Entering Baja for up to 72 hours and exploring as far south as the seaport city of Ensenada requires no visa or other paperwork for U.S. Citizens. Simply drive or walk across the border (as more than 186,000 people do each day) and enjoy the unusual foods, music, festivities and fabulous crafts of Mexico - without the bureaucratic hassles usually inherent in foreign travel.

Whether you stay the day, the night or the weekend, you can return to San Diego just as easily. U.S. Citizens need only proof of citizenship - such as a driver's license, passport or birth certificate (until December 2007 and then a US Passport will be required to re-enter). To re-enter California non-U.S. citizens must present a passport and visa for entry to the United State.

For Baja stays beyond 72 hours or to travel beyond Ensenada, a tourist card and fee is required (at this writing, about 195 Mexican Pesos or $20 US). The tourism board suggests paying the fee at any bank in Baja before traveling beyond Ensenada. Visitors can pay just across the border at the Bilbao Vizcaya Bank (open 24 hours daily), next to the Mexican Immigration Office. For payment later (within 72 hours), obtain a form from the Mexican Consulate in San Diego or the Mexican Immigration Office just across the border from San Ysidro. Proof of nationality is required - current passport, official ID or birth certificate.

And, if you're coming in via airplane, note that all international airlines authorized to travel to Mexico will include the fee in the total cost of the ticket (ask for details at time of purchase. Also a US Passport is require for travel by air into and returning from Mexico.

Baja California has had the lowest unemployment rate in all of Mexico for more than 10 years. Thus, violent crime is low and random violence is rare. However, it is always wise to use the same safety and anti theft precautions you would use at home. Lock your car and use a Club-like device. Don't leave valuables in full view on car seats, and park in supervised lots or well-lighted places.

Baja's drinking water comes from wells and has been considered safe for years. There is a Mexican federal law stating that restaurants must serve purified, "drinkable" water, tested free of contaminants, both for drinking and for ice. Nevertheless, most hotels in tourist areas provide bottled water in guest rooms. Popular international brands of bottled water also are sold virtually everywhere.

Relax. English is widely spoken in the Tijuana, Rosarito and Ensenada tourist areas. U.S. currency is accepted for shopping, traveling or dining. And if driving, you can expect excellent roads and easy-to-follow signage in both English and Spanish.

If you prefer to use pesos, the best exchange rates will be found at the numerous and highly competitive money exchanges near the border on San Ysidro Boulevard - on the US side. Do not pay a commission. Remember that prices can change in Mexico from one day to the next due to fluctuation in the peso. Also, event starting times and merchant business hours can change without notice. Always call before leaving for your destination.

More than 14 million people cross the border into Baja each year just to shop - most of them savvy Californians who recognize Baja as the bargain bonanza that it is. Savings in some categories can run as high as 90% compared with some stateside merchandise.

But, even without the lure of great savings, shopping south of the border is just plain fun, mostly because it isn't anything like the mall. Vibrant flower sellers and silly, zebra-striped donkeys turn street corners into a carnival. Bargaining can be a blast - as long as you know what you're doing. And a frosty midday margarita seems to e an instant cure for tired feet. Here's what keeps bringing the bargain hunters back!

For sheer volume, leather tops the list of Baja buys. Jackets, boots, briefcases, belts, handbags, wallets and virtually all other quality leather items run about half of stateside prices. Designer leather rip-offs offer outrageous savings as well. Home furnishings are excellent deals, as are find arts and crafts. The same colorful, unusual and exotic Mexican artisan works, handmade furniture and home decorations seen stateside in expensive decorator or import shops can run one-third to one-half of U.S. prices.

Those oh-so-expensive prescriptions are sold mostly over the counter in Mexico and - from Prozac to Premarin, Renova to anti-anxiety Ativan - most are 30% to 40% less when you buy across the border.

Other can't-be-beat buys throughout the border area rare sterling silver, duty-free imports from Europe including name-brand cosmetics and perfumes, high-quality pottery and garden ware; woven ware (from baskets and blankets to handmade hammocks and Zapotec rugs); and, of course, booze.

For quality, variety and accessibility, Tijuana, Rosarito and Ensenada re Baja's best shop stops, located fix minutes, 20 minutes and 60 minutes, respectively, from the California border at San Ysidro.

Tijuana's Avenida Revolucion is a 10-minute stroll or a five-minute cab ride from the border. There you'll find an overwhelming eight block strip of stores, stalls, arcades and underground passageways filled with bargains from all around the globe.

All of Rosarito's excellent shopping locations can be found along Boulevard Benito Juarez, the laid-back beach resort's main street. Shops at the north, center and south areas of town are workable in clusters, and free street parking is easy to find everywhere. The Rosarito Beach Hotel's shopping arcade, located at the south end of town, ahs numerous high-quality shops and art galleries.

The City's large mercado, with almost 100 stalls, is just a short stroll up the main street, beginning next to the El Nido restaurant. Immediately should of town you'll find a miracle mile of pottery, garden ware, Guadalajara-cement statues and fountains, curios and rug and blanket weavers in an interesting mix of roadside shops.

Rosarito's main street is also, by far, the best place on the entire 1,000-mile Baja peninsula to buy Mexican furniture, Southwestern, pigskin, wrought-iron, hacienda, willow, hand-carved and hand-painted furniture, plus custom pieces are all made locally. The selection is great, and specialty shops dot both sides of the street of the full length of the City.

As Mexico's fastest-growing cruise port, Ensenada's merchandise selection is extensive. To accommodate cruise-ship passengers on regular two or three-hour layovers, shopping is conveniently concentrated along a single street, Boulevard Lopez Mateos. Located just a block from the waterfront, this eight-block shoppers' strip runs between Avenida Ruiz at the north end of town to Avenida Castillo near the riverbed.

Several of Tijuana's top stores have Ensenada branches on Boulevard Lopez Mateo's. The block between El Rey Sol restaurant and the Hotel Cortez (Avenidas Blancarte and Alvarado) is the most upscale, with large duty-free stores, designer rip-off specialty shops and exclusive sterling and pewter stores.

Most tourist-area shops are open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. seven days a week. In Tijuana and Ensenada, and from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. in Rosarito. Some Rosarito shops close on Tuesdays during the winter off-season.