Tiki in Baja Mexico

I have been spending some time south of the border. Found a few places and people that I thought I would share it here. Jorge Olmos carves Tiki and makes palapa roofs like the ones on these two restaurants. His shop seen here is in Puerto Nuevo below Rosarito Beach in Baja Mexico. I filled him in on Tiki Central and next trip I am taking BOT and Tiki Modern for him to see and get some inspiration.

What a freakin' awesome looking place! :)

Thanks for sharing, more more.....

Cheers and Mahalo,
Jeff

Very nice. This is not the same place mentioned here, right?:

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=18071&forum=5

I got my "Pepe" Tiki so long ago, my memory is foggy as to what the place and person looked like.
But if this guy only carves in wood, it means there are TWO Tiki carvers in Rosarito Beach now!

I know that restaurant... That place is right across the street from Las Gaviotas. Great surf there.

Hey this guy looks like Pepe of Pepe's Tikis Rosorito Beach .... he was carven' his tiki but off in the early 90's... i love that guy... anyone got info on him!! Way pre Tiki-News tiki here....

On 2011-05-17 08:03, bigbrotiki wrote:
Very nice. This is not the same place mentioned here, right?:

No Big Bro, guess there is another Tiki carver for me to find. This is Jorge Olmos, his place is about 20 miles south of Rosarito in Puerto Nuevo on the free road to Ensenada. I have worn shirts with Tiki and gotten questioned by a few locals about them. "That is not the devil is it?" "What do the Tiki mean?" "I heard that..." Jorge tells me he has gotten some of the same about his work especially after the newspaper article came out. I love his pallapa roofs and table umbrellas that he makes and Iam getting one made next trip. Here is one he was working on when I met him. Here is a photo of the K 38 surf shop and taco stand that is nearby. Notice the sign in the window.

Now Tiki Oasis 2011 makes sense! :wink:

Jorge took me to his home studio to see some of his latest carvings.

At the Olmos home where he introduced me to his brothers Tom and Emilio who also carves.

Here is one of Emilio's Tiki.
Tom visited Hawaii long ago and has a polynesian paradise he has created. Tom is a awesome drummer who carves his own djembe drums, cures the goat skins and makes his own drum heads.

[ Edited by: Ojaitimo 2011-07-10 14:11 ]

How cool is that - What a killer Tiki Oasis down south...
Love it!
Kinda reminds me of Buzzy's place with all them tiki's all over outside.. :wink:
Mahalo's Brada

On 2011-05-17 02:20, Ojaitimo wrote:

This is AMAZING!

awesome!

Back from a few days with the Brothers Tiki at their awesome place. They took me around to some places that have Tiki.

![](https://tikicentral.com/uploads/5344/4e180d26.jpg[/im

[img]https://tikicentral.com/uploads/5344/4e180a5e.jpg)

These are rain sticks he makes, he tells me musicians use them for recording sessions and they last about 30 minutes.

The first one was closed so I didn't get a chance to see inside, this one was outside the cantina.

We went to Ruben's palm Grill that has every thing but actual Tiki.

This is awesome Check out this palapa roof detail. I have been getting rid of fronds for years, now I'm inspired to collect, harvest, cure, treat and use them instead of sending them to landfill. There must be a post here on DYI thatch roofs. Anyone have experience in how to?

Another place called Splash is supposed to have many Tiki but they are open on the weekends. Next trip. Also heard of a woman who has a large collection at her home and Tom and Jorge know Pepe the Tiki carver from Rosarito that we are going to visit next trip.
Jorge also showed me some of his new carvings. I had sent them to Tiki Central and Critiki last trip. Took BOT along this time, Seems like the influences are showing.

I get my Fast Pass at Ruben's and use the special lane to bypass two hours of waiting to cross the border.

Servicio vehiculos only says the sign but I am a Service vehicle for the day. :wink:
The deal is you spend $40.00 at certain places and they will give you a Government issued Fast Pass that is good one time.
I pull up to the US Customs booth with Punk Tiki strapped in the front seat.

"What is that?" The customs officer asks in amazement.
"A Tiki" I said. He chuckles and without checking my trunk or another question he bids me "Have a nice day" and across we went.
Good Tiki karma. Smoothest time I have ever crossed the border.
I was tempted to try the car pool lane but didn't think the CHP would think it funny. .

Here he is in his new home. I call him Punk Tiki.

I'm heading back in a few weeks.

Wonderful photos, Tim! Great to see how Tiki is an ambassador across the borders. Gimme a Margarita NOW!

CHEERS!!!

Very coooool!

On 2011-07-09 15:38, bigbrotiki wrote:
Wonderful photos, Tim! Great to see how Tiki is an ambassador across the borders. Gimme a Margarita NOW!

I'm so disappointed Big Bro. The last person in the world I thought would be a Parrot Head would be you!
Better not let Hanford hear you saying that.

This isn't a Margarita, it's a Baja Mai Tai. :wink:

The Margarita was my first cocktail I ever tasted in California, in Fresno in 1979. Then I grew up on them at El Coyote's while attending AFI Film school. And much later, I have been known to sneak some right next to "Tiki School" at the Tiki Ti -at El Chavo's :blush:

i picked up a couple small tiki carvings there about 5 years ago- used to go every year to visit down there. i'll grab some pics and post soon... stopped going after we got caught close to bullets flying in TJ with the family about 2 yrs ago....

is it quiet nowadays down there with the instability fears ?

-scott noteboom

Awesome pics. Just for clarification... Pepe's Curios is on the east side of the road on the southern part of Rosarito. Definitely not the man pictured in this thread. Very different styles of carving as well. There is much more Tiki going on down there than I realized. Looks like a wonderful trip.

is it quiet nowadays down there with the instability fears ?

Last time I was in Tijuana on a Saturday afternoon in April, the place was buzzing. Much more so than a couple of years ago when Revolucion was nearly a ghost town. I can't say for farther south as it's been quite a while since I ventured to Rosarito or Ensenada. I think my biggest fear of going down there is the two-hour wait time to get back.

On 2011-07-11 23:26, notebooms wrote:
i picked up a couple small tiki carvings there about 5 years ago- used to go every year to visit down there. i'll grab some pics and post soon... stopped going after we got caught close to bullets flying in TJ with the family about 2 yrs ago....

is it quiet nowadays down there with the instability fears ?

-scott noteboom

Seems quiet in about 10 visits in the last year that I have witnessed. I do see soldiers in trucks once a trip but they actually make me feel safer knowing they are around. They are a patrol and quick reaction force that any group would be crazy to take on. The coast of Baja around Rosarito seems to be calm as well. Sylvester Stallone is making a movie at the Baja Studio next month. They are hiring anglo extras, thought I might go down during the filming and get some stories from the American ex pats that live there and will likely be extras. The last weekend I was there over the 4th of July, some of the beach hotels were packed, Revolution had a few thousand people at the Caesar Salad Festival.(The salad was invented in Tijuana, I kid you not.