BajaNomad - Updates on crossing at San Ysidro, Otay, or Tecate?

Updates on crossing at San Ysidro, Otay, or Tecate?

Lee - 10-15-2009 at 02:49 PM

Have things settled down crossing South at San Ysidro? Lines or delays?

Has the construction at Otay finished, or winding down? How is the road?

larryC - 10-15-2009 at 05:08 PM

Crossed southbound at San Ysidro Wed 11am, no lines no problems.
Larry

k-rico - 10-15-2009 at 05:39 PM

Stay away from San Ysidro on weekdays from 3PM to 7PM, the traffic really backs up on both 5 and 805 with commuters going home to TJ.

Santiago - 10-15-2009 at 08:48 PM

Crossed on Thursday last week with no wait at all. Coming north on Tuesday this week looked across and did not see any back up going south.

bajabass - 10-16-2009 at 09:05 AM

Last Friday at 4pm, southbound, 15 minute back up. Sunday at 7am, nortbound 22 min wait in line, SY

tjBill - 10-16-2009 at 11:08 AM

At Otay they are using the new entry gates which requires all cars to stop for about 15 seconds, causing big delays at peak times. :no:

Question and opinion, please?

Lee - 10-16-2009 at 11:27 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Santiago
Crossed on Thursday last week with no wait at all. Coming north on Tuesday this week looked across and did not see any back up going south.

WHERE did you cross?

Would those crossing tell me what you think the ''best'' times to cross would be (going North/South)? Otay? Tecate? SY? Is there a pattern for you that always works?

Diver - 10-16-2009 at 11:44 AM

In general, if heading south, you want to avoid the morning rush of folks who live in CA but work in Baja. Also avoid the heavier traffic of those who live in Baja returning from CA jobs between 3 and 7pm.

That leaves early morning or 9am - 1pm pretty clear most days.
Now, weekends are a different story ... when the holiday sales start, all bets are off in TJ !

We like Tecate' and have never had over a 10 minute wait when crossing in the mornings. That would be my choice coming from CO (take 95 south off I-15)
If you're camping, make a reservation at Potrero County park for the night before crossing (8 miles from the border). They have hot showers, water. power and dump.

[Edited on 10-16-2009 by Diver]

Cyanide41 - 10-16-2009 at 11:58 AM

On Wed at about 4pm I waited about 45 mins at SY.

Howard - 10-16-2009 at 06:57 PM

Cyanide41

Going North or South for waiting that long?

Russ - 10-16-2009 at 07:10 PM

Went through SY this AM at 4. Only two lanes open and the few of us all got a look at by the new guys. they liked me so I got a closer look. First time ever I had my stuff pulled out and looked at. No hassle and very polite. Took about 10 minutes.

SDRonni - 10-16-2009 at 07:57 PM

Crossed this afternoon northbound about 2:30. Only 10 minutes max in Sentri...........the southbound looked awful!

gnukid - 10-16-2009 at 08:40 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by SDRonni
Crossed this afternoon northbound about 2:30. Only 10 minutes max in Sentri...........the southbound looked awful!

Crossed TJ this AM with a full load of relief supplies, clothes and food. The TJ border had no traffic, immigration staff is there 24 hours (even though few knew on site knew this, go walk back to the INM building and there is an agent there 24hrs same with bank-knock on the windows to wake staff) the bank is open 24 hours. So you can cross 24 hrs a day and a get a visa if needed at 4am. The marines first inspected the vehicle and were thorough and very kind and waved me on, I pulled into in the waiting area while friends went for visas then the aduana asked me to pull back to secondary for another inspection, they were also quite kind and simply interested in making a good impression, then a superior came by for third inspection and had no problem with a full load of every conceivable item for camp/home no problem at all.

At the same time, there many Mexican people pulled into secondary who had large amounts of shoes and clothes confiscated, the aduana reported to me they were hauling contraband not camping gear!

All the Mexican military and police en route have gone out of their way to be exceptionally kind and supportive, there has been almost no traffic and no problems.

Our visit at Mama Espinosa's with the family and at Mallermo in GN have been incredible, awesome, tons of nice new nomads. Baja is just amazing, full of nice people and beauty. The road is fantastic! Superb. Stay in your lane.

I might add that any confusion as to why I was loaded high was quickly explained by the fact that me ans my many nieces and nephews enjoy flying in to Baja to visit with me and collect rats and insects as pets, which we enjoy greatly, inspection over!

[Edited on 10-17-2009 by gnukid]

fishingmako - 10-17-2009 at 05:22 PM

Every time I cross now I get stopped, never ever use to, just because I have a large truck, do they think all Trucks are the only ones carring weapons, clothes, etc. etc, while all the cars with the goodies are going by saying I fooled you, I fooled you, again stuck on stupid. I guess they just don't get it? DUH!

DENNIS - 10-17-2009 at 05:36 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by fishingmako
Every time I cross now I get stopped, never ever use to, just because I have a large truck, do they think all Trucks are the only ones carring weapons, clothes, etc. etc, while all the cars with the goodies are going by saying I fooled you, I fooled you, again stuck on stupid. I guess they just don't get it? DUH!

It's not easy stuffing a fifty inch Plasma TV in a Honda Civic. :lol:

wessongroup - 10-17-2009 at 05:39 PM

Crossed over at SY two times within two weeks. South bound we were not stopped and coming back the first time through SENTRI was 13 minutes, the second was 11 minutes.

Coming North both times were right around 10 am. Both South bound trips, we cross at around 2 pm.

Was a very easy drive through the border for us.

David K - 10-18-2009 at 07:56 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Diver

...
We like Tecate' and have never had over a 10 minute wait when crossing in the mornings. That would be my choice coming from CO (take 95 south off I-15)
If you're camping, make a reservation at Potrero County park for the night before crossing (8 miles from the border). They have hot showers, water. power and dump.

[Edited on 10-16-2009 by Diver]

There is no Hwy. '95' to Tecate/ Campo, but...

Take Hwy 94 east off of southbound I-15 (or I-805/ I-5). :light:

Woooosh - 10-18-2009 at 08:06 AM

My local Rosarito Beach road report for Sunday Oct 19, 2009

Tecate- es Bien.

Otay Mesa- Dead naked body hanging from the bridge this morning. http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9BD523O0&show_a...

San Ysidro free road- Dead officals body hanging from the 5 & 10 bridge replaced with young thugs body (see photo on thread about Marines shooting youths)

San Ysidro Toll Road- 4 innocent Rosarito youths shot by Mexican Marines next to the toll road last Sunday afternoon.

Rosarito-Ensenada Toll road- a 10 car armed SUV narco convoy sighted northbound last Sunday afternoon managed to "escape" and vanish into thin air.

Enjoy your trip to Rosarito Beach and the Lobster Festival!

[Edited on 10-18-2009 by Woooosh]

Diver - 10-18-2009 at 08:52 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by David K

Quote:

There is no Hwy. '95' to Tecate/ Campo, but...

Take Hwy 94 east off of southbound I-15 (or I-805/ I-5). :light:

Why would someone coming from Colorado want to come all the way into the LA/SD mess to cross the border at Tecate' ?
95 heads south from Las Vegas towards Yuma, then you go west on I 8 to 94 west into Potrero.

I guess Dk's map only covers SoCal and NoBaja !

k-rico - 10-18-2009 at 08:55 AM

A neighbor said he waited 1.5 hours at SY southbound on Friday. He got to the border log jam at 5 PM. No particular reason for the backup, just too many cars squeezing into the funnel.

David K - 10-18-2009 at 09:00 AM

Like I said, there is no Hwy. 95 that goes to Tecate/ Campo from a southbound Hwy. 15... With the added detail of I-8 and 94, it makes sense.

Good, scenic route from Las Vegas. :cool:

Diver - 10-18-2009 at 09:07 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by David K
Like I said, there is no Hwy. 95 that goes to Tecate/ Campo from a southbound Hwy. 15... With the added detail of I-8 and 94, it makes sense.

Good, scenic route from Las Vegas. :cool:

Check my first post (and your mouth) again.
Where did it say that 95 goes to Tecate' ?
It says take 95 south off I-15 southbound from Colorado.
MOST folks could see the rest of the path from there.
But I'm glad it makes sense to YOU now !

David K - 10-18-2009 at 09:31 AM

Lee (the guy who asked the original question) was asking about border crossing issues... not how to get to the border... He has been to Baja before.

Because A LOT of other people read threads for Baja travel information and may not all be coming from Colorado, when you mention Hwy. 95 off I-15 (to get to Tecate), it might be considerate to provide some more routes needed... OTHERWISE it looks like you had a TYPO and put down 95 instead of 94.

I am trying to be helpful, not nasty or insulting.

DENNIS - 10-18-2009 at 09:37 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by k-rico
A neighbor said he waited 1.5 hours at SY southbound on Friday. He got to the border log jam at 5 PM. No particular reason for the backup, just too many cars squeezing into the funnel.

The brain trust at Mexico Aduana is temporarily have some issues with their problem solving. They want to be as vigilant with four lanes as the US is with twenty four and the same amount of crossers going in each direction.
If I had a two year old kid, he'd be able to figure this one out.

Diver - 10-18-2009 at 09:47 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Diver
We like Tecate' .... coming from CO (take 95 south off I-15)

CO means C O L O R A D O

Quote:

Originally posted by David K
Because A LOT of other people read threads for Baja travel information and may not all be coming from Colorado,

Okey dokey DK. :rolleyes:

Sorry YOU misunderstood.

.

[Edited on 10-18-2009 by Diver]

Woooosh - 10-18-2009 at 10:32 AM

Quote:

That is the new daily normal as the USA and MExico both watch southbound traffic more carefully. This is the real "run for the border"- with people cutting each other off, fender benders, playing lane-change chicken and using the break down lanes to get to the front. You wouldn't even know you were driving in America- it is brutal.

Fridays at rush hour (4-6pm) are as bad as it gets though... for now anyway.

Coming from Colarado - heading for Tecate

Pompano - 10-19-2009 at 01:58 AM

Currently camped in Durango, Co..after winding our way down Colorado's Hwy 50/550 ..Ouray-Silverton-Durango..a stretch labeled by fans as The Million Dollar Highway because of it's continuous beautiful mountain scenery. (100 miles = 1000 photos)

By way of Monument Valley, Grand Canyon, and some pizza cafes, we are enroute to Baja Sur. Will be crossing at Tecate as usual. Will report later on route, campgrounds, crossing events, and road conditions from Tecate to Ensenada to Mulege.

Although we just made that trip from Tecate to Mulege twice in September and I think little has changed.

noproblemo2 - 10-19-2009 at 03:09 PM

Is this new? A friend was just turned back from San Ysidro to go to Otay Mesa because he was bringing roofing shingle with a rcpt, was told no more building materials thru San Ysidro???

Bajahowodd - 10-19-2009 at 03:25 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Pompano
Currently camped in Durango, Co..after winding our way down Colorado's Hwy 50/550 ..Ouray-Silverton-Durango..a stretch labeled by fans as The Million Dollar Highway because of it's continuous beautiful mountain scenery. (100 miles = 1000 photos)

By way of Monument Valley, Grand Canyon, and some pizza cafes, we are enroute to Baja Sur. Will be crossing at Tecate as usual. Will report later on route, campgrounds, crossing events, and road conditions from Tecate to Ensenada to Mulege.

Although we just made that trip from Tecate to Mulege twice in September and I think little has changed.

That is some of the most beautiful country anywhere. But, I'd avoid driving 550 in the dead of winter.

DENNIS - 10-19-2009 at 04:27 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by noproblemo2
Is this new? A friend was just turned back from San Ysidro to go to Otay Mesa because he was bringing roofing shingle with a rcpt, was told no more building materials thru San Ysidro???

How much was he bringing? Just curious.

noproblemo2 - 10-19-2009 at 04:52 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by DENNIS

Quote:

How much was he bringing? Just curious.

About 20 bundles

MikeLikeBaja - 10-19-2009 at 05:05 PM

Nowadays crossing the border back into Mexico (via San Ysidro) is worst then going into the states when I did not have my sentri pass. The aggressiveness and stupidity is twice as bad.

Lee - 10-22-2009 at 08:05 AM

Anyone have anything to report at any of the crossings, North or South?

Lee - 10-27-2009 at 07:56 AM

Quote:

Anyone have a current update?

DENNIS - 10-27-2009 at 08:37 AM

Lee....Do you have these?

http://apps.cbp.gov/bwt/

http://www.planetabaja.com/garitas_html.cgi

I've found the Mexico site to be more reliable.

[Edited on 10-27-2009 by DENNIS]

bajabass - 10-27-2009 at 08:38 AM

SY, Saturday,2:30pm, southbound, 10mins. Sunday, 6:30pm, northbound 1hr40mins.

Pescador - 10-28-2009 at 08:29 AM

Quote:

Actually, Pompano, the Million Dollar Highway is a reference to the fact that the road engineers figured that there is over a Million Dollars of gold and silver ore in the roadbed of that highway. If gold gets over $2,000 an ounce, we may well see that section of road torn up and processed. At the time the road was built, it was economically unfeasible to extract.

[Edited on 10-28-2009 by Pescador]

Cyanide41 - 10-29-2009 at 06:59 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Howard
Cyanide41

Going North or South for waiting that long?

That was going south.

rpleger - 10-29-2009 at 09:30 AM

I crossed at Tecate last Monday, 11:30am, I was the only one there. Checked me out pretty good and charged me duty for a new TV and a printer...everything was good and those young men were polite and courteous.

I understand that with the new border people that Mexico has been receiving a lot more of the tax revenue that they have coming..

fishingmako - 10-30-2009 at 10:55 PM

rpleger, how much tax on a tv? and what size? since my thoughts are the same.

Thanks

Pompano - 10-31-2009 at 05:49 AM

We will be making the Tecate - Ensenada run today around noon. Then continueing on to Conception Bay south of Mulege. Motorhome and Dodge pickup following. If anyone needs to caravan you are welcome to join us..should be a fun trip as usual. Plan on 2 days travel time at a minimum. We stop to smell flowers and stick our toes in the sand.

PLUS...if anyone along the way or in Mulege needs an item they may have forgot..send me a message and I will try to bring it.

Got MY shopping all done.

Quote:

Originally posted by Pescador

Quote:

Hi Jim..The origin of the name Million Dollar Highway is disputed...tongue-in-cheek-wise. There are several legends of its origin from "it cost a million dollars a mile" to build in the 1920's.. to it contains "a million dollars" in gold ore in the fill dirt.... to a "million dollar view." Join 3 different type clubs and you will get 3 different answers.

Most RVers and tourists that have made this remarkably scenic trip think the view is what makes the name. Works for me, anyway. Save me some fish!

Quote:

Originally posted by rpleger
I crossed at Tecate last Monday, 11:30am, I was the only one there. Checked me out pretty good and charged me duty for a new TV and a printer...everything was good and those young men were polite and courteous.

I understand that with the new border people that Mexico has been receiving a lot more of the tax revenue that they have coming..

Hi Richard (On the Hill)..don't you just love the laid-back feeling of crossing at Tecate compared to the other choices? The last 4 times we have crossed there (all in the last 9 months) we sailed through with a wave and a smile.

I am also bringing a large flat screen tv across..legally paying duty,etc. Will report on those taxes in a later post.

We know, as you do, that the usual crossing at Tecate is much faster and far less traffic than the other choices heading south from California. We have crossed at Tecate 4 times in the last 9 months with no waiting, no inspections, and no hassles whatsoever. 2 times with a 28ft cargo trailer full of flood relief materials for Mulege.

One of my favorite reasons for choosing Tecate is the shopping presented by the Guadalupe Valley...Ruta de Vino.

Salud! See you at La Jungla.
.

[Edited on 10-31-2009 by Pompano]

mulegejim - 10-31-2009 at 09:19 AM

Pompano, I just traveled Mex-3 north bound to Tecate - no problems, however, there is a lot of road construction going on so be careful.

fishingmako - 10-31-2009 at 11:02 AM

Pompano, nice mega baits, and others, great trolling goodies I have most, could I borrow what I don't have?

fishingmako - 10-31-2009 at 11:05 AM

I also see your shopping is at LA CETTO, is there others?

monoloco - 11-3-2009 at 06:07 PM

We passed through Tecate heading south pulling a cargo trailer, got pulled into revision, played stupid(easy for me) and they charged me 40 dollars for a dresser and 4 new ATV tires. There were a lot of other things they could have dinged me for but they didn't dig too deep. The guys were very young and polite. I wish I would have gone through TJ though because the road to Ensenada is still torn up and the going was very slow.

DENNIS - 11-3-2009 at 07:01 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by monoloco
4 new ATV tires.

Yeah...they've always been really tough on tires, unmounted especially. I think it's because tires are made in Mexico and they're protecting an industry.

bajadock - 11-3-2009 at 10:51 PM

Several items creatively imported today at 18:00. 10 minute wait at SY/TJ heading south to home. No prob, other than thick fog in several spots that added 20 minutes for my drive down to Punta Banda. Fog layer ends at approx 400' a.s.l. tonight, so full moon and stars are darn perty from my perch.