BajaNomad

back to San Diego via Tecate

KSC - 5-25-2005 at 08:53 AM

I have not traveled the road from Ensenada to Tecate in many years....is it worth it to go this route rather than TJ? Is it safe? I am thinking of trying it on Memorial Day and would appreciate directions, advise etc.

pokey - 5-26-2005 at 07:36 PM

I went from Ensenada to San Diego via Tecate today. The total trip from the turn off in Ensenada to Tecate is 65 miles. Give or take a mile or two. About half way there is a military checkpoint. There is a detour to the new border entrance but I found it to be well marked with signs saying garitas/border every few blocks. At night it might be hard to follow the detours but during the day I had no problem. The best part was that there was absolutely no wait at the border!! For a person who usually suffers through hour+ waits at the San Ysidro crossing this was a very pleasant suprise.

I didn't see any Pemex stations between Ensenada and Tecate so it would be wise to travel with plenty of gas. Hope this helps.

rts551 - 5-26-2005 at 07:37 PM

had the same problem last month. If anyone has good directions pls post. Ther are NO signs.

pokey - 5-26-2005 at 07:53 PM

Maybe the signs are new? As of today there were white and red signs with arrows saying garitas/border. Granted they do not look like official government signs but they DO get you to the border.

Directions: As you approach the old border entrance take a right. Then take your first right. Take a left at the first major road, continue down this road until you come to a park like meridian and take a left, drive maybe a 100 yards where you will come to the road that takes you to the border entrance. This road follows the border fence taking you directly to the border.

David K - 5-26-2005 at 08:42 PM

Hmmmm... well on May 1, returning from our Guadalupe Canyon Hot Springs weekend (see all pics at: http://community-2.webtv.net/Boojum1/405/ ), we found it very easily!

IF you have GPS, I posted the waypoints for the new entrance road at Mex. 2, and again at the actual new border in my trip report... here it is: The access road for the U.S. border line is now further east, just east of the traffic circle, and is very well signed. I have the GPS for it: N32-34.52' W116-36.82' on Mex. 2. The new border is at: N32-34.59' W116-37.53'
(This is at Map Datum NAD27 Mexico)

If you do not have GPS, and want the MUY EASY explanation:

Coming from Mexicali: Exit the toll highway as before, a couple miles east of Tecate and head toward town on the old free road, past the industrial park. Just BEFORE reaching the traffic circle (glorieta), the NEW border road goes NORTH (right) from Mex. 2... well signed. (The old route turned right a ways AFTER the traffic circle, passing the hospital).

Coming from Ensenada, after crossing the train tracks, take the wide boulavard to the right... or pass the McDonalds to the old Mexicali highway street and turn right... Both will take you to the traffic circle where you continue east a very short distance to the new street turning left (well signed)(The old way was to loop around the traffic circle and head back toward the town center on Mex. 2, then take that right turn passing the hospital).

Photo is the line along the border fence, taken on May 1... It was a 50 minute line... not lightning fast all the time!

[Edited on 5-27-2005 by David K]

pokey - 5-26-2005 at 08:52 PM

Using the google satelite map http://maps.google.com/ you can actually zoom in and see exactly what roads lead to the border. Neat stuff :D

David K - 5-26-2005 at 09:17 PM

Great idea Pokey!

Here is the image, centerd on the new street where it turns north off Mex. 2... note that it was not yet paved when this photo was taken. The traffic circle looks more like an X from above! Just zoom in more, if this link is not zoomed in.

New Tecate Border Road at Mex. 2

greybaby - 5-26-2005 at 09:20 PM

Going from San Diego to Ensenada via Tecate, is there a checkpoint for fruit and vegetables - or just the military checkpoint?

thebajarunner - 5-26-2005 at 10:01 PM

Who sez no gas between Ensenada and Tecate.
There is a Pemex in Guadalupe, which also has diesel.
Best way to cross the border without having to do a big memory drill>>
Just head for the monster tall McDonalds sign, keep going straight up the hill, can't miss the border.

Baja Arriba!!

David K - 5-26-2005 at 11:24 PM

No, no, no TheBajaRunner! Please read the above posts... There is a NEW U.S. border gate, east of the old one with a completely different access road, which is entered way east of the old border. Going into Tecate from Calif. is still the same.:light:

KSC - 5-27-2005 at 06:33 AM

Thanks everyone for the advise and directions....I'm leaving in a couple of hours to head south (cant wait) and will post info when I return if I find out anything different about this border crossing.

KSC - 5-31-2005 at 08:55 PM

Memorial Day Drive home to San Diego from Ensenada via Tecate took me almost 3 hours to reach the border crossing. Lots of semi's to pass on this road (very stressful trip), and even though I have a safe vehicle, I also worried about what I would have done if I'd had any car problems on this road as my husband was not with me on this trip. When I finally reached the Tecate border with my daughter and dog both approaching emotional melt down, we had a two and 1/2 hour wait. All in all it was not a pleasant day....yes the drive was very pretty, but 2 1/2 hours @ this border was a bit difficult. My question is do any of you know what the wait was at TJ??? Maybe all my stress was worth it. Would love to hear about your border crossings on Memorial Day.

KSC - 5-31-2005 at 09:18 PM

Forgot to say that I reached the Tecate border around 2:15 PM...

DavidT - 5-31-2005 at 10:37 PM

We got in line at San Ysidro at 1:12 p.m. One hour later we were making the right hand curve up onto the bridge when the policia shut down the border and waved us on to Otay Mesa. Had never crosssed O M before so we had a nice tour of Tijuana and got in line at 3:12. Cleared customs at 4:12 p.m. So our trip was two stations and three hours. I really felt sorry for the people who turned into the sentri lane without a sentri pass, an easy thing to do in Otay. They sat in line for 30 to 45 minutes and were then turned away right at the gate, had to drive against traffic and then wait in line again.
It was still a good trip though.

pokey - 6-1-2005 at 10:08 AM

Yesterdays "La Frontera" reported up to 3hr waits at the toll booths! And 3-5 hr wait at the San Ysidro crossing. http://www.frontera.info/edicionenlinea/nota.asp?NumNota=704...

Insane. Glad we didn't do any traveling last weekend.

almost everything in life...

eetdrt88 - 6-1-2005 at 02:46 PM

boils down to timing and if you time it right you can get through any one of the border crossings pretty quick...the problem is that the good times to cross compared to the bad times are very outnumbered and unforseen circumstances change everything.....i've found that crossing at almost anytime on a sunday is a bad idea,but it seems that on alot of trips we end up coming home on a sunday...but sometimes right before lunchtime on a weekday you can get through even TJ borders in under 15 min.:o:o

oladulce - 6-1-2005 at 07:05 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by David K

Coming from Ensenada, after crossing the train tracks, take the wide boulavard to the right... or pass the McDonalds to the old Mexicali highway street and turn right... Both will take you to the traffic circle where you continue east a very short distance to the new street turning left (well signed)(The old way was to loop around the traffic circle and head back toward the town center on Mex. 2, then take that right turn passing the hospital).



Does this new road still pass thru the same residential neighborhood (in the vicinity of the hospital)?

Referring to DavidK's photo, do you drive along a border fence now as you're waiting in line?

If I'm following the correct route on the sat. photo, Is the new route the road that the Big trucks use which parallels the border?

Thanks.

The more we know, the less stressful the crossing event.

David K - 6-1-2005 at 07:14 PM

Well, it goes north from Mex. 2 to the border fence then turns west along the fence, as seen in my photo... the last few blocks were on an original street but the other was all new... No, not passed the hospital any longer.

oladulce - 6-1-2005 at 07:50 PM

Ok, thanks David