La Bufadora Area

 restaurant, tourism, geyser, scuba diving facility / area, campsite / caravan site, marine

Located at 17 miles south of Ensenada by taking the Transpeninsular highway to Maneadero. From there follow the clearly marked road that goes west and takes you all tha way to La Bufadora, which is located at the end of the Punta Banda Peninsula. The scenic paved road offers you a beautiful panoramic view of the Ensenada Bay, its beaches and Todos Santos Island.

A deep underwater canyon leads to the cave in the cliff, gouged out over aeons of time by trillions of tons of pounding surf. The surge of heavy ocean swells is channeled through the canyon and forced beneath the surface into the narrow, tunnel-like entrance of the cave. This phenomenon of nature has been a strong influence in the tourist development of Punta Banda peninsula.

This spectacular marine geyser explodes upwards sometimes as high as 80 ft. above sea level, producing a tremendous sound. The name La Bufadora actually comes from the verb bufar, which means to snort, so the literal translation is, “The Snorter.” The invading ocean wave collides with the air that is drawn down in a pumping action caused by the force of receding waters after the previous spout. For an instant, trapped air and water choke the cave, then the compressed air and water explode through the only exit. This marine geyser is considered as the second highest of the world, after Hawai. Other "Blowholes" exist in Australia, Tahiti and one in Japan, but Japan's is artificial. "La Bufadora" is the most spectacular of all of them, because it's situated on a rocky inlet near the tip of the ruggedly beautiful Punta Banda peninsula. Its tremendous roar seems to come from a huge angry animal at bay. Against this background of sound and fury, exploding water and flying spray, a legend has come down through the years: "The Legend of the Whale Jail".

www.labufadorabaja.com/