The day we arrived it was cloudy and a cool, damp wind was blowing so La Bufadora, Ensenada's famed marine geyser, was out of the question. We were planning to do a tequila factory tour in a later port of call so doing a winery tour, it seemed, might have felt redundant. Instead, my wife and I disembarked and took a bus from the ship a short distance into town. We purchased her a purse and me a wallet at the Gold Duck leather goods store. I was seriously tempted to look for a beer and a good fish taco, which Ensenada is famous for, but the weather was just not cooperating so we headed back on foot to the ship. The sun came out but the wind was blowing the damp right through your jacket. My wife wanted to get back on the ship and who was I to argue?

Ensenada

I had never been there but a friend of mine, Buck, had lived there with his dad for several years and told me all sorts of stories about the way the ocean is very different on each side of the city. It sits at the bottom of a peninsula, you see, and one side of it is in the Pacific Ocean and on the other side you head into the Sea of Cortez. Naturally, according to Buck, things are different depending where you are. I was really excited about Cabo.
  CSL is one of those ports you don't really dock in if you're on a cruise ship. It's too shallow. The Spirit parked about half a mile out from the port and we tendered in. Compared to Ensenada, the weather was toasty and dry. It was about 80 Fahrenheit already by 8 AM when I woke up, 90 or higher by the time we found ourselves on the tender boat. Coming into town was amazing but a little different from what Buck had told me. The beautiful marinas filled with boats were there as was the view of the desert and the mountains. However, the view was somewhat hidden by the new hotels and condos. Every inch of land near the sea around the marinas had something built on it. Still, not so bad. It was very beautiful and again, I took a lot of pictures.
  With all that I had heard of the sea life around Cabo, I decided to take a sub-submersible excursion. We piled into the craft and I watched as we headed out. I enjoyed seeing the pelicans and other sea birds that landlocked people never see and coastal folks take for granted. As the boat wandered around the rock outcroppings near Cabo, my camera was busy. The scenery was amazing and complete with sea caves, beautiful hard-to-get-to beaches, birds nesting on cliffs, rugged dudes showing off their pecks and pretty ladies showing off... well... almost everything. The underwater view was equally as eye-opening. The fish were, as Buck had predicted, very different depending on where you were. For one thing, they were bigger on the Pacific side and there was some sort of puffer fish on the Sea of Cortez side that I didn't even see ocean side. I took a lot of pictures - like over 50. It was a great time for all, but, the heat kept intensifying even in the late October sun and quickly turned things into a furnace. I'm from Oklahoma where 120 Fahrenheit is not unheard of so heat is something I know a lot about. However, the kind of heat you get when the ocean humidity meets the super dry air from the desert is unique and caught me off guard. I decided after the excursion to have a late lunch and cool off a bit.
  We ate at Senor Frogs, which was very good but somewhat expensive I thought. The chimichanga and the beer were excellent but did little to cool me off. We thought about heading to one of the beach areas but as several thermometers in town put the temperature at or near 100 we decided to head back to the ship instead. This worked out just fine though because as the sun went down, I was able to take photos of the rocky coast near Cabo which, in the late afternoon and early evening sun, was a rainbow of dark shades of grey against the yellow shades of light on the water. It was beautiful and resulted in a lot of poster-worthy photographs.

Cabo San Lucas

One factory was an old, traditional method factory by which tequila was and is still made. It was very educational being basically a living museum and really got me thirsty. The assortments of small batch tequilas were very tempting. I admit I had a few shots when offered, how could I say no? But seeing the agave stacked everywhere and seeing the locals drinking the mescal and tequila while on their breaks (I think) was very inspiring. It might have been the heat, the alcohol or the ambiance but I really felt like I was in Mexico.
  The other factory was equally if not more amazing. It was a more modern factory but the tour was equally educational. It was genuinely fascinating how the process of making tequila had changed. There were a lot more steps in the modern process it seemed like, which most definitely included, I thought, a more refined filtering process. I could really see in my mind the system of taking agave plants and making them into the liquid gold that is so popular the world over.

The room had a good view and I took many pictures from the balcony. The bed was comfortable, the stewards were helpful and the ice was always fresh. If I could remember my room # I would enter it but I do not and Carnival's site is down at the time of writing this.

I was seriously tempted to look for a beer and a good fish taco, which Ensenada is famous for, but the weather was just not cooperating so we headed back on foot to the ship.But, when I finally got called to the boarding gate, the Carnival staff and port security seemed very kind so all was well.

Carnival Spirit Review

Steamy Nights On The Mexican Riviera

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