The PanAmerican Marine Energy Conference Association (PAMEC) has decided to proceed with an in-person Conference in Ensenada Mexico June 19-22, 2022 with workshops on June 17-18. The conference has already attracted international support and attendance. Speakers and presenters have been confirmed from Canada, the USA, Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, Ecuador, Peru, Colombia, and the UK.
PAMEC 2022 is part of the family of conferences on Marine Renewable Energy Research and Development including, the European Wave and Tidal Conference (EWTEC) and the Asian Wave and Tidal Conference (AWTEC). PAMEC is intended to bring researchers together on a biannual basis. The first was in 2020 in Costa Rica.
Ensenada Ready to Welcome PAMEC 2022
Ensenada Mexico is a vibrant university and tourist City on the Mexican Pacific Coast, a 2-hour drive south of San Diego, USA. The conference venue will be the Center for Scientific Research and Higher Education in Ensenada, Baja California(CICESE), and the Autonomous University of Baja California (UABC) , known for its work in marine renewable energy and related disciplines.
It has many low-cost hotels and Airbnb accommodations (~$100 USD a night). The conference itself has a regular registration fee of $365 USD and $265 USD for students. The Association and local organizers are seeking sponsorships to fund bursaries to assist those with limited means to support their attendance.
Registration for the conference and application for bursary support will open on April 15, 2022.
The PAMEC 2022 in Mexico follows the very successful PAMEC 2020 in San Jose Costa Rica. More than 200 delegates attended the Costa Rica Conference. Many of them said the Conference gave them tremendous insight into global and regional activities as well as research and business connections they could not have found elsewhere. Abstracts from PAMEC 2022 are available at https://pamec.energy/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/PAMEC-2020_-E-BOOK.pdf
Getting to Ensenada
There are two main pathways to Ensenada in Mexico’s Baja Province. Check out the options in detail on the very useful Rome2Rio website.
The first option is to fly into Mexico City and then take a flight to Tijuana which is a short Uber, taxi or bus ride (about an hour and a half) away from Ensenada.
The second option, and the best for many, is to arrive in San Diego, then rent a car with several colleagues to cross the US-Mexico border and drive down. Conference organizers will provide website addresses of companies who will allow cross-border rentals. They will also provide contact information for drivers who will take small groups of people from the airport to Ensenada.
Another variation on this option is to take a taxi/Uber from the airport to downtown San Diego and take public transportation to the border, then walk across to Tijuana where buses and Uber/Taxis are very available to get to Ensenada (see Option 1). This may be the best option coming back, as walking across the border can be faster than getting in the driver lineups if you have Trusted Traveller Status (such as Global Entry or Nexus which includes enrollment in Global Entry).