Rancho La Puerta: Experience and Review
Rancho La Puerta isn’t for everybody, but it sure is for me.
Rancho la Puerta’s dining hall
When arriving at Rancho La Puerta for the first time, you aren’t sure why everyone is smiling, and you aren’t sure if you’re about to enter a cult.
While there is no shaman adorned in all white to greet you, there is a lovely employee who greets you and whisks your bags away and guides you to your casita where you are left to explore and join the community of “The Ranch” which is already planted and quickly blooming on day one.
What is Rancho la Puerta?
For those who aren’t already in-tune to how The Ranch works, I’ll give you a quick explanation for what to expect during your week across the Border in Tecate, Mexico. You arrive on Saturday and stay til Saturday (mostly, there are some half week options) leaving you and about 150 others to quickly grow relationships and enjoy your time together over the week.
Throughout the week, you will not have a moment of boredom, as they curate an extensive weekly schedule with classes, talks, and experiences starting at nearly every hour of the day. The Ranch is labeled as a wellness resort and spa, meaning you can expect plenty of exercise, fresh air, and salads, but limited amounts of dairy and sugar.
Activities at Rancho la Puerta
Daily activities usually start at the ripe hours of 6:05 am with a hike right off The Ranch’s campus exploring the area around Mt Kuchumaa. Breakfast (my favorite meal of the day) starts at 7:30 am and exercise classes start at 9am. Those classes include pilates, yoga, Zumba, aerial yoga, circuit training, HIIT, TRX, meditation, sound healing, and many more. The instructors are a mix of Mexicans and Americans (most of whom come from San Diego for a portion of the week) and all of whom were lovely and some especially fantastic. My personal favorites were the morning Pilates: Fundamentals class and Aerial yoga.
Aside from the exercise classes, you can get exercise on the morning hikes, which vary from 2 miles to 8 miles. A week highlight for me was the morning Garden Breakfast hike which goes from The Ranch to its farm and kitchen (about two miles). At the kitchen you are served a delicious breakfast in the beautiful kitchen facility, La Cocina que Canta, and given a tour of the farm by the head farmer who has worked there over 30 years. Besides the beautiful hike and delicious breakfast, it was lovely to see how The Ranch produced their own food and did it with such care and passion.
Spa at The Ranch
Beyond the outdoor and exercise based activities, the true pampering part of the week takes place in one of the spa facilities on The Ranch campus. Prior to arriving, you can sign up for a plethora of treatments during your stay. You can also do so when you arrive with the help of the spa receptionists, but better to do so before so it doesn’t fill up. I did a few treatments, the Rosemary Salt Loofah and Facial being highlights, all of which were well done and well deserved after the many exercise classes and hikes of the week. You can also enjoy the sauna, jacuzzi, and impeccable shower facilities at the spas.
People of The Ranch
Admittedly, I arrived at The Ranch with little to no knowledge of the place, and I soon discovered that you can’t go to The Ranch without making a whole new circle of friends during the week. This is done rather easily as you eat each meal in a shared dining hall with mostly community tables and spend the whole day in group exercise classes or activities. I would say that to leave the ranch without at least a few new friends would be only possible by Oscar the Grouch.
While the rejuvenating spa, exhilarating exercises, and delicious food were highlights, the true diamond of The Ranch is the people. The guests during my stay came from many different walks of life, were all kind, interesting, and sometimes hilarious. I meet people who I will stay connected to and hope to see again either at The Ranch or in the various cities they are from. The types of people range from authors, professors, film executives, entrepreneurs, and many more. The advice I would give any Ranch goer above all is to never miss an opportunity to connect with a guest, instructor, or staff member as they most likely will have an interesting story to tell or connection to you in the small world we live in.
Why I recommend The Ranch
I said at the beginning that Rancho La Puerta isn’t for everybody, and what I mean by that is that you will only enjoy it if you have an open mind, a curious side, and the ability to adapt. I write this on the flight home from The Ranch so it is fresh in my mind, and I can honestly say that if you are open minded, you will enjoy The Ranch. If you go in knowing that you are in for a week of activity, socialization, health, and wellness, you will likely have a wonderful time with The Ranch community and leave feeling a bit more relaxed and with a few more friends and lessons to take home.
