hours with 4k cash to pay for everything, as long as I get the keys and a signed lease in return. Because of weird things like this and last minute price changes I no longer recommend my realtor, Dennis of Baja123.com
fwiw they did take care of 90% of what I needed in a mexican approved orderly/timely fashion, I would just choose to support a more transparent business practice than Dennis does, there's another lady Zinnia at the company who I hear is cool. That website is the best I've found yet for vacation properties.
I'd say ur fine if you move into a nice place...and if you have a new benz ur probably looking on the upper end of things. The guys at las olas have nice bmw's and lex's.
Imo, when it comes down to it bringing a nicer car here is NOT about security, that will be fine...but it's about subjecting your car to the road conditions down here. There are random potholes, dips, and speedbumps that **** your car up if u drive alot down here. I'd think about that before thinking about how safe your car is...but also consider how often you drive. If you go to the grocery store once a week there will be very minimal damage, but I plan on driving down to ensenada, up to tijuana alot, out to surf, scuba dive...and will be driving alot and fully realize that it'll **** up my car....a ****tier lexus that I don't care about.
we were actually like assigned a maid for our place but would rather not use them, as they know the owner of the place. So we need to find another one, which I'm sure is easy if we overpay, but the average daily wage down here is like $4, so I don't see any reason why we should pay more than $30 or so for a 10-12 hour shift. The guys at las olas paid $75 for a maid once, which isn't even bad, but just such an obvious gringo price.
The cool thing about mexico is everybody knows somebody. If you ask your guard, waiter, guy pumping your gas, taxi driver, etc....they will have a friend who is a realtor, carpenter, painter, internet technician, or something you will find useful. So we need to just find somebody's sister or cousin and do it the mexican way...not go through our realtor who will hook us up with some english speaking lady that charges 5x as much.
Lots of high-rises here for sure. I wasn't as into that at first, but you also have to remember that these are vacation homes and nobody is here half the year. There's 2 other people that live in my 8 story building, and then on the weekends a few other rooms will be rented out. I've found that I like being a bit above the ocean, and we have cliffs below us that look pretty sick when the waves crash, so we're like 6 stories on top of a 20 foot cliff above the ocean.
There are 6-7 I'd say condo communities as well, with 2-3 story houses in a more spread out condo complex. These look rad as well and were my first choise, but there is def a little less privacy I would say, as you're just in a house surrounded by other houses, and when you go on one of your patios everyone outside can see.
All places have 24/7 security and parking.
You CAN get a normal home here, not all baller and beachfront but just in a normal neighborhood and it's cheap as balls, but for the extra couple hundred I think most of us prefer to step it up.
So far I'm liking it alot out here. It's a great place to be. Downsides could be there's not a ton of clubbing or anything during the week. Surf could be a bit warmer. Internet seems to go out daily at least once for a few minutes (but we also had a huge power outage in mexico, LA, and AZ....most locals tell us there are never power problems here)
I don't have a place to hang my hammock. sometimes its windy. the tacos don't come with cheese.
upsides are many as well. There's a guy on the beach with a go-cart with wings on it...so for $20 you can fly a go cart over the ocean. parties go off in TJ, occasional weekends here,
felt like I should have PMd most of this, but others may find it helpful as well. starting a session now and im outtt!
Hit telcel, get 3gb aircard. this will last i think 3200 hours or something if all you download is text. Obviously youtube and normal browsing rape the airtime out of the thing, but if you ONLY played poker on it it'd last a month easy. You can do a lease for 10gb/mo I believe...but that puts you in a weird spot, because 10gb is still not enough to stream and download videos carefree for a month, and you'd have to ration it out anyways.
Telcel, once you get all the necessary **** sorted out, took like 3 days to hook up? It will vary alot, as sometimes they need to install a phone line, sometimes there is already one there, and sometimes you need someone's permission to add internet to the phone line.
Baja Wireless is $75/mo, and $300 installation of a big ass antennae on your roof. Sounds expensive but also less prone to fail.
Telnor is like $40/mo for 10mbps, and $75 for either 15 or 20...i forget what their fastest one is.
Cablemas or something has another service I havent looked into.
Food delivery - I don't much. I prob should. I have 3-4 menus of places that deliver...some of it is standard american **** as well like spaghetti and meatballs. Another place looks super healthy with all these weird berry smoothies and protein organic type of hippie place.
and obv a few mexican places
I'm sure it'd be easy to set yourself up with someone who would deliver to you regularly...even at places that don't advertise to deliver. I'm more interested in a maid/cook scenario. Found a skatepark today and will be making some local homies soon, then I'll get one of their smokin hot 8th street latina sisters to come clean and cook and make sure everything is polished park looks pretty sick too, im hyped!
Arrived in Rosarito a week ago
Purchased aircard early telcel connection is awful at los olas grand, forced to move out on the balcony to get a tiny connection
Today had multi cable installed its a Us Ip, only internet provider allowed in complex
**** this is going to be a nightmare, dont know what to do
Yo man, if you have money you can get internet. Baja wireless is another company that the guys at Las Olas use...it's $300 for them to install a big ass antennae and then $75/mo. This is obv muuuuch more than the standard $25-30/mo that most people pay for internet + phone...but another good option if you are worried about location and not being able to get legit mexi isp internet
So basically between multi-cable, telnor, baja wireless, and the multiple carriers with reasonably priced 3G cards...I wouldn't worry about internet too much, there ARE options out there if you search for em and ask around
yes, but for most of us that would be ******ed to do, because stars isn't accepting month-to-month leases. I do know one guy who had a 3 month lease and they told him he had to go through the whole process of getting verified again, because they would only mark that his account was good for his residency period.
that being said... Sure month to month is fairly easy to get, especially in the offseason, but you will normally pay a decent amount more, and it's crazy sometimes seeing how much more. A 6 bedroom I saw for 2,500 would go for as low as 1600 or so with a lease.
edit: it's fine to go into places without an agent, but the system down here is really weird, and alot of the places even though they are in a complex are held by private owners, so sometimes it's necessary to contact them to be able to get inside. I think a combo is best..have an agent show you some listings they have access to...but then go to places yourself and ask as well. Agents won't even show you a place unless it's listed through the right service and they get a cut...and I've ran into some owners that would rather you deal with them directly.
Spent 9 hours looking at places yesterday in Rosarito. My guy was the man, so helpful.
Regarding Las Olas, my realtor had 2 possible options: (1) satellite dish or (2) stealing the internet from Califia towers (right across the way). He did say that the chances of the IP address being switched is very slim (they have been saying that for awhile). The truth is that most people want an US IP address for a variety of reasons... One of the corner units he showed me actually got pretty sick reception from Califia.
Like I said, I looked at soooooooooooooooooo many places yesterday and I ended up going with Plaza Del Mar. I wanted something away from downtown, by the ocean, and very modern interior. Every place I saw was really nice, but for the price and what I get it, Plaza Del Mar was kind of a no brainer. 15 minute drive to downtown Rosarito, INSANE view from the balcony, 3BR for 1k, and a Mexican IP address = win. Downside is no garage, but I saw a few real high end cars parked so whatever....
This is the unit I went with :
http://www.rentinginmexico.com/Listi...ailTypeID=NONE
It's a lot bigger than I thought by looking at the pictures. The owner of my condo also owns 2 other ones in the building and plays online poker so that's pretty sweet.
TBH, I was disappointed with Las Olas; maybe I was expecting too much. The amenities are really nice as everyone has mentioned, but the pool isn't heated so not much use for half of the year. The actual condos themselves was pretty meh (I looked at 8 units in the building). For the same price, you could move to Palicio Del Mar. The amenities blows away Las Olas and the condos are insane. Just some food for thought.
Rosarito reminds me a lot of Vegas tbh. They seriously went on a building spree when the market was flush and now renters are basically living for free there. So many unfinished high end condos.....
-steel108
The amenities I was talking about wasn't in the place I picked. I was referring to was at Palacio Del Mar. That place was SICK. Everything there is USA 1st class, I was in awe while touring the building. If I knew for a fact that I wanted a roomate and knew someone who was willing to spend 1.2k/month, I would have snapped. They had a 3BR garden floor one for 2500, but the view from the penthouse was breath taking.
I toured 1 in tower 2, 2 in tower 1 and saw one of the villas with respects to Califia.
I wasn't a fan of the building tbh, besides that what I looked at was pretty sweet. They do have a Mexican IP address. One unit I looked at was a 3BR for 950/month with free DirectTV (all the football games) but I didn't like the furniture.
Damn, I erased the notes I made on my phone after I made my decision; I went to way too many places to actually remember offhand tbh.
Has anyone needed to buy office or bedroom furniture? I assume there are stores for that...Has there been anything that anyone *needed* but couldn't find in Rosarito?
peanut butter
medicinal grade bananas
random smoke accessories
taco bell
Shane - if u ever run into this problem down here...you can open a PO box in San Diego and there's a company that goes 5 days a week to pick up your mail and bring it here. Amazon, ebay, etc is all back within reach again, and I've found that most things you can't find here you can at least order online.
Furniture - we wanted to buy some desks but they were $80 each at home depot here. There's prob much cheaper, locally made products...or even hiring a carpenter we've heard is a great idea (basically free labor and great craftsmanship). There ARE furniture stores though obv, and this place is actually known for its woodwork I think?
no, man. I'm not 100% on all the details, but you don't want a PO box in mexico. Mexican mail takes literally months to deliver things, since there is no centralized government mail system, but a bunch of privatized companies in each region that communicate with each other independently, taking forever.
What is set up next to oceana del mar, which is what I have, is a PO box that is located in San Diego, but the company goes up and gets your mail 5 days a week and brings it to another mail box for you here. They pay all import tariffs on any packages, then you reimburse them when you pick up your package.
You can also send mail to the US through them, and they'll bring your mail to the US and put it in a drop box.
180/yr...110/6mo...or like 30/mo
-boliver
Speaking of food,if you want some bomb pizza D'Angelos is the best I've had. I havn't really found a good mexican restaurant yet.(Prob because I know now I prefer "tex mex").
Also, either Burger King has gotten really good recently, or mexican burger kings are the best ever.
ok.....few tips for you guys
best pizza in tj is called tony's new york pizza...its in tijuana....trust me its worth driving there for it..
meat: don't buy it at grocery stores..find a couple local carnicera's (meat shops) in your neighborhood....take a look around..pick the one out of the two or three you see that has the best quality..you'll be fine.
on the occasions that you are in san diego, you can also shoot to von's and pick up w/e
JD
We were also told that Some US insurance companies still provide the insurance if you are within 50 miles of US border, which we are...so maybe check on that as well. I have state farm and don't think it applies, but not positive. Another guy that had traveler's is covered though.
random link for mexi car insurance:
http://www.bordermex.net/admin/quali...portal/qq.aspx
I think we got what would equate to 'full territory'...which may not have been the best idea but I'm sure I'll drive to ensenada sometimes. Similar prices to what we paid here at a local company.
FWIW I was told by a resident that baja wireless is available at las olas grand and it is a Mexican IP.
Ha,
I'm in your exact scenario and just finished a ton of research. What I ended up with:
Flying into San Diego, renting a car, driving across the border
Renting a car at about $220 every 2 weeks
Mexican laibility insurance at about $200/yr
Collision/Comprehensive coverage with my Visa credit card for free*
That way I have a car to get around Rosarito with. Unless you live downtown, it really sucks not having a car. And your options even if you do live downtown are an hour on public transit to the Mexico border and then a $15-20 cab ride from the border to Rosarito. A cab from San Diego to the border is like $50.
If you are truly going to split your time and aren't totally busto this is what I would go for. It also allows you to live farther from downtown which gives you cheaper rents.
If you are living downtown or have someone whose car you can borrow, then either cab/public transit to the border and then cab to Rosarito.
* Visa only provides coverage on rentals up to 15 days. If you are planning on staying longer consecutively just get full Mexican cover for a few hundred more per year. You also might want to consider buying a cheap used car.
I don't understand the border tax thing. If you bring a couple laptops you will be taxed to bring them across the border?
technically yes. there is an import tax on electronics and there's some weird rules around it as well. When I get mail sent to me, the mail company pays the import tax and I have to repay them. Don't stop and get the FMM, you dont need it anyways, and even if you WANT one its not high on your list of priorities.
The tax is supossed to be 10%, but I heard they just google whatever the item is and assume the first price that pops up, so each laptop may cost you $100 or so if you declare em. Just drive through in the normal line, don't declare anything.
fwiw the emergency rooms here are helpful
Btw, it appears my IP is now originating from central mexico. I have multicable btw. So maybe they did finally change it.
-overrdose.
Stars security has said they have tried to call twice and it was busy both times... I have been by the phone waiting and there is no way it was busy.
My number is ********** (10 digits), how would someone dial into Mexico?? So tilting.....
to dial from US to mex
non cell 011-52-664-XXX-XXXX
cell 011-52-1-664-XXX-XXXX
52 country code
664 Tijuana code, Rosarito might have a different code (661?)
I'm moving to Rosarito November 1st.. flying out there from the East Coast. I just figured out I can save almost $800 round trip flying into San Diego vs. Tijuana so I think I'm going to go that route.
Anyone have a bus company to recommend that goes from San Diego to Rosarito? Or anyone wanna pick me up for a couple handles of Tequila or w/e?
You want to take a city bus or cab to the trolley line which takes you to within walking distance of the border. Cross the border, then take cab to Rosarito.
Not sure if this is correct:
take the MTS BUS route 992 Airport via Harbor Dr / Cruise Ship Term
get off the stop on 11th Av at Broadway
take the Blue Line (trolley) to San Ysidro
get off the stop at San Ysidro/Intl Border Stn - East Platform
An FMM is not necessary for PokerStars
I sent the following:
(1) ID front and back
(2) Full lease with my name, address in Mexico, date clearly visible
(3) Cell phone number and cell contract with my name, address, date clearly visible
(4) HSBC Paperwork, didn't send bank statment. My name, address, and date was clearly visible.
All address' have to match to the letter on all forms.
Is that an annual fee?
What's the typical waiting time to cross from MX to US (pedestrian or by car)? It used to be a half hour or less on foot, but that was quite a while ago.
I spelled it wrong, it's Sentri Pass. So it looks like $122 per person is good for 5 years:
http://www.bajabound.com/before/permits/sentri.asp
At the morning times when everyone is going to work, it can take up to 2-3 hours to cross back into the States, by car or foot.
Sentri pass - need a full FBI background check from what I know. Most of us won't pass that, so we're not even trying.
We are pretty far south, even farther than Puerto Nuevo, but it's kinda nice to be this secluded and the toll road makes it quick to get into town.
--------
Is anyone else's internet just totally unreliable today/in general? Our internet has been cutting out all over the place (Baja Wireless) since last night but it is shared with several units so that might be the problem. Supposedly we are getting dedicated internet installed tomorrow, but the internet is making everything pretty much ungrindable at the moment.
Just wondering if this is something that can be fixed with a different provider or how everyone's internet is in general.
Telcel Aircard is the way to go.
We got an aircard, it is incredibly effing slow. We are stuck on the EDGE network unless there is something I can't figure out how to activate. Currently chilling at dial-up speeds.
It's supposed to be 3G, but either something is screwed up or we don't get 3G service here which is a joke.
Baja Wireless is coming tomorrow to get us our own connection and supposedly fix the shared connection, but I'm kinda concerned about that even at this point. If that doesn't fix this, I don't really know what to do.
I have no idea if we are even allowed to get Telnor or something else here. Tilt is very large at the moment.
Oh and I lost aircard connection while writing this post. So it's super reliable too.
Are there a lot of 3+ bedroom condos or houses close to grocery stores and possibly the beach which aren't listed online?
bro there's plenty of amazing rentals here that are not listed on Realtor site. I got mine from a private owner and couldn't be happier. Dam Realtor's are scammers!
Excellent:
Betuccinis
El Gerente (Mexican)
-Directions: South side of Rosarito - find the large brown 'El Nido's' steakhouse and go down the perpendicular street away from the ocean one block and there it is.
-Food: Great!! Best Mexican I've seen in Rosarito by a long shot and very cheap too. Ask for the 'Perrones' for tacos there. There's a secondary booth not to be overlooked that sells this great cucumber/kiwi juice, cantaloupe juice, spiced fresh mangos, bread appetizers and salads.
Le Cousteau (French/Italian)
-Directions: South side of Rosarito down the main drag (land side). Look for a french flag banner up top.
-Food: Highest quality dining I've seen in Rosarito. They have a huge selection of gourmet and well cooked foods at the standard bargain Mexican pricing. Choose from escargot, pastas, fire-wood pizzas as the easy stuff or select from their main entrees including filet mignon, cornish game hen, various sea foods and other top notch noms. Their desert menu also is pretty sweet. One huge added bonus about this place : *They accept credit cards!*
Nutrifood (Smoothies/health)
-Directions: South side of Rosarito down the main drag (ocean side), in between Del Alamo and Del Abeto (there will be two twin towers on the beach near them).
-Food: I'm very biased here because I tend to live off this kind of food but I think this place is fantastic for day-to-day living. They sell smoothies, custom fruit salads, breakfast items, wraps/salads/sandwiches, lasagnas, seafood and more. Almost everything is made from scratch (the smoothies they cut the fruit, fruit salads the fruit is cut in front of you... pancakes even have their batter prepared on the spot). Ask for the specials if you want more. They also deliver.
Estancia (Steakhouse)
-Directions: Just north of the major bend in the main drag. Its down the street where there is a large wheel fountain water thing - drive a few blocks towards the ocean.
-Food: Great quality steak and seafood for some of the cheapest pricing you'll find anywhere. Filet Mignon starts at $11ish. Fairly large selection to choose from. TVs and non-TV rooms allow you to choose your atmosphere. Caution! The plates are very hot when you are served food
--------------------------
Recommended:
Akai Sakana (Sushi)
-Directions: Near the very southern tip of the main Rosarito drag on the land side (fairly close to the Rosarito Beach Hotel).
-Food: Probably the best sushi option in Rosarito. They offer a decent amount of medium-high quality rolls there and a few other things to pick from there as well such as Kobe beef for $20 (which I have not tried yet).
Tamale Inn (Breakfast)
-Directions: Near Nutri-food (see above). Look for the twin towers towards the south side of Rosarito on the main drag.
-Food: Solid place to get a decent breakfast. They offer all-American and all-Mexican options there as well as some standard lunch options. Every single 2p2'r basically ever has a huge crush on the girl that works there.
Sushi Place, name unknown
-Directions: Near Walmart in the main shopping mall area.
-Food: Decent sushi at a decent price. Nothing extraordinary but definitely a solid choice if you're craving sushi.
That's Amore! (Italian)
-Directions: A few blocks north of the bend in the main drag on the land side.
-Food: Pretty solid/standard Italian food with all the standard options. Not a huge menu selection. Everyone was a huge fan of the bruschetta that they served there. Somewhat fancy there by Mexican standards.
--------------------------
Not Recommended:
El Nido's (Steakhouse)
-Directions: Near the southern end of Rosarito on the main drag in a big brown building on the ocean side (hard to miss).
-Food: Food there is mediocre and overpriced. Feel free to go here as its not horrible but there's simply no reason to go here when you can go to Estancia (see above.) The best part of the experience is its interior: its fairly cool yet romantic.
--------------------------
Bad:
Ikeda of Japan (Japanese/sushi)
-Its horrible. Me and cafe noir individually determined this. Don't go.
Crepe store (Starbucks posh like interior, near the Hospital Banova)
-As a crepe lover I was excited about this place... Nice interior and all but after going twice I can easily say its just bad. Its like they have cheapened down every product down unnecessarily so yet are overpriced.
Casa De Mole (spelling slightly off, south side of Rosarito on the ocean side)
-Tasteless Mexican food at a decently nice looking establishment. I didn't care for it at all and my roommate hated it, lol.
Spoiler:
Created by theskillzdatklls, send PMs if you have any questions. If you add on to this feel free to include yourself in the credits.
Telcel air card will be fine for poker. The lag was pretty low. Maybe 100ms over standard internet. 3 gigs will last all month for poker. Not so much if you are doing youtube/music/whatever else.
The big question is how good your reception is inside of your apartment.
For the sake of posterity...you can text "VIGENCIABAT" to #5050 on your tellcell card to see your usage...thanks Ramsey F for the info.
Where does one get a visa besides the border (and if you do it at the border what's the procedure)?
What kind of visa do we need?
you have to get your FMM at the border first. I believe it's a yellow building to the right as soon as you cross. It's like $20 something bucks. After you get this, you can either apply yourself or have one of many agencies in town help you apply for an FM-2 or 3. I think FM-3. The laws are changing around FM-2/3's all the time i guess, and I heard that in a few months FM-2's would be replaced with another different system. Because of all the changes and confusion, I'd talk to an agency if you want to be legit and get the FM-2, see if they say you SHOULD even get one or if you should just wait a bit until the laws change.
fwiw you don't actually need an FM-2 or 3 or any kind. Nobody in mexico is gonna give a **** that you're living there. If you were alot deeper in mexico it may be a problem. Getting one does give you a mexican photo ID, which is kinda legit, but I'd say 90% of us aren't getting one.
Note to everyone. Do not get Baja Wireless. So many reasons, but it's generally terrible even as a last resort. It's fast when it works, but it's down so much. Probably worse, all of Baja Wireless shares 1 IP address. And that IP address is banned on a ton of sites (not poker sites, yet). It's just a huge risk to your poker funds and sanity.
ya there is a sd route # 5 sign pointing to go right and if u take it you are in a highly populated TJ road and its a nightmare to get back! (sign is obv wrong) don't make a mistake of taking the sentri line with no pass. Been there done that and was warned and thoroughly searched! Could pay a healthy fine, but when you come back from getting *** ed up from that sign it can happen.
Really? So how do you get to the border if not by making a right shortly after that sign?
I think I *have* gotten there taking the right after the sign (there's a fake right-turn that just leads to an alley but an actual street just after it)...Then the problem is you arrive at an intersection with no signage. But if you take a left there, you will see another sign for San Diego.
It's a little tricky to get into the correct lane, you basically don't want to take the far right lane, since that is the "Servicios Medicos" line (is this different from Sentri?) and I was not searched there, but glared at and had to loop back.
I feel like the above directions are even more confusing than anything, but imo:
1. Take the right after the sign that says "San Diego/5"
2. Take a left at the first intersection
3. Get in the lane that says "San Diego" which is NOT the one on the far right but can be confused for it.
Also, someone alerted me to the fact that there's another point of entry 6 miles east called Otay Mesa. I haven't checked it out, and it might not be open 24/7, but supposedly the waits are consistently less bad than San Ysidro, probably a good out if you need to leave during rush hours.
Otay is open 24/7 and "Ready Lane". complete info here
http://www.northbajasales.com/2011/0...miguel-sedano/
About the "servicios medicos" line, I want you to try it next time you go back and report. (if possible) I will give you a Pass
Rosarito negatives:
Tourism is dead. If you expect there to be much in the way of nightlife and you enjoy that, you are going to be disappointed. Not sure if Spring Break will be different, but all reports seem to indicate it is way, way off its peak. The police are corrupt (could be good or bad, I suppose).
There are no young foreigners really. You get that in a lot of other cities like Bangkok/Buenos Aires/etc. Just doesn't seem to exist here. All the foreigners are retired.
You pretty much have to have a car if you ever want to leave your apartment, even if you live downtown. Well I guess living downtown you can just cab when you want to go to the store, but it seems kinda silly. You aren't really going to walk around Rosarito. And staying downtown, you miss a lot.
Just in general I find there isn't much to do. It's a touristy beach town with no more tourism. You figure out what the means.
The ocean is cold, the water is dark, and the beaches aren't great. Coming from California, you expect this, but if you are thinking you are going to get the Caribbean here, you are wrong.
The internet, depending on provider, can be sketchy.
There is a decent amount of good too. The rent is cheap even for oceanfront which is pretty cool. The weather is generally amazing. The food is cheap. There are some Western conveniences in town and it's close to San Diego. If you are willing to go into Tijuana from time to time, there is even more to do. Ensenada isn't very far and offers even more. In general I feel very safe, but I haven't ventured out much in the middle of the night. Gas is cheap. So are cigarettes, if that's your thing. The drive along the coast is pretty amazing.
Should be down there with Starting Gun in 9 days, pretty excited!
Anyone else at Calafia Resort and Villas (Playas de Rosarito)? Starting Gun and I weren't planning on a vehicle, hopefully we're not too far out to where it'll be a burden without one, not totally sure where Calafia is compared to everyone/everything else, guess we'll find out
Just going to reiterate again that if you're looking for a very reliable and trustworthy realtor, get in contact with Miguel Sedano (pm me for contact info). I was referred to him by Steel08 and he has been very very helpful so far; and he's even found his way onto 2p2 and has been posting/helping out quite a bit.
I only have a Pesos acct, and I did two $500 test withdrawls this week...one a direct wire from Stars and one from Stars>MB...
I got 6,300.47 (~$477) from the MB withdrawal and 6,374.51 (~$482) from the Stars direct wire.
Not sure if the fees assessed were are one time fees or %, but I hope this info is helpful.
anyone know of a bus, Van, or Shuttle that goes from Rosarito to tj and back? Where to pick up? Pricing?
Maybe Miguel has some insight?
Hello: Mexicoach is the service that I know. Goes from the Rosarito Beach Hotel to San Ysidro. Please check their website for rates and hours.
http://www.mexicoach.com/Rates.html
Hej Guys,
what is the nearest Airport ? What is the Airportcode ?
kind regrads rawie87
tijuana. TJA i think is airport code. 20 mins away
When you concierge an item,they take out your FPP's and put cash into your PS account. So it wouldn't really help with cashing out.
Oh and btw, you don';t need a fm-2 or 3 to get a USD mexican account. Just a utility bill in your name. I recommend Santander.
Worked for someone else though,
Need help finding a GOOD property and moving to Rosarito Beach....I can help you relocate, I have helped many get set up with Bank accounts, internet etc etc MY SERVICES TO YOU ARE FREE and have many good ocean front and ocean view properties in PRIVATE COMMUNITIES starting at $700.00 USD for OCEAN FRONT 2 bedroom 2 bath FULLY FURNISHED call me direct I live in the area and have a US phone (714)642-3736
jlopezinbaja@yahoo.com
here's my websites.....
www.mexicoproperties.net
http://joselopez1.point2agent.com
http://www.rentinginmexico.com/
Miguel sedano
So our maid turned into our personal assistant.
She cooks for us, does our laundry, runs errands (take our cloth to the dry cleaners, buys us groceries), and cleans our entire house. She's very thorough and does an impeccable job. Like serious hotel service here. She hangs our cloth and she even tied my bath robe in a fashion you'd only find at hotels. Just top shelf service. All this for $5/hour.
If you guys need her, I'd be happy to refer you guys to her (not on mondays/thurs though, those are our days). PM me for more info.
thisisintense
As for the gated condo, like I said, this place is sick. $2400/mo for a furnished 3br/3ba. I was not here for Miguel showing my roommates around, but if this is not the best choice, that'd be baffling. The gym was "the best" out of all of them (however Jdawg's gym looks sweet)(open 8 AM til 8PM)(they don't have a barbell/bench press/leg press tho), they have an Olympic sized pool (same hours), an infinity pool for residents, sauna, and man made beach. They also have a jacuzzi that takes about 4-5 hours to warm up and is on Friday, Saturday, Sunday. If two units want to have it on during the weekdays, they just have to contact the front desk (it takes two units to say they want it turned on). They have an outdoor turf/sand tennis court that has lights and can be played on in the dark. They also have a basketball court and bachi ball area. Our condo gets Direct TV so we get all of the major channels and feels like we're at home. Also there is apparently a concierge service here ran by the front desk, but we have yet to try that out.
Real talk: The downsides of this location is that it is about 20 minutes south of the main drag of Rosarito. (We DO have a car and don't plan on going into town all that much) At night, the winds blow in from a cow farm and it smells like manure in the proximity (around 7/8?). I think Shane told us the internet for the last month here hasn't been a problem, but as soon as that brief power outage happened, it has been fluctuating for 36 hours (it seems good now, tho). Oh, weird to have a pro in the cons section, but this place has a back up generator that within 20 seconds, kicked in as soon as our power went out. Really impressive.
Shuttle between Rosarito and San Ysidro, $13 1W, $20 RT:
http://www.mexicoach.com/Rates.html
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Bus between San Diego and OC/LA:
http://www.luxbusamerica.com/bus-schedule-pricing.php
Places that offer border crossing passes
I don't have the exact list but It would be a good idea if we just keep on adding places to this list. I'm starting with the ones that I remember:
1-El Pescador.
2-Bahia Cantiles Cantina.
3-Ollie's Pizza.
4-Sussana,s. (Excellent Mexico-Californian fusion, but pricy)
5-La Fonda.
6-Poco Cielo (not 100% sure)
7-Rubbens.
bahia cantiles and mongolian grill
Rosarito Beach Hotel
Rosarito Inn
Bobby's by the Sea
Lizard Lounge
Grand Baja Resort
Calafia Hotel
Festival Plaza
Brisas del Mar Hotel
Mongolian Grill
Fausto Polanco
I'm going to be staying downtown when I arrive.
Can someone please tell me where these places are near downtown:
- TelNor North end of town across from waldos $1 store (opposite side of street)
- WalMart North end at main Rosarito plaza by bk, home depot
- grocery stores calimax north of dt/commercial mexicanna the exit next to the walmart exit on toll road
- best place to get cheap prepaid cell phone ( telcel in the walmart plaza/in midle section/tough to see unless u get out of car)
- places to print/scan/copy/fax (office depot right next to calimax north side of town)
- any restaurants not already mentioned by theskillzdatkillz
baja jr by bolivers place in dt has amazing fish/shrimp tacos
HOTEL SONIA: Despite arriving at ~7 PM, the gate was locked and it took multiple loud calls of "buenos tardes" from my cab driver to elicit a sleepy old man to shuffle slowly toward the gate. Rooms are $25, so I asked him to show me one. The bathroom looked clean enough and there appeared sufficient water pressure, so the first test was passed. However, upon lifting the corner of the bedspread, a large circular pink stain was apparent on the sheets. That's enough for me, on to the next place.
NO-NAME HOTEL: I don't even know the name of this place, but if you're at Waldo's downtown, go 3 blocks east and one block north (it's a dead end). It's an two story yellow-orange building with about 12 rooms. The first room I was shown was rather small, worse yet the rain was pouring from the roof right into the doorway and I got drenched. I ended up in another double room, but was told to "not use the other bed" and got it for the same price. Here's a run down of the positives and negatives of this place:
PLUSES
1. PRICE: $20 the first night, $15/night after that. Probably not going to beat that for a short term stay, unless you look really hard.
MINUSES
1. HOT WATER: Despite being told I was the ONLY guest during my first night there, they only would turn on the hot water tank from 6 AM to 10 PM the next morning. This was disappointing, as I hadn't showered in two days and had come all the way from Vegas by car/trolley/cab that day. The water was nice and hot that morning, but this morning I would be searching for the Spanish term for "lukewarm" (prob due to more guests or earlier shower).
2. CLEANLINESS: The place seemed fairly clean when I arrived. The sheets are very clean. However, despite staff that seems to be constantly cleaning rooms, there were many long, dark hairs on the floor. I'd pick up a couple with TP, only to find a couple more, and the process never seems to end. It's like I was cursed with a bottomless floor of hair by the dungeon master or something. It's irritating more than anything.
3. TV: I don't really watch much TV, but while there are several channels, they're all in Spanish and there's no remote. Still, I could pretty much follow the episode of Little House on the Prairie where Laura steals Nellie's music box and almost betrays her stuttering friend Anna. It was actually sorta heart-warming. I think Top Secret is on in near future.
4. NOISE: I saved the best/worst for last. This has been a major problem. I can handle the sirens and barking dogs, along with bouncing basketballs. After doing a lot of walking and eating on Monday, I wanted to indulge in the Mexican tradition of the afternoon siesta. This was going well at first, until it sounded as if someone dumped an entire 40 foot container of glass bottles right next to my ear. This was the only time I encountered such a sound, so it was just bad timing for me. However, last night was a different story. I didn't get home from McD's until almost 11 PM, and since it had been another long day of walking and eating (and the hot water ends at 10 AM), I decided to turn in early (normally, I'm a night owl). At this time guests seemed to arrive in droves (actually only like 3 cars). One or two of these groups were quite inconsiderate and alternated between talking loudly outside my room, slamming their car doors/trunks, slamming their room doors, and letting their car horns/alarms blare for a couple minutes. This went on for a good hour or so, at which time my repeated fist pounding on the wall and yells of "JFC" seemed to relieve the situation... more likely they were tired and finally went to bed. That was probably doubly fortunate, as I was that close to yelling something about "chinca tu madre, ella es una puta, tu eres un hijo de una perra y el diablo, chincadores de gallos, jesus chincando cristos" instead of the condensed JC/JFC.
SPECIAL BONUS IF YOU READ NOW: McD's DOES have wi-fi, and according to my cabbie last night, so does the 7-11/Pemex across the street from McD's, as well as the Starbucks (he said something about Mexican Starbucks?) near Walmart(?). Also, between downtown and McD's, there was a coffee shop on the west side of the blvd. that had a sign for wifi.
.
I'm also a San Diego native, so Rosarito just makes sense for my second trip...its like less than an hour away from where I am right now lol.
