San Diego and Over the Boarder to Mexico

preddy

Hi,

After reading thru the other San Diego threads found alot are J1 related, just some questions from a week long stayer in San Diego. Looking for beach relaxing good eating, sight seeing, and nightlife + safeish.

Where to stay should we hit a hostel in La Jolla for a few days and then maybe Pacific beach or just pick one place?

Planning on popping over the boarder for a night Tijuana worth a stay or somewhere along the baja pennisula (thats not like a cheap week in spain)

Ta

Neamhshuntasach

I thought the USA hostel downtown was great craic. I stayed there and also worked there for a while. Up drinking till the next morning nearly every night. La Jolla is really quiet at night. Not much there but car showrooms and rich people. There are one or two hostels beside PB that looked like they were all right. Always seemed to be people outside drinking. Banana bungalows i think one was called.

San Diego is pretty much safe overall. In fact one of the safest cities in the US for its size. Some of the county places like El Cajon, San Ysidro, Mira Mesa and North Park look like they could be dangerous. But i never had a problem for the years i spent there. So i wouldn't worry too much bout safety. Actually PB has the highest crime rate in San Diego which is a surprise.

As for heading down to TJ. Wednesday night is the night to go if you want to be around Irish people. Nearly everyone heads down and comes back early the next morning. The trolley goes right down to the border at San Ysidro. You just walk on through without showing anything. If it's dark then get a taxi. Don't walk across the bridge. You have a high chance of being robbed. But during the day your grand. If you wanted to be around Americans then head down at the weekend. Or go a bit further down to Rosarito which is a bit nicer than TJ. Ensenada is a bit more tourist oriented and has a beach. It is also a lot safer than TJ if your looking for that comfort.

preddy

Cheers mate.
So PB or downtown hmmmmmm, we are looking for a few days on the beach and a few days of sight seeing, is it easy to get from downtown to the beach?

Should we rent a car or how public transport to seaworld/ the Zoo etc?

Neamhshuntasach

Yeah it's pretty easy. Just get the trolly from Downtown to Old Town. Then from there you can jump a bus to PB. The whole journey would be about 40 minutes as far as i remember. I drove so can't really work out how long by bus. It would be 20 mins if driving.

Renting a car can be expensive. You don't really need one if only there for a short time. Although the city and county are pretty spread out. You can pretty much get a bus from old town to anywhere. And the trolley covers the bulk of everywhere else.

dr.bollocko

As part of my J1, I had to get permission from the US government to go to Mexico short term or they wouldnt let me in. I am not sure if this is still the case as my J1 was about 5 years ago.

Neamhshuntasach

dr.bollocko wrote: »

As part of my J1, I had to get permission from the US government to go to Mexico short term or they wouldnt let me in. I am not sure if this is still the case as my J1 was about 5 years ago.

Never heard of that. I went to college over there and would have been there 5 years ago. I went down to TJ most Wednesday's with people on J1's and various other student visas. Once the visa is still valid and you didn't surrender it for any reason when crossing over there would not be a problem getting back in.

Innervision

We were told we had to get our visas signed to cross the border but none of us did & we've had no problems, been to Tijuana a few times.

And the 30 bus goes straight from downtown to PB!

preddy

Anyone know any good Hostels / Cheap Hotels / B&B in San Diego, the amount of bad review on trip advisor is making me dizzy

Downtown or old town seem to be the spots.

Neamhshuntasach

Don't mind the bad reviews on the websites. The bad reviews are from people who pay 20 dollars a night in a hostel and except 5 star hotel treatment. They probably give it a bad review because it was too noisey or their pillows were comfortable enough. I have stayed in place that were slated in reviews but yet i had a great time in them.

The place i'd recommend is USA hostels in the gaslamp quarter. I got it for 18 dollars a night a few years ago in the middle of July. Was a great party hostel.

There is feck all in old town. Downtown or PB are the main spots if you want to be around attractions and meet people.

Flynn

Hey i´d go with Banana Bungalow in PB.. biggest party hostel i was ever in.. its the only hostel right on the beach.. kegs every night (if ppl are up for it) for $7 and they do weekly day trips to Tijuana.. staff are awesome too, they do most of the drinkin.. if your headin in summer book in advance.. its extremely hard to get a bed.. think its 22 dollars a night but stay 6 and get the 7th free.. anyway good luck..

Neamh - when u headin off? must be soon now.. Im in Nica now.. central is goin very well!

preddy

Ehhh Banana Bungalow doesnt get the best reviews i read something like "the homeless ppl on the street outside the place chose the street rather then the Banana" So i went Downtown "things will be great when you're Downtown " so no going back now

Thanks everyone

Neamhshuntasach

Flynn wrote: »

Neamh - when u headin off? must be soon now.. Im in Nica now.. central is goin very well!

End of August. Can't wait. Going in to get some booster vaccinations this evening. So it's starting to feel a lot closer to the time now.

Nicaragua is cool. Try get out to corn islands if you haven't already. Really laid back place. Have you been to Honduras yet? I found the big cities to be absolute dumps. Especially San Pedro and Tegus. I think i lost count of the amount of robberies and car jackings i seen.

Neamhshuntasach

preddy wrote: »

Ehhh Banana Bungalow doesnt get the best reviews i read something like "the homeless ppl on the street outside the place chose the street rather then the Banana" So i went Downtown "things will be great when you're Downtown " so no going back now

Thanks everyone

I've been right outside that banana bungalow place when down on PB and i talked to loads of people who loved it there. As far as i remember the dorm rooms are something like 12 or 20 to a room. And because it's a party hostel a lot of people who want a more quieter stay complain about it. The confuse loud drunk people with scum bags and mistake cans laying around as the place being filthy. I read the same reviews for lots of places and they were all wrong. So i make it my point to go onto them online review places after i stay in them and tell it like it really is. Suppose it all depends on your comfort levels and personality. But the USA hostel downtown is a good choice.

Blut

I stayed in banana bungalows for 10 nights, its good fun. It is quite kippy, standards of cleanliness/quality arent great but it more than makes up for that with its location right on the beach in PB and its party atmosphere, well worth the stay. I wouldnt recommend it to any more "mature" travellers looking to go there and not drink heavily, for any irish students on holidays its perfect though.

Flynn

Neamhshuntasach wrote: »

End of August. Can't wait. Going in to get some booster vaccinations this evening. So it's starting to feel a lot closer to the time now.

Nicaragua is cool. Try get out to corn islands if you haven't already. Really laid back place. Have you been to Honduras yet? I found the big cities to be absolute dumps. Especially San Pedro and Tegus. I think i lost count of the amount of robberies and car jackings i seen.

cool cool.. i had to skip corn islands.. just dont have the time.. headin to panama soon to catch a boat to columbia so gotta skip thru..Ive been to a few islands though, caye caulker off belize being the best (imo) wouldnt have the beauty of the corn islands or boca del toras etc. but the people there are the nicest locals ive met so far... I got stuck there for a month because i lost my cards but best place i could have been stuck....locals lent us money etc.. ya honduras has been my least favourite country so far.. san pedro and tegus were very bad.. u could smell the crime in the air.. only stayed one night in each.. plus the people are ignorant even the locals on the bay islands showed alot of hatred for travellers but theres more backpackers there anyway so it doesnt matter.. great night life and diving.. Overall i think Guatemala was the best and semuc chempey is the most beautiful place ive ever been (u cant miss that) and if you have a laser (or cirrus card?) dont bring it.. after belize its only big cities that have the ATM you need.. a plus card is perfect

About the hostel reviews preddy dont believe em.. the homeless people on the street slept there becuase you need a foreign or out of state passport to get a bed to prevent scumbags staying there.. plus i reckon alot more people comment when they have a complaint rather than to give it a good review...as for cleanliness, no its not that clean.. but its just sand in your bed and as neamh said empty cans... Anyway you make your own fun at a hostel to be honest.. so if you get a good crowd your set wherever u are..

goodluck with it anyway

Neamhshuntasach

Flynn wrote: »

cool cool.. i had to skip corn islands.. just dont have the time.. headin to panama soon to catch a boat to columbia so gotta skip thru..Ive been to a few islands though, caye caulker off belize being the best (imo) wouldnt have the beauty of the corn islands or boca del toras etc. but the people there are the nicest locals ive met so far... I got stuck there for a month because i lost my cards but best place i could have been stuck....locals lent us money etc.. ya honduras has been my least favourite country so far.. san pedro and tegus were very bad.. u could smell the crime in the air.. only stayed one night in each.. plus the people are ignorant even the locals on the bay islands showed alot of hatred for travellers but theres more backpackers there anyway so it doesnt matter.. great night life and diving.. Overall i think Guatemala was the best and semuc chempey is the most beautiful place ive ever been (u cant miss that) and if you have a laser (or cirrus card?) dont bring it.. after belize its only big cities that have the ATM you need.. a plus card is perfect

About the hostel reviews preddy dont believe em.. the homeless people on the street slept there becuase you need a foreign or out of state passport to get a bed to prevent scumbags staying there.. plus i reckon alot more people comment when they have a complaint rather than to give it a good review...as for cleanliness, no its not that clean.. but its just sand in your bed and as neamh said empty cans... Anyway you make your own fun at a hostel to be honest.. so if you get a good crowd your set wherever u are..

goodluck with it anyway

I agree on Guatemala. It's one of my favorite countries in the world. I've probably spent around 3 months there when i add up all my trips to it. And Semuc Champey is amazing. It's just one of those places that you can't believe exists when your flaked out in the water. Belizeans overall are one of the friendliest people i've ever met. But the 'hey whiteboy' got tired after a while. Even though it's not offensive. And i wouldn't mind, i was nearly dark as half of them from living in Cali for a few years.

Be careful when getting a boat from Panama to Colombia. Sometimes it can work out more expensive than a flight. You'd be lucky to find a sailing the next day. Sometimes it takes a few days and when you factor in the cost of accommodation and food you'd have paid for a flight already. Also the area of sea between the 2 countries can be very rough and they turn back or just don't sail.

There's a lot of good info in this post over on thorn tree. Might be worth reading if you intend to sail to Cartagena.

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/thread.jspa?threadID=1607632&tstart=45

Flynn

Neamhshuntasach wrote: »

I agree on Guatemala. It's one of my favorite countries in the world. I've probably spent around 3 months there when i add up all my trips to it. And Semuc Champey is amazing. It's just one of those places that you can't believe exists when your flaked out in the water. Belizeans overall are one of the friendliest people i've ever met. But the 'hey whiteboy' got tired after a while. Even though it's not offensive. And i wouldn't mind, i was nearly dark as half of them from living in Cali for a few years.

Be careful when getting a boat from Panama to Colombia. Sometimes it can work out more expensive than a flight. You'd be lucky to find a sailing the next day. Sometimes it takes a few days and when you factor in the cost of accommodation and food you'd have paid for a flight already. Also the area of sea between the 2 countries can be very rough and they turn back or just don't sail.

There's a lot of good info in this post over on thorn tree. Might be worth reading if you intend to sail to Cartagena.

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/thread.jspa?threadID=1607632&tstart=45

cool cool, thanks for that... looks like some solid info... I hear it can be a balls but i reckon it would be worth it for the san blas islands..Anyway good luck with the final stages!

tipp86

Right im hardly in the door from the states so il give a little back since i got a bit of help here.

San diego was not my fave destination.Il say that but i cant say anything bad about it either.

Visit sea world i didnt but the lads enjoyed it.

Pacific beach is the beach to hit.

They dont like irish in PB bars at the weekend.

TJ is a $50 taxi spin from PB, its quiet an experience seeing all the lights of TJ at night like another world.I stayed at the hotel nelson it was like $60 on a saturday night.Allways barter when shopping with the street lads selling tshirts etc... you will eventually get them down.

One thing you may get a shock when you see army tanks patrolling the street dont be alarmed this is apparently normal.

Neamhshuntasach

tipp86 wrote: »

Right im hardly in the door from the states so il give a little back since i got a bit of help here.

San diego was not my fave destination.Il say that but i cant say anything bad about it either.

Visit sea world i didnt but the lads enjoyed it.

Pacific beach is the beach to hit.

They dont like irish in PB bars at the weekend.

TJ is a $50 taxi spin from PB, its quiet an experience seeing all the lights of TJ at night like another world.I stayed at the hotel nelson it was like $60 on a saturday night.Allways barter when shopping with the street lads selling tshirts etc... you will eventually get them down.

One thing you may get a shock when you see army tanks patrolling the street dont be alarmed this is apparently normal.

You got accommodation in TJ? I'm surprised there is even a hotel business there. normally the trolley's are running by the time you come out of the clubs and get back over the border. which are only around 3 or 4 dollars back to downtown. screw that 50 dollar taxi lark.

what are the Irish doing over there? i lived there for a few years and i never received that anti-Irish sentiment everyone goes on about. and i've been back a few times since.

Innervision

Noticing a pretty big anti-Irish sentiment here at the moment alright. Last year's J1ers must have wrecked the place, jobs especially were so hard to get cos apparently everyone fecked their employers over last year.

Neamhshuntasach

Innervision wrote: »

Noticing a pretty big anti-Irish sentiment here at the moment alright. Last year's J1ers must have wrecked the place, jobs especially were so hard to get cos apparently everyone fecked their employers over last year.

I don't even think they were wrecking the shop. I think it's more just a difference in culture and the way we act. We're fond of a scoop and the American's aren't so much. I was considered an alcoholic when i lived there even though i just wanted to go out a few times a week.