SAN DIEGO — Just south of San Diego is an area many people call the "Mexican Napa Valley." 

Tourists visit Valle de Guadalupe to try award-winning wine, food and experience the amazing culture of Baja California; businesses on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border are now picking up where they left off since COVID-19 restrictions have finally been lifted. 

"We really just shut down abruptly and we weren't certain for awhile that we were going to be able to reopen," Ryan Creagan said. 

Creagan owns Baja Society Tours, a San Diego-based tour company focused on intimate encounters in Baja California. Creagan's specialty is finding jewels off the beaten path for unforgettable experiences of food, wine and people. 

Creagan had to shut down Baja Society Tours in March 2020. The San Ysidro Port of Entry south of San Diego is one of the busiest land border crossings in the world, and border-adjacent businesses rely heavily on cross-border traffic to survive. The federal government ended restrictions to nonessential travel at U.S. land ports of entry on Nov. 8, 2021. 

Creagan was finally able to run his first wine tour in nearly two years. 

"We started this business with the hopes of bringing people to Mexico to instill the love of Mexico that we have, traveling throughout Valle de Guadalupe, Rosarito and Tijuana," Creagan said. "It's really exciting that we're able to bring people back, we get to bring them across the border now that it's unrestricted and show them the kind of the love of Baja that we have in a full-day, all-inclusive wine experience."

Oscar Ramirez is a tour guide on the Mexico side. Before the pandemic, he would meet customers in San Diego to help them cross the border smoothly, but once the border shut down, he lost his main source of income and wasn't able to visit family or friends in San Diego. 

"You don't get to see your friends too often, you don't get to see the people you work with too often," Ramirez said. "You didn't know when you were going to see them again. The border closure was like so sudden. Really uncertain about everything." 

Now he said he's ready to get back to work showing off the beauty of Baja California. 

"You get to know a lot of different types of people," Ramirez said. "And then again, you don't feel it as a job when you like it."

Winemaker Jorge Maciel is excited to see familiar faces again. He's been bonding with Baja Society Tour guests for more than two years at his winery, Cava Maciel. 

"We're in a very healthy competition, we're all trying to make the best wine and you're not going to go wrong in any winery in Valle de Guadalupe," Maciel said. "And not to mention the food is amazing also." 

According to San Ysidro's Chamber of Commerce, 95% of its small business customers come from Mexico. Since the border closure, almost 300 businesses have closed permanently. 

"Hopefully everyone gets their vaccine and we can move on," Maciel said. "I love making wine and I love to receive people." 

"Very happy to be back, I can't stop smiling," Creagan said. "The energy, the people, the wine, the food. We've been waiting over a year and a half for this wonderful day to come back, and now we're here."