The Truth About Playas De Tijauna

My son and I moved to Playas De Tijuana in Baja California two months ago after being told that it was just like the states only all of it was beach front and was cheaper than is California. I went through a local relator, Baja Coast in Playas. I was sent these cool pictures via the internet and sent them a signed contract and money order for the place. Well when I moved I took a taxi to the condo buildings and almost suffered a heart attack. I was told it was an all American area, I did not see any white people except for two. I was told it was a safe private beach, when I arrived I was told it was not safe for us at 7 PM to walk on as it was full of homeless vagrants! Ok I thought well see what happens. I went upstairs to the fifth floor in a rickety old elevator and saw the place. I can only say that the ocean view they advertised was true. It was filthy dirty and smelled awful. Granted this place was charging me 750 Dollars a month, plus a deposit, I would have hoped it would have been cleaned, Nope! The gas had not been turned on so no showers either after a long trip there.

Well we crashed and started again the next day. I went to the local 7-11 type store called Oxxo. It was more expensive than a 7-11 in the states and it was filled with bums and stray dogs running around all over, no leashes either. Then we went to see the pool that came with the condo, the people living there, all Mexicans I might add had their dogs at the pool side harrasing the residents. I went to use the hot tub, as this was advertised as well. The hot tub consisted of a kiddie size pool, with no hot water and no jets and had kids swimming in it YUCK! I put up with all of this for the first month. At this point I went on a search for better housing. I told them I expected my deposit back as this was false advertising, I have yet a month later to see this money. I met a kind local woman who showed me some local houses, she was a kind soul. I found out from other local relators that the condos I was renting went for 500 dollars, can anyone say rip off the Americans?

While in Playas I was attacked by a dog while walking down a residental street with my son and not bothering anyone, noone not even the owners came out to help us! The local food vendors are charging people for food as if they are in Hollywood and it is ridiculous, they take advantage of Americans and lie and cheat them every chance they get. I was charged 5 dollars for an item and the next day they charged a Mexican 2 dollars for the same item! Well needless to say I was livid. Even the schools are a rip off there. There are two private, english schools for kids, Highland Prince and Colegio Ingles. Both are horribly expensive and are not up to even the lowest of US standards. The teachers are not even real teachers, no thank you. I have walked down the main drag where the beach is with my son to have a car full of Mexican kids through a cup with chile salsa at us for no reason whatsoever! The housing is full of roaches, silver fish, and lots of ants. I have yet to see a home that is not infested with bugs, even for clean Americans that take care of their place. The roofs of the houses all have a sandy type substance that falls from the ceilings into the rooms and is a pain to clean. It is also harmful if ingested or so a doctor here told me. As for the Vets and Pet care here I used a local Vet service, called Mundo Canino, they came to my home to see my dog after he was sick with a cold and gave him an injection for it. He used no sterilization or prep to do this and my dog had a huge knot for days.

People are always asking you for money anywhere you go. Go to a store they want a tip to check you out, they want tips for a cab ride, they want tips for do HELLO their jobs! As for the restaurants here, they blow. Playas has a low grade number of places and they are horrible. KFC does not taste like it, Dominoes does not taste like it and Sanborns their buffet is a rip off. Also when an American moves here they will ask you for a co-signer for a crappy house or a large deposit in dollars, however they steal from you and will not return it to you. Renters from the US BEWARE! I rented a house from Rose she owns alot of property in Playas her number is 6646806813. Do not rent from her. She will not fix the place nor will she return your deposit. I have placed a lawsuit against her here but I want to warn others from the states not to make the same mistakes I made. Where I live is a good area, HAHA of Playas and it is full of stray dogs, dog crap all over the streets, trash all over the streets and so on.

This is nothing like the states, so if you see a website called www.bajacoast.com avoid it at all costs, because they will lie, lie, and lie some more. The taxis here are dangerous and rude, as are the buses. And to finsish it off the cops here are a JOKE! They will only listen to you if you are giving them a bribe or if you are a celebrity. They are called by the locals here, the biggest scam artists in Mexico! AMERICANS BEWARE OF PLAYAS DE TIJUANA! I also will not even metion Tijuana, only go there if you want to be robbed, mugged, or murdered. Alot worse than Playas but not a rip off like Playas, at least Tijuana does not engage in false advertising!

As an afterthought I would like to add that the food here causes Americans to become ill. My son and I have had stomach issues since we got here and they have not gotten any better. The water must be bottled as it will cause stomach issues as well. I also need to mention the sewage here, close to the beach area, a smell will permeate your home and it is not the water nor the salt, it is raw and nasty sewage. The smell at times is overbearing and makes me really sick. Just wanted to add this so people will know what they are walking into.