Baja Review A community newspaper serving Ensenada, Valle de Guadalupe, and Rosarito in Northern Baja California
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Situated just 17 or 18 miles south of Ensenada, La Bufadora is clearly signposted. Continuing out of Ensenada on Mexico 1, take a right when you reach Maneadero, and drive west for 20 minutes or so until you reach Bufadora, which means…ho, ho, ho “blowhole!” This last part of the trip along the Punta Banda Peninsula is easy, as the road is paved and the bucolic scenery is eye catching.
The blowhole took my breath away: when the waves came in and were forced into the underwater sea cave, the air/water pressure caused a thunderous roar and a mighty upward thrust which is spectacular. It leaps straight up the rocks, and as the sun shines through the water, a perfect rainbow appears; it is simply one of the most incredible natural phenomena I have ever seen. This show isn’t on once a week, like “Breaking Bad,” or even once a day like the reruns of “The Big Bang Theory”; it repeats over and over every couple of minutes throughout high tide. At one point, it kissed the top of the 80-foot tall Exhibition Building next to the rocks, just twice as high as the one at Acadia.
When I got home, I was still in awe of this water show, so I Googled it. Plenty of stories but not too many of substance. One thing did occur consistently — claims that La Bufadora is the second highest marine geyser in the world, after one in Hawaii. There were several about the myth of the trapped baby whale who grew to be a leviathan and, I guess, blows his brains out each high tide. But the real draw at La Bufadora is just the spectacular show Mother Nature puts on whether there are tour buses there or not.
