8 Best Ensenada Tours from the Cruise Port (Or Nearby)

1. Private Horseback and La Bufadora Shore Excursion

🌟 RATING: 5/5 | ⏳ TOUR LENGTH: 4-5 hours | 🐎 Check rates and availability

Pick-up location: Museo Caracol, Bahia Ensenada, 22880 Ensenada, B.C., Mexico (located right outside the port)

Picture yourself blissfully riding on a horse with the sound of the waves crashing on a sunny day.

That’s exactly what you will be doing on the Private Horseback and La Bufadora Shore Excursion. Your guide will drive you to a secluded beach away from the noisy, crowded areas. It’s just you, your group, and the horses against a serene backdrop of the Pacific Ocean.

After all, you’re always bumping into hordes of crowds on your cruise!

The horses you will ride on are well-trained, and your guide will ride a horse in front of you for your safety.

After riding the horses for about 60 minutes, your guide will take you to La Bufadora, one of the largest blowholes/marine geysers in the world. Near La Bufadora, there is a street full of shops and eateries. Since the vendors are pushing you to buy merchandise, your guide will help you with haggling (that’s if you want to buy anything).

Since this tour is about 4-5 hours long, you have a few hours to kill. You can either have your guide drop you off at Downtown Ensenada to walk around or back to the port.

2. Ford Model T Tour

🌟 RATING: 5/5 | ⏳ TOUR LENGTH: 1-2 hours | 🚗 Check rates and availability

Pick-up location: At the port

Getting around Ensenada can’t get any more unique than riding in a 1903 replica Ford Model T for your tour!

You’ll be able to stop by more attractions than you would with a cruise tour or DIY-ing your itinerary. After all, the car is tiny and can park in any small corner 😉

Because there’s limited seating, this is a private tour, which is perfect for solo travelers, couples, and small groups. Unfortunately, this tour is not wheelchair accessible.

Since the car is open-air, you will be able to feel the nice, cool breeze as you’re driving through the streets of Ensenada and passing by the sapphire-blue beaches.

Although the tour states that it’s roughly 1-2 hours long, reviewers who booked this tour said that it was very flexible and that the guide could adapt the itinerary according to your needs.

Some have said that they were able to extend the tour by adding a few stops or going horseback riding. Your wish is their command!

Your guide will take you to the Tequila Museum and a winery. The tequila tasting isn’t included in the tour, but is offered at a discount. Wine tasting and bottles aren’t included in the winery either.

If you don’t drink, your guide will drive you to alternative attractions and more food stops; you can never have enough sizzling street tacos!

3. Tacos, Brews and Views

🌟 RATING: 5/5 | ⏳ TOUR LENGTH: 4-5 hours | 🌮 Check rates and availability

Pick-up location: Ensenada Excursions and Tours, Lázaro Cárdenas s/n, Zona Centro, 22800 Ensenada, B.C., Mexico (or you can get picked up at the port)

Foodies and/or beer enthusiasts will go nuts over the Tacos, Brews and Views tour!

Your guide will pick you up from the port and take you to 2 award-winning eateries, including La Guerrerense Carreta, voted the “Best Street Food Cart” in the world. Famous chefs like Anthony Bourdain and Andrew Zimmern were patrons.

Right across the street La Guerrerense Carreta is Sabina Restaurant, the sister restaurant. Cecilio and I had lunch there, and I had 3 of the most mouth-watering tacos I’ve eaten in my life (aside from the street tacos in Playa del Carmen during our honeymoon) along with a refreshing berry margarita. Cecilio ordered Anthony Bourdain’s signature dish, which was a seafood platter made with sea snails, scallops, lime, onions, and house sauce.

If you’re not yet full from everything you eat during this tour, I recommend a stop at Sabina Restaurant for lunch right before you return to the cruise!

After your stop at La Guerrerense Carreta, you’ll head to Tacos Fenix, known as the birthplace of the shrimp and fried fish tacos popular all over Baja California and San Diego.

After you get your fill of tacos, your guide will drive you to 4 breweries near the port, where you can enjoy sips of craft beer with stunning views of the ocean.

While the food and drink aren’t included in the tour, they are much more affordable than if you were to order the same thing in the USA (your dollar goes far in Mexico, after all). And you’re already saving a lot of money by not booking a tour through your cruise.

Just make sure you skip breakfast on the cruise; you need to come hungry for the freshest seafood and tacos in Mexico!

4. Las Cañadas Canopy Tour + Bufadora Private Transport and Ticket

🌟 RATING: 5/5 | ⏳ TOUR LENGTH: All day (and flexible) | ⛰️ Check rates and availability

If you want to try it all—nature, thrill-seeking activities, food, and shopping—then this tour is for you.

Pick-up location: At the port

This private tour is perfect for families and couples. You will start off with a trip to La Bufadora to see how high the water can spout (up to 100 feet!). It’s also a great place to go shopping for souvenirs or try some of the margarita and pina colada samples from the vendors.

This tour includes a ticket to Las Cañadas Campamento, Ensenada’s very own adventure park. This makes it convenient since you can skip the line, and since you are on a cruise, you don’t have time to waste.

You will get to go on an exciting canopy tour, consisting of 5 zip lines of various lengths and 5 suspension bridges to walk through. Much more fun than the ziplines and ropes courses that Royal Caribbean and Carnival offer!

And of course, your tour will end with some delicious tacos. Can’t leave Ensenada without those!

5. La Bufadora Geyser Tour

🌟 RATING: 4.7/5 | ⏳ TOUR LENGTH: 4 hours | 🌊 Check rates and availability

Pick-up location: Riviera del Pacifico, Boulevard Lazaro Cardenas 1421, Ensenada, Ensenada Municipality 22880, B.C., Mexico

The La Bufadora Geyser Tour is the one that Cecilio and I went on during our Ensenada stop on our cruise. We met with Eugenia at Riviera del Pacifico, which is just down the street from the port.

It’s a private tour where you’re taken to La Bufadora. Your guide (Eugenia in our case) will give you in-depth knowledge about Ensenada as a city and its historical roots.

Once you head to La Bufadora, your guide will introduce you to some of the local artisans selling hand-crafted sculptures and paintings at the market. If you are going to go shopping, I suggest you support these artisans instead of the vendors selling fake Gucci purses and cheap trinkets.

After you walk by the shops, you’ll see where La Bufadora spouts water. Your guide will give you free time for about an hour until you meet up at the parking lot, where they drive you back to Riviera del Pacifico, where you can try a margarita from Bar Andaluz, the birthplace of beloved Mexican cocktail.

6. Ensenada: Wine Tasting Tour in Valle de Guadalupe

🌟 RATING: 5/5 | ⏳ TOUR LENGTH: 4 hours | 🍷 Check rates and availability

Pick-up location: Ventana al Mar Prol. Castillo, Zona Centro, 22800 Ensenada, B.C., Mexico (right outside the port near the Mexico flagpole)

If your idea of a perfect day consists of frolicking through the grape-filled vineyards and comparing each sip of wine that passes through your lips, you’re in for a treat with this tour!

Valle de Guadalupe is the Napa or Tuscany of Mexico making its way into the wine world. And you will get to be a part of it by trying some of the finest sips. Most of the wine in Mexico is produced there.

This tour guides you through Valle de Guadalupe’s rich history, with roots from the Kumeyaay tribe. You’ll get a chance to visit a museum before you hit the wineries.

Unlike most of the wine tours in Valle de Guadalupe, this tour includes a tasting consisting of 5 varieties: 1 white, 1 rosé, and 3 reds. If you want to do a 2nd or 3rd tasting, you’ll have to pay for it.

You can also go ziplining, ATV riding, hiking, or wandering through a lavender field in this tour if you choose for an extra fee. This isn’t your typical wine tour!

7. Mezcal, Tequila & BajaMed foodie Tasting Tour

🌟 RATING: 5/5 | ⏳ TOUR LENGTH: 3 hours | 🍸 Check rates and availability

Pick-up location: Ventana al Mar Prol. Castillo, Zona Centro, 22800 Ensenada, B.C., Mexico (right outside the port near the Mexico flagpole)

Wine or beer not your thing? Maybe you’re more of a liquor gal (or guy). In that case, you ought to go on the Mezcal, Tequila, BajaMed foodie Tasting Tour!

This tour includes three samples of mezcal and three samples of tequila for you to sample, alongside fresh ceviche to go along with the drinks. Your guide, who has in-depth knowledge of Mexico’s 2 most popular liquors, will talk about how they were made. They will also teach you how to distinguish the two.

Since the tour is only 3 hours, you have extra free time before going back to your cruise. I suggest having some tacos at Sabina Restaurant in Downtown Ensenada or trying to OG margarita at Bar Andaluz.

This tour is wheelchair accessible, from the transportation to the surfaces you walk on.

8. Shore Excursion Couples Massage

🌟 RATING: 5/5 | ⏳ TOUR LENGTH: 2+ hours | 💆🏻‍♀️ Check rates and availability

Pick-up location: At the port

Although all cruises offer massages in their spa, they come at a hefty price. I’m talking, $400 for a 60-minute couples massage. Ouch!

If you still want to pamper yourself without the hefty price tag, consider going on the Shore Excursion Couples Massage. It’s a lot less expensive, and you can choose to do just the massage or add another tour on top, like horseback riding, ziplining, visiting La Bufadora, or wine tasting.

Yes, all with the same tour operator, Ensenada Massage! They are your one-stop shop as one of the best Ensenada tours from the cruise port. It’s the perfect way to end your

Though it says it’s a couples massage, you could bring your mom or your friend if they are on the cruise with you.

You can customize your massage however way you want with hot stones and CBD oil. You can even add on a facial! All these extra services come at an extra cost.

You can also choose the type of massage you want, such as Swedish, Lomi Lomi, or deep tissue.

The team at Ensenada Massage will pick you up at the port and make sure you come back to your cruise on time.

Whether you’re looking to spend a leisurely day or want to experience the fun activities that will give your body some TLC after, you need to add this massage as a part of your itinerary in Ensenada.