BajaNomad

CROSSING NORTH AT TIJUANA

BAJA.DESERT.RAT - 8-19-2012 at 11:24 AM

Hola,

bajabound has a great tutorial on crossing at tijuana and going south.

as i am very navigationally impaired, i always get lost going to the northbound crossing at tijuana coming from the toll road.

would there be a similar tutorial somewhere ?

i will be crossing friday around 6 p.m. or so leaving san quintin about noon.

would it be better for me to cross at tecate. i do not have sentri or any other fast track.

i thank you in advance,

BIEN SALUD, DA RAT

woody with a view - 8-19-2012 at 11:35 AM

it would be better to cross at TKT. follow the signs north of ensenada for "ruta vinicola" and keep on going until you come into town. there is a pedestrian bridge with a bunch of signs on it. keep going until you see mcdonalds. turn right and follow the signs.

tj

follow the signs or get in the longest line of cars you see!

[Edited on 8-19-2012 by woody with a view]

Bob and Susan - 8-19-2012 at 12:41 PM

what day are you crossing?
oh...friday...i won't be traveling that day...you can use tecate;);)

DavidE - 8-19-2012 at 01:05 PM

Three solid miles of horn honking, fender scraping, cripples scuttling under your bumper on a skateboard, may await you on a summer Friday after around 10AM.

This would be like the 405, or I-10 at the same time, with a SIGALERT.

I would have a nice dinner in Tecate, and cross at 7 or 8PM

BAJA.DESERT.RAT - 8-19-2012 at 01:53 PM

o.k.fellow nomads,

i got the message. tecate it shall be. i think i'll just take my time getting to the border leaving san quintin around 9a.m. or so and hopefully arrive in tecate around 4 p.m. or so.

although tecate is starting to look like t.j. with all the hawkers.

after crossing, i can drive relaxed as i do know my way around from there.

my thoughts were that on friday, people would be headed south, not north. i didn't think about summer vacation although my grandkids are back in school in riverside and escondido and l.a.

i thank you all again,

BIEN SALUD, DA RAT

woody with a view - 8-19-2012 at 04:56 PM

consider that people get off work in the afternoon and this makes the lines longer. i'd try to get there ASAP and cross around 1pm THEN take a nice, relaxing drive....

BAJA.DESERT.RAT - 8-19-2012 at 07:25 PM

woody,

i thank you for your input but i really do not want to get up so early and leave san quintin, possibly around 7 a.m. after fishing for two full days to get to the crossing by 1 or so.

i will keep this in mind but this go around, looks like i'll be crossing at tecate and perhaps at that time as well, tecate will be a bit busy ?

BIEN SALUD, DA RAT

redhilltown - 8-19-2012 at 11:23 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by BAJA.DESERT.RAT
o.k.fellow nomads,

i got the message. tecate it shall be. i think i'll just take my time getting to the border leaving san quintin around 9a.m. or so and hopefully arrive in tecate around 4 p.m. or so.

although tecate is starting to look like t.j. with all the hawkers.

after crossing, i can drive relaxed as i do know my way around from there.

my thoughts were that on friday, people would be headed south, not north. i didn't think about summer vacation although my grandkids are back in school in riverside and escondido and l.a.

i thank you all again,

BIEN SALUD, DA RAT



Seven hours from San Quintin would mean your vehicle is so loaded down with Ling Cod, Rockfish, and Yellowtail that you can barely go 40 mph! You should get to Tecate before 4 pm but using "logic" in regards to Mexico and crossing times is always tricky.......will you give us a trip/fishing report upon returning?

BAJA.DESERT.RAT - 8-19-2012 at 11:34 PM

AND YELLOWFIN AND BLUEFIN AND...i better shut my mouth so i don't jinx my trip !!!

o.k. i'll give a report. pics ? don't know how yet.

BIEN SALUD, DA RAT

gallesram - 8-20-2012 at 04:28 PM

I'm still waiting for my Sentri approval on my new truck, so I found myself crossing on Sunday at 4:00 pm in the regular lanes; took just under 3 hours. The CBP website estimated the crossing to be 2 hours & 50 minutes; pretty impressed that they could estimate it that well. Tecate was estimated at 2 1/2 hours at that time, as was Otay Mesa. I have been told that weekdays are a breeze in Tecate, so you should be OK.

It can be tough to get into line from the toll road because the TJ police are always closing the access roads with the yellow rope they use. That's what happened to me, so I went over to the Rio Zone, then crossed over the river & doubled back to get on the road that parallels the river. Sentri saves me because I'm usually crossing on a Sunday afternoon with the rest of the world, and I have yet to wait more than 15 minutes.

People I know in Mulege swear by Tecate, but the caveat is that it won't help if you're there in prime time (weekends). M-F should be OK.

bajaguy - 8-20-2012 at 04:56 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by gallesram
I'm still waiting for my Sentri approval on my new truck, so I found myself crossing on Sunday at 4:00 pm in the regular lanes; took just under 3 hours......





If you have the SENTRI card and not the vehicle sticker, you can use the Ready Lane.

BAJA.DESERT.RAT - 8-20-2012 at 07:06 PM

Hola redhilltown,

just got off the phone with my skipper in san quintin..

65 POUND WHITE SEABASS AND BIG YELLOWS 40 # + !!!!

ALSO...HALIBUT CALICO BASS !!!!

as i'm fishing on 22 & 23, i'll give you a report.

wish me luck

i'm really excited !

BIEN SALUD, DA RAT

redhilltown - 8-20-2012 at 11:25 PM

Go Rat Go!!!!!!!!!!

Any chance you are going out with Juan? Captain Kelly? I have been reading the Bloody Decks reports and it seems the area is hot hot hot! Please report back in and hopefully you'll have difficulty typing because of your aching arms and back!!!!!!!!

nbacc - 8-21-2012 at 08:03 AM

Ahhhhhhhh I would never go back across the border on a Sun afternoon. I know some of you have to (work, school and so on) but the thought of it makes me ahhhhhhh unless you have Sentri

Martyman - 8-21-2012 at 08:24 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by DavidE
Three solid miles of horn honking, fender scraping, cripples scuttling under your bumper on a skateboard, may await you on a summer Friday after around 10AM.

This would be like the 405, or I-10 at the same time, with a SIGALERT.

I would have a nice dinner in Tecate, and cross at 7 or 8PM


Nothing a churro wouldn't overcome. I love the TJ lineup. I did Tecate once and that was enough.

DavidE - 8-21-2012 at 09:17 AM

Yeah, a churro laced with valium :(

gallesram - 8-21-2012 at 03:44 PM

Bajaguy, I learned that I could use the Ready lanes with my Sentri card but it was quite by accident; it wasn't until I was approaching the booth that I realized that I was in the Ready lanes; oh s*%t! Not much to do but beg forgiveness; when I saw the readers I thought "I'll try my Sentri card and see what happens"; it read the card and the CBP agent didn't say a word about it. The thought of being sent back into Mexico to go over to the other lanes (which I don't even know how to get into, given that everything was blocked off by yellow ropes) for another 3 hours practically sent me into a panic.

I just got the approval for my truck today (almost 3 months later); I was able to schedule an appointment for this Friday afternoon. I guess they're making people wait months to get approved and then allowing immediate appointments (versus the other way around).

zforbes - 8-21-2012 at 03:56 PM

Don't know why, don't know how...but I crossed north at TJ at 12:30 pm today (Tues) in just under 30 minutes.

BAJA.DESERT.RAT - 8-21-2012 at 03:59 PM

hola redhilltown,

fishing with K & M. met him at the dock just now and his son is is driving and his other son is invited and will probably also be going.

should be fun.

BIEN SALUD, DA RAT

bigmike58 - 8-21-2012 at 04:15 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Martyman
Quote:
Originally posted by DavidE
Three solid miles of horn honking, fender scraping, cripples scuttling under your bumper on a skateboard, may await you on a summer Friday after around 10AM.

This would be like the 405, or I-10 at the same time, with a SIGALERT.

I would have a nice dinner in Tecate, and cross at 7 or 8PM


Nothing a churro wouldn't overcome. I love the TJ lineup. I did Tecate once and that was enough.


I gotta agree, Tecate sucks. Last night we crossed at TJ with the boat. Got sent to secondary of course but was 55 min total time. Tecate was 2.5 hrs with tons of motorcycles cutting in line.

liknbaja127 - 8-21-2012 at 05:52 PM

crossed at Oty at 10:30 today under 25 min!! Using Ready pass.

BornFisher - 8-21-2012 at 06:41 PM

School started. Reduced times after mid-morning!