Tijuana can be a great getaway for budding freshmen in need of a midweek bender. After passing through the creaky, rotating steel partition that marks the border, a quick taxi ride suddenly dumps you on Avenida de la Revolucion, a booming strip of all-you-can-drink nightclubs, seedy stripper joints and back-alley farmacias. But when Coko Bongo grows as dull as an SDSU frat party and Hollywood Ray begins calling you by name, consider asking your driver to head south down the expressway for an extra 20 minutes to the resort city of Rosarito ‘mdash; a smaller, cleaner version of TJ with just as much nightlife but without the drug-cartel gang violence.
Better yet, stay a while. Rosarito, which attracts about one million visitors a year, is known for its vibrant spring break. Cheap shopping, good eating (take a daytrip to Puerto Nuevo for some fresh lobster), monster dance clubs and enough surfing, horseback riding and sunbathing to cure even the most severe post-finals blues makes this beach town a prime destination for cash-strapped students seeking an inter-quarter holiday.
If you can, book a few nights for your group at the Festival Plaza Hotel, located within comfortable walking distance of Papas and Beer, Iggy’s, Club Tequilas and Se’ntilde;or Frog’s. Decent restaurants and bars fill out the lobby, and during the day, you can lounge by the pool, enjoy a deep-tissue massage, hop on a carnival ride or start early and grab some brew at a nearby cantina. Rates start at about $100 per night.
When the sun goes down, a streetful of hopefuls will offer exclusives to their venues, but Papas and Beer usually beats the compettition with a mechanical bull and border-style tequila shots ‘mdash; an attendant’s whistle in your ear and liquor poured straight down your throat.