Surf: General: Once upon a time Rosarito Beach was the under twenty-one coed's preferred south of the border mecca. Weekends were wild and holidays were ferocious. There were also plenty of-age American tourists and local Mexicans that came to get in on the action. A town characterized by complementary tequila shots doled out by roving bartenders blaring whistles and dance clubs that rivaled even Kuta Beach's best, Rosarito was all boom, twenty-four hours a day, for generations of Northern Baja partygoers. Then the drug cartel wars came in 2007, and the whistles went quiet, the dance floors cold, and, low, Rosarito's seemingly indelible fiesta went bust. Today -- as the cartel violence begins to recede from the region -- tourism is slowly beginning to return to Rosarito, yet whether this Dodge City of the drink will ever return to the madcap heights it once reached is questionable. For now, all is comparatively docile.

Luckily for surfers, the waves have never stopped pouring into Rosarito. But truth be told, Rosarito was never much of a surfing hotspot, considering Northern Baja's many other high-grade options. In the shadows of the towering, once-humming hotels is a ribbon of beach that is flat and faces directly west, making it one big close out as any swell -- North, South and anything in-between -- breaches the overhead mark. However, these beachbreaks do well on windswells and can do really well on combo swells (like northwest and southwest). There are a couple of places where rivers spill out into the surf, often creating good, if fleeting, sandbars, though pollution can become a factor. The pier in front of Rosarito Beach Hotel can also create decent sandbars.

So if you find yourself in need of a quick surf after a night throwing back tequila shots of questionable quality in a grotesquely large and desperately empty dance club, you'll probably be able to find something worth surfing in town. Head just out of town however, and you'll be wanting a clear head for the many pumping point- and beach-breaks nearby. Tides: Mid. Size: Chest high to a few feet overhead Wind: E Swell: Short period NW or combo of SW and NW Bottom: Sand. Paddling: Light to heavy dependent on size. Spot Rating: Rarely that great. Access: Numerous parking areas on the sand; lock your car and hide valuables. Crowds: Crowd Factor: Can get slightly aggro, but generally pretty spread out. Local Vibe: Watch out for some locals and many crusty American expats. Environment: Fair but can be quite dirty after a rain. Lots of raw sewage problems coming from a variety of sources. Hazards: Petty theft is a common occurrence. Corrupt police officers. Season: All year.