I have been coming here since the early 90s and it really hasn't changed much other than the expected growth of businesses and the paid parking lot. We drive right on in unless it is too packed with cars. Don't know till you go. It is a small fishing village where locals sell their daily catch right from the coolers and trading/bartering is in order. You definitely need to speak Spanish for this. I have actually brought large, fishing type coolers here to trade for freshly caught fish or even several dozen tamales. Yes tamales too! Also a handful of older restaurants boast ocean views with fresh seafood. We prefer to drive down to the beach in my Subaru and eat right there. We went to Sarita's and it was fantastic fresh seafood. The huge pig on the beach was unexpectedly cool! Eating all the good seafood scraps I'm sure. An unverified rumor from a construction guy that worked at my house mentioned he knows someone that says the sewage outfall drain pipe down in the area is not far offshore from here. I cannot confirm this and it won't deter me from coming back at all. read more

See all

First and last time going there. Constantly being approached by everyone to eat at their restaurant. Once you select a place the difference in prices is bare minimum. And let me tell you! 10 bucks per michelada and 40 bucks for plate with a small lobster and about 8 shrimps. Beach was dirty with people leaving trash behind and found quite a few broken beer bottles. Overall place could be cleaner and prices much better. It's hard to swallow driving 3 plus hours just to pay pretty much same prices from a decent restaurant on this side of the border. read more

This beach was our first stop with Turista Libre Tours during our Progressive Food Tour. It's a little fishing village where fishermen bring in their catch daily for sale right on the beach. There are also local restaurants in the area desperately trying to get your business, a beverage stop, and seafood restaurants along the beach selling anything from raw oysters to fried fish, crab, lobster, practically anything caught from the fishermen. Vendors can also be seen selling souvenirs and other touristy type gifts. Upon arriving here, park, AVOID THE PEOPLE FLAGGING YOU DOWN...They are just trying to get you in to some of the restaurants. Grab a drink from the beverage stop, then head straight down to the beach, enjoy the vibe, enjoy fresh seafood, and have fun in Popotla! ALOHA!!! Shaka Meter: \uuu/ \uuu/ \uuu/ \uuu/ 4 read more

See all

Many little shops and restaurant all down on the beach and around the parking lot. So much to choose from.

Really fun, local experience although it was totally overwhelming with all the sights & sounds & chaos & zero English! After wandering around totally clueless for about 15 minutes, we finally approached one of the kitchens who told us to go buy fish on our own. So then we headed over to the fish stalls and started pointing. We ended up with a nice sized lobster, a quarter pound of scallop, a full pound of shrimp, and a red snapper for about $40. Then they waved us over to the "limpio" station where we got all the fish cleaned (just need to tip the guy). I'm not squeamish at all but this is definitely the station where I started wondering if we were going to get sick! Once cleaned, we took our treasures upstairs to one of the 2nd floor kitchen/restaurants and I wish I'd caught the name of the place we went to because they cooked our seafood amazingly, and the host spoke perfect English which was super helpful for us. All in, they charged us about $20 to cook all the fish, which included rice/beans/tortillas, and a couple beers apiece. We showed up on Sunday around 1pm-ish and it seemed like that was primetime. There's a super chaotic but organized lot where we paid a few dollars to park for as long as we wanted. We had a bit of a tough time finding Playa Popotla at first since google maps took us about a mile too far, but the best way to do it is to find the giant rundown arches that mark Fox Studio, and it's just south of that. As several other reviewers have said, Playa Popotla is definitely not for the faint of heart! I have a lot of foodie friends who I think would faint before they would eat here, but I had fun. Come with a sense of adventure and don't think about sanitation at all. Good luck! It was definitely an experience! read more

See all

I discovered this place after watching a Munchies video where the host is served 'martian' crab at a restaurant in Puerto Nuevo. I'd been to Puerto Nuevo before, and saw no crabs, but a little research led me to Popotla. It's a relatively quick and pleasant drive down from Tijuana. As soon as we arrived at the little beach, scattered with tables covered in seafood, I rushed over to find our crab. There was no martian crab to be had, and I was told they are not that common. It still worked out to be an enjoyable and worthwhile visit. We picked out some uni, clams, and had a bunch chunk of tuna made into ceviche. The atmosphere felt relaxed, and the feeling was reinforced for the giant pig strolling, and rolling, around the beach. read more

Playa de Popotla - The best catch of the day. I would have loved to turn it into sushi, but it did make for tasty ceviche. - Beaches Near Me - Rosarito, BCN

Don't expect a white, sandy beautiful beach. This is a pit prepared to your liking but just note, it's smelly, loud and full of fishermen. It's a site to see but not a place to relax. Go further south for better beaches read more

Interesting looking spot. If you on a look for inexpensive seafood, either fish, shell fish or crustaceans, I would definitely recommend to give this place a try. If you are brave enough then you can end up with great seafood for lunch and hopefully miss hospital for dinner. You can get it fresh or cooked on a spot. We had almost ended up buying 7-8 kilo fresh full Yellowtail for just $20 (don't know if good local price but amazingly cheap comparing to US), quoted excellent price for shrimps and fresh live crabs, but last moment decided to revert to other options instead. Be ready to shell $4 for place to park, walk thru some sketchy and gross looking places and don't expect stainless steel tables with shiny looking fish on ice there. This is typical Mexican fishing village and beach seems to be very popular with locals. Some of the people looked special at best, but overall were friendly and just annoying while trying to sell their staff. We had used Microsoft live translator to real time translate talks around us, so we are pretty confident on what we had heard. Don't go there if you are not fun of Mexican local life or germaphobe, you might not feel safe or some might get scarred for life, but if you had opted to go then try to visit in the morning as absence of coolers does not help with fish freshness at afternoon. And be very careful if you are driving, people seem to to ignore the stops signs in Popotla. read more

There's no sign from the road I don't think, you just gotta know. The seafood BBQ smells worked up our appetite. Drank chilled Pacificos from the bottle on the sand and felt bad-ass, the only gringos on this crowded beach. They only mind a little if you take pictures - they'll shoot you a glance. But I still feel more comfortable here than the San Fernando Valley. Once bought here from a fishing boat the biggest crab I've ever seen, an algae-covered monster from the deep; I have the scar on my hand to prove it. The two of us downed two pitchers of margaritas and could not finish that crab as hard as we tried. LOL Don't bother to bookmark this review - you don't have the balls to come down here to this beach. Just keep on driving down to Puerto Nuevo and pay too much for lobster. I love coming down to Popotla, but it's not for the faint of heart. In a weird, wild, sun-drenched, ocean-wet, off-beat, alcohol-hazed, half-assed, seafood cocktail way, this is as good as it gets in Baja California. read more

See all

Right around Fox Studios where Pirates of the Caribbean, Titanic, etc. was filmed, you'll see a turn for Popotla Beach. Turn right into the parking lot, then walk straight to the beach. There you'll see some vendors selling freshly caught seafood -- huge spider crabs, fish, and all kinds of local clams. I heard much about "La Reyna" so we looked for her seafood stand. You tell her what you want and claim a table. We enjoyed an assortment of clams and micheladas right on the beach. This is THE place for inexpensive seafood just caught from the ocean and brought to these vendors. It's as good as you can get for fresh seafood. You'll see much of the seafood laying out on the tables without any ice to chill them. We walked over to one of the crab vendors close to the entrance where we bought a $9 spider crab. They took us to a local restaurant where they cooked the crab for us. You're given a stone to crack the crab open. There was so much crab that we couldn't finish it between the three of us. Not bad for $9. Just walking around Popotla Beach was a nice excursion watching the locals eat fresh seafood on the beach and listening to live music. All my senses were awakened. It's nice to know I can have this experience as a day trip from Los Angeles. read more

See all

It's a hit or miss, trust me. We go there a lot. 1. Say no thank you to the guy at the entrance. Seriously do not stop to talk to them, they all have the same shirts on and hats. DO NOT STOP. They want money to show you around. You don't need it, it's a scam. 2. After you pass these guys turn left in the parking lot 2$ parking. 3. It's safe do not pay anybody for safety or what ever. It's a scam. Ok now that you parked go down to the beach and get some good food. The reason I said it's a hit or miss is because the beach is not always clean, sometimes it is super clean, and sometimes it is full of dead algae. But when it's clean and sunny it is amazing. Also bring dollar bills so you can drop the price. Don't get fooled if you don't understand the price make them write it down or something. We found that going more back and finding small family owned places are cheaper and less likely to scam you. In the first few you will pay more. Best of luck. read more

Visited Popotla Beach for some seafood eats as recommended by one of the staff at the Rosarito Beach Hotel. Taxi ride was offered to us for $15, but dropped to $13 after a few seconds. We thought the fare was still a bit high for a 10 minute drive south of the hotel, but hey, transportation options were limited. You know you're almost there when you turn under a big white arch that's falling apart and continue to drive down this dirt road for about 1/2 mile towards the beach. Typical of most all vendors, you're solicited to eat at their place, most offering a free margarita or some appetizer. We kindly said to all that we want to check out the other places down towards the beach, they were all cool about it. Popotla is the seafood mecca of Rosarito. Everything we saw looked freshly caught. We settled into one of the restaurants and had a great lunch with a couple beers. I'd imagine you can't go wrong with any of the places there to eat. You have to be somewhat of a foodie explorer to enjoy it here. If you're not comfortable with locals approaching you or a bit of a germaphobe, you may want to forgo this place and opt for a restaurant in your hotel. But if you're looking for a foodie adventure, this is your place. read more

See all

Awesome quaint little beach town with an amazing fish market and great views of the baja beaches. Lots of food options and coco locos for sale on the beach. read more

See all

This is the seafood Mecca if you're a foodie. Everything that you eat is super fresh. How fresh? It's still moving fresh. You have to get the lobster! The best part?! Its so cheap! I got an uni (sea urchin) for $3 USD!! They squeeze lime on it after its rinsed. The lime juice overpowered the sweetness of the uni, but idk how clean the water was so I just ate it. I have to back to try the crab and fish Diablo style. If you're a germaphobe bring lots of sanitation wipes and hand sanitizer. read more

The sunset here is amazing! A family of four ate and ate until we couldn't ear anymore and only came out to be $58 US dollars. I've added the picture of the sunset while we ate. Enjoy. A must come in Rosarito! read more

Playa de Popotla - A beautiful sunset at Rosarito! - Beaches Near Me - Rosarito, BCN

Great place to get fresh sea food! They charge for parking unless you buy on one of the restaurants from the left. Lastly, this address is not correct... just go they the fox studios on the left and drive all the way down! read more

It's a great place to go with family. We had good food and fresh fish of all kind. The only down side was all the seaweed was all over due to high tide, but over all expletive was great. read more

See all

Fish is very fresh, the only thing that it was too cold and windy. We were very tempted to get some shrimp but the cold air did not help.

Love eating next to the beach . You are so close you can feel the breeze of the ocean while you are eating . I love it !! I've only been here twice I haven't found a restaurant that has good food. read more

Highly recommended NOT GOING on to the local restaurants on the beach or even going on the beach my family had a horrible incident occur during our visit we parked on popotla beach we were charged for parking even paid extra for security, a man that worked in one of the restaurants ( they all had green shirts on) harassed us for more money after showing our tickets that we paid for parking he had came to us and attacked one of our family members it was very scary we had children with us my family was frightened by the incident we went to call the same security we paid for help and they were no help they said they called police and paramedics for help but they never showed and just told the worker to leave, my family member needed medical attention and no one showed up we are lucky we came back with our lives poptla is very scary and dangerous, they treat people who come from America very bad and they are very threatening for your safety avoid this beach, the restaurants are very dirty and unsanitary my whole family was sick and we all got food poisoning, we tried to see if we could located the owner of this establishment but no one there was of any help what was supposed to be a nice family trip turned into a nightmare my children still can't sleep from the scare we are all very shaken up, my family member was left with a broken nose and needed stitches from this horrible trip I do hope everyone takes precautions when going over read more

love love this hidden GEM the best part is the price of the Fish or seafood you have to first buy your fish have it cleaned out and then have it fried up, Right in front off you the cost of it all is less then $40 cant beat that I would highly recommend this place for some fun and sun and what's better then eating fresh seafood with half the cost read more