Ensenada is a coastal city in Mexico, the third-largest in Baja California. Lying 125 kilometres (78 mi) south of San Diego on the Baja California Peninsula, it is locally referred to as La Cenicienta del Pacífico, "The Cinderellaof the Pacific''. One of the first settlements founded in the Californias, Ensenada has emerged as a cruise ship destination, aerospace center, and there is a nearby region to the north east where wine grapes are grown.  Situated on the coastline of Bahía de Todos Santos—an inlet of the Pacific Ocean on the peninsula's Gold Coast—the Port of Ensenada is an important commercial, fishing, and tourist port. The city is home to a navy base, army base, and Ensenada Airport, a military airfield which doubles as an airport of entry into Mexico.

San Diego, named after Saint Didacus, is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California after Los Angeles, with a population of 1,306,300 (Jul 2009) within its administrative limits on a land area of 372.1 square miles (963.7 km2). The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California. The urban area of San Diego extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 2,880,000. San Diego is also the county seat of San Diego County, the 5th largest county, by population, in the United States.