Delicious oysters pulled from the sea just a few hours ago are shucked, sauced, and served poolside at a private resort, where the owner of a national chain of steakhouses is soaking in a hot tub with Hollywood writers, internationally known musicians, a European business entrepreneur, and a rich retiree from Palm Desert. If it wasn’t for the giant Mexican flag flying over this Rosarito villa, I’d swear I was in an episode of White Lotus.
Except this isn’t HBO. This is real life. Baja life. Specifically, the life that’s unfolding in 2025, where the American Dream seems to be reversing course, southward.
Rosarito, once the party beach for working-class Angelinos and college kids on spring break, has become a strange new stage where the global rich, the pandemic-era remote elite, and the disillusioned American retiree class have converged. But here’s what’s even more surprising: affluent Mexicans are also spending their money at golf courses, Michelin-rated eateries by the sea, and cruises that drift from one magical beach town like Ensenada to another like Puerto Vallarta.
According to chef José Figueroa, this trend began during the first term of the Trump administration.
“From a Tijuanense point of view, it’s been crazy,” he says. “In Trump’s first term, a lot of us got to experience racism and assault for the first time in our lives.”