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devinecopy5
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Registered: 12-12-2018
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Thank you so much to everyone for your help! I am researching all your answers and am finally understanding things like what "BOLA" is!
I hear your concerns about too much for one week. So we're going to delete Mulege and come back up a little more slowly. Still not slow, but tha'ts
all we have. I like the idea of stopping at Scammons Lagoon on the way back up. Question: is Scammons Lagoon the same as Ojo de Libre and Guerrero
Negro? Would we need whale reservations there? We already do have them for San Ignacio in February.
Thanks especially for the link to ioverlander.com and your campground suggestions. Very helpful and I appreciate them all, along with things to see.
Now I need to do a ton of research about crossing the border. I have no idea what documents, what time to alot, etc. But that's another post!
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JZ
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Deleting Mulege makes the trip very doable. Remember some on here still don't think women can drive (anywhere), so take some of the comments with a
grain of salt.
To cross the border you need a passport and vehicle registration. That's it. They won't ask for your passport when you cross, but may ask for the
registration. Then stop and get a tourist visa after you pass the red light / green light. You'll need your PP to get the visa.
You must also get MX insurance for your vehicle. No one will ask for it, unless you get in an accident of course. The best, easiest place to do it
is bajabound.com
[Edited on 12-16-2018 by JZ]
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David K
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Yes, Laguna Ojo de Liebre is the Mexican name for Scammon's Lagoon. In English, it translates to Jackrabbit Spring (or literally Jackrabbit's Eye)
Lagoon.
Guerrero Negro is the nearby town, which is on a smaller lagoon named Laguna Guerrero Negro (Black Warrior Lagoon).
There is a well-signed whale watching spot, campground, and where boat tours leave from that exits Hwy. 1 at Km. 207.5. It is paved a short distance
and is several miles in (about 15). This turnoff is 12.5 kms. southbound from the state border and giant eagle monument.
If you are entering Mexico at Tijuana, the standard parking area (and it is big and covered) is BEFORE crossing through the Red/ Green light gates.
When you see the giant flagpole as you near the border crossing and the traffic curves left, you head straight from the right lane ('Something to
declare' and immigration parking lane) go way over by the flagpole and park in front of the building in the large parking area.
With your passports in hand, walk into that building and through it to the opposite side, and just out the back doors is where the INM desks are
located. INM is who issues the FMMs. 7 days or less is FREE. 8-180 days is about 25-30 dollars. A bank desk for paying is just inside the building.
When you have that done and return to your car, drive back to the southbound flow of traffic, cross the gate with a green light and then follow the
signs for Playas, Rosarito, and Ensenada SCENIC HIGHWAY. This is a toll road with 3 toll booths for the 70-mile drive to Ensenada. Once on the
highway, after a few miles, it will be easy driving
IF you get a RED light, just pull ahead as directed for a visual inspection of your car (and may be asked to show your FMM, so that is why you get it
before crossing the lighted gate and for the correct parking area. Yes, you can park on the south side if you miss the north side but that is why you
need to be in the right lane as you near Mexico customs.
[Edited on 12-16-2018 by David K]
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JZ
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Quote: Originally posted by David K  |
IF you get a RED light, just pull ahead as directed for a visual inspection of your car (and may be asked to show your FMM, so that is why you get it
before crossing the lighted gate and for the correct parking area.
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I've never in my life time heard of someone being asked to show a visa after getting the red light. Is this a real thing?
[Edited on 12-16-2018 by JZ]
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MMc
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I get red lighted or pulled over almost every time, (it's my truck). I never get ask for my FMM. I recross with my 180 day permit.
"Never teach a pig to sing it frustrates you and annoys the pig" - W.C.Fields
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David K
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| Quote: Originally posted by JZ | | Quote: Originally posted by David K |
IF you get a RED light, just pull ahead as directed for a visual inspection of your car (and may be asked to show your FMM, so that is why you get it
before crossing the lighted gate and for the correct parking area.
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I've never in my life time heard of someone being asked to show a visa after getting the red light. Is this a real thing?
[Edited on 12-16-2018 by JZ] |
It's not a visa. It is called a travel's permit or tourist card or FMM, and not the same as a visa. Yes, I know it is otherwise like a visa but Mexico
clearly states it as such.
If you use the parking lot at Tijuana customs/immigration building, it is before the red/green light, so if you are asked, you will have it.
Yes, my Baja Extreme Tour members were all asked at Mexicali (west) and directed to park and get them just after the red/green light. Mexicali's INM
office parking was after the gate crossing then (2016). Now it is like Tijuana, before the light.
MMc: yes, me too.
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weebray
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Notwithstanding what you have read your trip is not realistic. Asuncion would be very ambitious for one week. Your plan now calls for four days of
stressful driving. No fun. The huge increase of industrial agriculture + other development from San Quintin north makes that part of the trip pretty
much hell. Go see the whales or go on vacation, you can't do both.
Every beautiful beach in the world needs a few condo towers - NOT.
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PaulW
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JZ you have led a very sheltered life. If you cross at Algodones, San Luis, or Mexicali east they stop most all of US tagged vehicles and ask for
papers.
However it is true the red light is not always used, but a guy is standing there and waving you to stop and he asks for papers.
Of course it all depends on the Migration guy and sometimes he gets distracted or is on his break. Then sometimes the line of vehicles is long and
they just stop selected ones. So drive slow and get behind the long line.
For Mex east and Algondones they just pull you over to the side and at San Luis they send you to secondary where it is much more formal. I don't use
other crossings.
| Quote: Originally posted by JZ | | Quote: Originally posted by David K |
IF you get a RED light, just pull ahead as directed for a visual inspection of your car (and may be asked to show your FMM, so that is why you get it
before crossing the lighted gate and for the correct parking area.
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I've never in my life time heard of someone being asked to show a visa after getting the red light. Is this a real thing?
[Edited on 12-16-2018 by JZ] |
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MMc
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I strongly disagree with this statement. I have done 5 whale trips and all have been done in 7 or 8 days. Nobody thought we were on the road to long
or was over stressed. I prefer driving 1 instead 5 also, I do live in LA and drive the freeways more than most.
Do your trip, not the one others think you should. We don't know you.
| Quote: Originally posted by weebray | | Notwithstanding what you have read your trip is not realistic. Asuncion would be very ambitious for one week. Your plan now calls for four days of
stressful driving. No fun. The huge increase of industrial agriculture + other development from San Quintin north makes that part of the trip pretty
much hell. Go see the whales or go on vacation, you can't do both. |
"Never teach a pig to sing it frustrates you and annoys the pig" - W.C.Fields
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JZ
Elite Nomad
Posts: 9260
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| Quote: Originally posted by PaulW | JZ you have led a very sheltered life. If you cross at Algodones, San Luis, or Mexicali east they stop most all of US tagged vehicles and ask for
papers.
However it is true the red light is not always used, but a guy is standing there and waving you to stop and he asks for papers.
Of course it all depends on the Migration guy and sometimes he gets distracted or is on his break. Then sometimes the line of vehicles is long and
they just stop selected ones. So drive slow and get behind the long line.
For Mex east and Algondones they just pull you over to the side and at San Luis they send you to secondary where it is much more formal. I don't use
other crossings.
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On trips to Baja, we mostly cross at Mexicali, as I prefer going down Hwy 5. I've crossed at San Luis a number of times driving to San Carlos in
Sonora. And crossed probably 20 times at Mariposa in Arizona, again heading to San Carlos.
We get stopped every time I have the bikes, which is most times. They want to check the registration papers against the VINs on the bikes. Takes
about 3-4 mins.
No one has ever asked me for a visa in Mexico, with the exceptions being 1) when getting a car or boat temporary import permit or 2) boarding an
airplane back into the US. Never heard of someone asking for a tourist visa after a red light as DK is suggesting.
I mean, you don't even need a visa if staying under 72 hours in the border zone. So why would they be asking you for your visa at the border?
[Edited on 12-16-2018 by JZ]
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JZ
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| Quote: Originally posted by David K |
It's not a visa. It is called a travel's permit or tourist card or FMM, and not the same as a visa. Yes, I know it is otherwise like a visa but Mexico
clearly states it as such.
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I have law degree my man. It's a visa. Every country has their own unique procedure whether its a page in your passport or a separate piece of
paper, but they are all visas. Mexico is no different.
From Wiki:
"A visa (from the Latin charta visa, meaning "paper that has been seen")[1] is a conditional authorization granted by a country to a foreigner,
allowing them to enter, remain within, or to leave that country. Visas typically include limits on the duration of the foreigner's stay, territory
within the country they may enter, the dates they may enter, the number of permitted visits or an individual's right to work in the country in
question. Visas are associated with the request for permission to enter a country and thus are, in some countries, distinct from actual formal
permission for an alien to enter and remain in the country. In each instance, a visa is subject to entry permission by an immigration official at the
time of actual entry, and can be revoked at any time. A visa most commonly takes the form of a sticker endorsed in the applicant's passport or other
travel document. "
A good site for you to bone up on Mexican immigration rules: http://www.expatarrivals.com/americas/mexico/visas-mexico
Btw, you (wrongly) attacked me on some random point shifting focus from your claim that they ask for your FMM "visa" at the red light / green light
stop. Nice try at moving the goal posts.
[Edited on 12-16-2018 by JZ]
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JZ
Elite Nomad
Posts: 9260
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| Quote: Originally posted by weebray | | Notwithstanding what you have read your trip is not realistic. Asuncion would be very ambitious for one week. Your plan now calls for four days of
stressful driving. No fun. The huge increase of industrial agriculture + other development from San Quintin north makes that part of the trip pretty
much hell. Go see the whales or go on vacation, you can't do both. |
This is 100% fake news. 8 days is plenty of time to do this trip.
[Edited on 12-16-2018 by JZ]
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bajamary1952
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Not mentioned but important esp. if traveling & camping on Sea of Cortez side this time of year which can be horribly windy so I always check wind
reports first; along with the fact that many of those places such as Bahia Concepcion will be overrun with huge RVs so don't expect any beach there to
be quiet. I encountered many days of high wind in La Paz the first 2 weeks of December so left and now in Cabo San Lucas where weather is much better
and not windy so I'm using it as a base for traveling around the Cape.
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weebray
Super Nomad
Posts: 1094
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If all you want to do is to go see the whales in San Ignacio Lagoon then your plans will work. You will be stressed, your marriage will be tested but
you will see the whales. Not the type of intro to Baja California I would prefer but as the man said, "it's your trip". BTW you will be in Baja
California but the REAL Baja begins in Santa Rosalia. Fly!
Every beautiful beach in the world needs a few condo towers - NOT.
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mtgoat666
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| Quote: Originally posted by weebray | | If all you want to do is to go see the whales in San Ignacio Lagoon then your plans will work. You will be stressed, your marriage will be tested but
you will see the whales. Not the type of intro to Baja California I would prefer but as the man said, "it's your trip". BTW you will be in Baja
California but the REAL Baja begins in Santa Rosalia. Fly! |
Bullchit. SI lagoon is 1.5 day drive from San Diego. Easy to do a whale watch trip in week.
‘REAL” Baja (whatever that is) is apparently a figment of your tequila-infused imagination.
It’s all real.
Woke!
“...ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.” “My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America
will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.”
Prefered gender pronoun: the royal we
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David K
Honored Nomad
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About 10 miles south of El Rosario one will see the first Boojum Trees in their natural location... for many Baja travelers, THAT is where Baja
starts! LOL
As goat says, it is all Baja from the Mexican border with California to Cabo San Lucas, like it or not.
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JoeJustJoe
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Where did you get your law degree from?
A FMM is not a Visa.
And if you cross the border, in Mexico, you are supposed to get FMM, even if you stay less than 72 hours, but you are not charged anything.
However, they are only enforcing it if you take the pedestrian walkway.
Now if I'm only crossing over into Tijuana, Rosarito, or less than 100 miles, I will not stop and get a FMM card, because almost nobody else is
stopping and Mexican officials are not checking for your FMM at the border towns.
Now sorry, for the interruption while you guys fight with each other over a whale watching vacation, and giving the OP travel advise.
This thread belongs in the OT.
| Quote: Originally posted by JZ |
I have law degree my man. It's a visa. Every country has their own unique procedure whether its a page in your passport or a separate piece of
paper, but they are all visas. Mexico is no different.
From Wiki:
"A visa (from the Latin charta visa, meaning "paper that has been seen")[1] is a conditional authorization granted by a country to a foreigner,
allowing them to enter, remain within, or to leave that country. Visas typically include limits on the duration of the foreigner's stay, territory
within the country they may enter, the dates they may enter, the number of permitted visits or an individual's right to work in the country in
question. Visas are associated with the request for permission to enter a country and thus are, in some countries, distinct from actual formal
permission for an alien to enter and remain in the country. In each instance, a visa is subject to entry permission by an immigration official at the
time of actual entry, and can be revoked at any time. A visa most commonly takes the form of a sticker endorsed in the applicant's passport or other
travel document. "
A good site for you to bone up on Mexican immigration rules: http://www.expatarrivals.com/americas/mexico/visas-mexico
Btw, you (wrongly) attacked me on some random point shifting focus from your claim that they ask for your FMM "visa" at the red light / green light
stop. Nice try at moving the goal posts.
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JZ
Elite Nomad
Posts: 9260
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| Quote: Originally posted by weebray | | If all you want to do is to go see the whales in San Ignacio Lagoon then your plans will work. You will be stressed, your marriage will be tested but
you will see the whales. Not the type of intro to Baja California I would prefer but as the man said, "it's your trip". BTW you will be in Baja
California but the REAL Baja begins in Santa Rosalia. Fly! |
You keep saying this stuff about marriage and divorce. Some ppl aren't mental midgets and don't get stressed so easily, or have weak marriages.
Stop projecting your failures on others.
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devinecopy5
Newbie
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So, coming back from San Ignacio. Say we stay at Ojo de Liebre campground for two nights. Then we will need to cut the return trip in half with one
night somewhere. We will have already stayed in San Quintin. Any more suggestions for a nice place to stay between Ojo de Liebre and the border?
A nice beach for dogs to walk would be ideal. Thanks again!
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David K
Honored Nomad
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El Pabellon RV park is on a huge beach. Km. 16, south of San Quintin. There is a second one at Km. 16.5 called Fidel's El Pabellon. Both are just over
a mile from the highway. Excellent food is near Km. 16 on the highway, called Parcela 12.
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