Our neighbors, the world travelers, visited the area today, causing quite a stir.  More whales than we’d ever seen together, maybe ten or twelve, showed up off shore a ways, spouting huge clouds of spray into the air, showing their backs, waving the occasional flipper, making waves.  We ran for the binoculars, then spent the better part of an hour on the patio watching, with shouts of “Oooh!  Look at that!  Did you see his back - he’s the size of a bus!  Oh, there’s another one - how many can you count?”

We think they came for dinner, as they stayed in one place all that time, not moving North as they do when migrating.  Must have been a school of fish out there - whale smorgasbord.  And while we were out there, the sun sank slowly from a crystal blue sky into the welcoming ocean.

These are some of the moments that enchant us about living in Baja California, Mexico.  Magical moments that lift the heart.  This is a very special place.

Maybe you’ve always had a vague desire to live on the ocean somewhere.  You love the sea, the endless waves, the light, the sand.  Maybe you spent vacations on some beach, and dreamed of having a home right there, with the waves tumbling up at your feet.  But that seems like an impossible dream to so many of us - until we find Baja.

Here, in a place only an hour south of downtown San Diego, the beautiful blue Pacific rolls onto endless stretches of beach, rock and scenic cliff.  The sun is almost always warm, the breezes cool, and the margaritas chilled.  It never snows and seldom rains.  Flowers bloom in our temperate climate all year round.  They have to - the hummingbirds need them for lunch. And the best part of it? It’s affordable!

Yes, the beach in front of Palacio del Mar, a gorgeous new development right off the speedy toll road, would be a multi (MULTI)-million dollar property in Santa Monica, Malibu or Santa Barbara. But in Mexico a piece of this paradise is attainable for people of less than Spielberg resources - and it’s the same ocean.

Palacio del Mar epitomizes luxurious and sophisticated beach living in a convenient location south of Rosarito and north of Ensenada, with Mexico’s glorious Valle de Guadelupe wine country just an hour away.