A San Diego-Ensenada Ferry Could Be Coming This Summer

By Kevin Wilkerson, PubClub.com San Diego Blogger

Is this for real? A ferry between San Diego and Ensenada?

Apparently and, unlike an expanded trolley line or a train to run through Baja that has been rumored for decades and may never actually materialize, this one may be happening soon. As in this summer.

“We hope that by June we would be starting the Ensenada to San Diego Ferry,”  said Kurt Honold Morales, Secretary of Economy of Baja California. “Meetings are already being held with all areas, state and federal that have to do with this and also with the United States.”

If so, that would be a boon to the Mexican economy and give people in San Diego another way to get into Baja rather than driving and putting up with that 3-plus-hour wait at the border to return to the States on Sundays or taking the trolley/from to the Tijuana border.

The ferry, which is from the ferry system in Vancouver, BC Canada, is expected to be in Baja “soon.” So they apparently already have the boat.

The trip would take two hours, 15 minutes and cost around 500 pesos, or about $28 USD.

“The ferry gives one more option to visitors or people who want to do business between Ensenada and San Diego, to make it more agile,” said Miguel Aguiñiga, Mexico’s Secretary of Tourism. “We know of other destinations where this concept has been very successful, and we hope it will be in the same way.”

The Port of San Diego, which would operate the San Diego side of the ferry, is easing into it, saying simply through a spokesperson that it “remains preliminary at this time” while adding “both ports are open to a trial run in the coming months.”

Secretary Morales added  that “you do not need to have anything signed, it is a transport like a cruise ship, and nothing is needed, only your travel documents. And in the future, the ferry can carry cars as well.”

It appears from the positioning of the authorities that the ferry will exist for business between the two countries but in reality surely its main purpose will be for passengers traveling between the two destinations. A schedule has yet to be released, including how many times a day it would operate.

If the ferry is a reality and not just a fairy tale then PubClub.com will be among the first passengers. Instead of our usual “boots on the ground” reporting this will be more like “flip flops on the deck.” Surely the ferry will have the typical Mexican refreshments on board and I am referring to cervezas, of course.

Of course, I’ll believe it when it see it. Or when I am on board it.