La Bufadora & Riviera Cultural Center: Ensenada Shore Excursion Guide

Being from Las Vegas, a short Mexican Riviera cruise is the easiest and cheapest way to get yourself on a boat headed to Ensenada, so as a result I have been to the port many times by now and almost every time we find ourselves headed back to La Bufadora! On our last visit in November 2024 sailing on the Carnival Panorama, we were blessed to have the most amazing couple as Jayci and I’s personal tour guides to show us around the Riviera Social, Civic, and Cultural center before taking us to La Bufadora where they introduced us to their friends and got a lot of free samples for us! We had such a great time that my parents booked the same tour for their Ensenada cruise this weekend!

What’s Included? $42 Per Person

• Round trip ride to La Bufadora, which is about a 45 minute drive from the cruise port

• Tour of the Riviera Cultural Center (Depending on the tour guide you use)

• Lots of free samples including Churros, Candy, and Pina Coladas!

What’s Not Included?

• Shopping money - make sure to bring cash!

• Food (depending on the tour—some include meals, but ours did not)

Should You Take This Tour?

First off, I want to clarify that I am going to be talking about my experience with our tour company, “The Wine Route.” La Bufadora is one of the most popular shore excursions in Ensenada and different companies may provide different options including lunch buffets, alcohol tastings, and more. Not every excursion is going to start or end at the Riviera Cultural Center, but it’s right across the street from the pier if you want to go tour it yourself for free!

While I don’t find “the blowhole” (English translation of la bufadora) to be anything too spectacular, the sightseeing, shopping, and food available along the street meandering down towards the natural formation are well worth the trip! The blowhole itself is an underwater cave where ocean waves crash causing spurts of water to spray into the air, and how active it is will vary widely depending on the weather any given day and there is no reliable way to guarantee you’ll see one of the larger water spouts. What you can guarantee every time you visit is delicious food, a wide range of souvenirs from Ironwood figurines, paintings, leather, tequila, and your typical Mexican cruise souvenirs. Add in amazing food that you can often sample before buying and a beautiful ocean view and you get an awesome excursion I think everyone should experience!

Who is This Tour For?

Solo Cruisers	⭐⭐⭐⭐
Groups	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Young Kids	⭐⭐
Teens	⭐⭐⭐
Adults	⭐⭐⭐⭐
Seniors	⭐⭐⭐

Excursion Category

Culture	⭐⭐⭐⭐
Adventure	⭐
Relaxation	⭐⭐
Shopping	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Highlights of our La Bufadora and Riviera Cultural Center Ensenada Shore Excursion!

Booking the Tour

We got in contact with The Wine Route tour company through tripadvisor and had a very easy time booking. It was nice to know we could get a full refund up until 24 hours before the trip which ended up being super helpful when I needed to change our pickup time at the cultural center! A few days before our cruise, we got a text with detailed instructions of where to walk to get to the cultural center along with a description of what color shirt the guide would be wearing which made finding them super simple! Once we arrived in Ensenada, it was just a short 15 minute walk over the bridge and off to the right towards the Riviera Cultural Center!

The Riviera Cultural Center

Despite having done this excursion 4 or 5 times, I had never toured this beautiful cultural center until now! It is free and open to the public which made it a great place for us to meet our guide, and we were blessed to be able to hear about all the unique history from a local! Originally a government building, it was later transformed into a glamorous hotel and casino, attracting American visitors during Prohibition. Rumored to have been a hideout for Al Capone, it was said that anyone who won too much at the casino risked being tracked down and robbed. Today, this storied landmark serves as a vibrant civic and cultural center, hosting meetings, weddings, and community events. Our guide showed us around the halls and ballrooms while pointing out interesting history like the original artwork painted on the ceiling to match the style of the Sistine Chapel before bringing us to a bar where the Margarita was first invented! Sipping on an authentic Mexican Margarita in the room it was first invented was worth the excursion alone, and we hadn’t even left for La Bufadora yet!

La Bufadora

When we arrived, our guide informed us that usually she walks the ½ mile down to the blowhole with us so she can show us the best shops and restaurants before allowing us to take our time walking back up to the parking lot while stopping to shop and eat anywhere that catches our eye. Really this just means she is introducing us to her friends, but we didn’t mind at all because it usually meant we got a warm welcome and a better deal from everyone she introduced us to. Like most places in Mexico, prices at the shops in La Bufadora are negotiable so I don’t know if we were really getting a better deal or not, but I am of the opinion that if I’m blessed enough to be able to afford a cruise I can afford to pay a fair price for anything I genuinely want to take home with me! As we walked down towards the blowhole, we stopped to buy a Pina Colada served inside a halved pineapple (with the promise of a free refill if we showed them the tiny umbrella it was served with on our way back up 😊), a cup of churros, and got tons of free samples from Mexican Candy to Tequila! Our guide was happy to take pictures for us and translate when needed. If their English or my three months of Spanish from living in Peru weren’t up to snuff, they bridged the gap effortlessly. Once we had reached the bottom, she let us know that we could take up to 2 hours to wander before heading back to the van to get back to the ship in time.

Lunch

As Jayci and I meandered through the many restaurants and shops, we reached the taco stand our guide had recommended to us and stopped for some delicious Chicken and Carne Asada tacos. Inside was a small bar with a few barstools and 4 tables. Within a minute of sitting down the owner had taken our order, provided us a kit with all the salsa and add-ins we could want, and brought our drinks. The service was impeccable and the tacos themselves were delicious! I ordered three of the Carne Asada (they are your typical small street tacos so I honestly could have eaten 10 of them if I hadn’t already downed churros and a pina colada) and Jayci ordered 2 chicken and 1 El Pastor. It was great to sit in the shade for a few minutes while we enjoyed a quick and delicious meal of authentic Mexican street tacos!

Shopping

Anything you could hope to find in Mexico is at La Bufadora. There are plenty of stores selling your normal souvenirs like name bracelets, panchos and luchador masks with your favorite NFL team logo, painted pottery, hats, t-shirts, and more, but there are also tons of awesome things you wouldn’t expect! There is a store with a man sitting out front using power tools to carve beautiful statues and figurines out of ironwood. I bought myself an eagle and Jayci bought her dad and sisters miniature wooden dolphins! There is also an art store where my mom bought a painting that now proudly hangs above the piano in her living room, a store with leather belts, purses, boots, and hats, and a souvenir shop where you can taste test a wide variety of flavored tequilas that can be bought in customized mini barrels or bottles with shot glasses that they burn your name into. We tasted a few before deciding to buy a bottle of the most delicious Almond tequila I have ever had. In the end, Jayci and I bought the alcohol, the ironwood figurines, a magnet to add to our collection from every trip we take together, a ceramic plate to hold some of her jewelry, and a few painted figurines for her sisters. In our few hours there we only managed to visit about half the stores, so trust me when I say there is a huge variety to choose from!

La Bufadora and the Riviera Cultural Center aren’t just about sightseeing—they’re about experiencing the flavors, history, and hospitality of Ensenada. Whether you're a first-time cruiser or a seasoned visitor like me, it’s an excursion that never gets old and can either be a great option to get your souvenir shopping done or a chance to indulge in all the free samples, Costco-style, while saving money for your next excursion in Cabo San Lucas!