One of our party has to catch a 4PM flight at San Diego airport on Saturday November 12. Our plan is to have her walk across the pedestrian bridge to
San Ysidro and catch a Uber to the airport. Looking for suggestions, how long will it take from Tijuana side to get to airport, where can we park on
Tijuana side, and anything else?Fernweh - 10-30-2016 at 08:29 AM
Not sure you can just walk up to the Bridge from the TJ side, might have to have a boarding pass from an arriving flight, in order to buy the $16.00
walk-across-ticket.
I used the Bridge yesterday From TJ (Volaris flight) for the first time, and it was well worth the $16.00 bucks. Very nice and clean, no lines at the
US side to cross the border. Udo - 10-30-2016 at 09:02 AM
Just park on the US side of the border in Otay Mesa. There is a pedestrian bridge that takes you directly to the outbound flights at the TJ airport.
It doesn't get anything easier than that!David K - 10-30-2016 at 09:30 AM
Udo, I think K7BVT is in Mexico heading NORTH with a friend heading to the San Diego airport and maybe just dropping off the friend who wants to catch
an Uber ride to the airport, and not driving across?Alm - 10-30-2016 at 10:53 AM
I think K7BVT is in Mexico heading NORTH with a friend heading to the San Diego airport
This was what they said indeed. Catching flight at San Diego airport.
Shouldn't be a problem dropping her off at the end of ped line, no need to park, just drop before it turns into a no-return lane to the border.
PS: Sorry, didn't notice the 2nd part of the question.
Impossible to tell the ped waiting time. Can be 3 hours, can be 20 minutes. Count on 2 hours. If you see any van offering to jump the line for $5,
take it. It won't really jump the line but will bring you to the end of ped Sentri line, it is shorter.
Once you've crossed, it takes 1-1.5 hours to get to SAN airport, depending on the traffic. Btw, there is a convenient transit from SY to SAN airport.
[Edited on 10-30-2016 by Alm]BajaBlanca - 10-30-2016 at 12:49 PM
one hour to get to the airport in san diego? nahhhhh more like 30 min.
obviously you should plan on being across at 10 am and then hanging out at the SD airport til noon (2 hours before the flight).
If you do have to park in TJ ( and I agree that a drop off would be better) - the only really safe one I know of is by the fire station that is close
to Calle Primera.
Best of luck - BlancaAlm - 10-30-2016 at 02:09 PM
30 minutes drive without traffic, >1 hour with. wilderone - 10-30-2016 at 02:11 PM
Saturday ped crossing will be busy. Try to get in line before 9 am. (If you wait until 10 am, it might take 3 hours). It's a tricky drive to the
closest place you can be dropped off to get in line. You might try a taxi for this. Plan on 2 hours to cross. An Uber ride to airport should take
about 25 minutes - it's 16 miles, but some stop-and-go around downtown. Will reduce stress if you start early. If you have plenty of time after
crossing, you can get on the trolley, then Airport bus to the airport - cost would be about $4.50 for both ($2.25 ea), and take you about 1.5 hrs.gsbotanico - 10-30-2016 at 04:08 PM
One of our party has to catch a 4PM flight at San Diego airport on Saturday November 12. Our plan is to have her walk across the pedestrian bridge to
San Ysidro and catch a Uber to the airport. Looking for suggestions, how long will it take from Tijuana side to get to airport, where can we park on
Tijuana side, and anything else?
Some misunderstanding of this post. If you are talking about the NEW pedestrian bridge at El Chaparral ( the new crossing), the wait shouldn't be
long, like it would be at the old San Ysidro crossing. Not sure about how long it would be to get Uber on the US side. Since it's Saturday, there
won't be commuter traffic. The run up I-5 to the airport exit should be quick. From drop off in Tijuana to drop off at the airport under best
conditions maybe an hour, but I would double or triple that to be safe.
Parking is problematic. Perhaps best to park some distance away and take a taxi if you want to accompany the person you are dropping off. Use a paid
lot in the downtown area. Here are directions to get to the bridge:
"If you’re coming from Tijuana’s Zona Centro (downtown), you have to take the bridge next to the Mercado de Artesnías, between Avenida Negrete and
Avenida internacional. That bridge connects with a ramp and a provisional bridge that will connect to PedWest to the north.
"You can also access the ramp and bridge through Plaza Viva Tijuana, located in the Colonia Federal neighborhood."
I wouldn't try to park nearby. A taxi driver will know the closest point for drop off, probably in the Zona Fiscal, a traffic nightmare. It will
still be a long walk, and at some point the person crossing will have to go it alone. There's no way for a pedestrian to cross back south except at
the old crossing.K7BVT - 10-30-2016 at 04:42 PM
We plan on staying in Ensenada Friday night and driving my daughter in law up to border. The taxi sounds like a good idea, will have my son ride in
the taxi with her to Tijuana end of pedestrian bridge while I wait somewhere in Tijuana for him. I am guessing 2 hours should be enough on toll road
to get from Ensenada to a place in Tijuana where we can find taxi? Thanks for all the suggestions.
old Chuck in Portland OR bajaguy - 10-30-2016 at 04:50 PM
Best bet is to park near and hang out at Caesar's Restaurant-Bar in TJ, Av. Revolución 1059, Zona Centro. Taxi's can find it and your son can return
there easily.
Have one of their salads and some lunch while there, it's a great show.
Two hours on the toll road should be fine, just figure in the traffic/time getting to the toll road from where you are staying in Ensenada, and
driving into and around TJ.
We plan on staying in Ensenada Friday night and driving my daughter in law up to border. The taxi sounds like a good idea, will have my son ride in
the taxi with her to Tijuana end of pedestrian bridge while I wait somewhere in Tijuana for him. I am guessing 2 hours should be enough on toll road
to get from Ensenada to a place in Tijuana where we can find taxi? Thanks for all the suggestions.
old Chuck in Portland OR
Alm - 10-30-2016 at 05:15 PM
Good point about taxi - they always know where to drop you off at the ped line. From there, walking North through the "old" crossing is not too bad,
it's all flat, no ramps or bridges to wear you out. Though may take well over an hour if there are many people.
Can't say about new Ped West, sounds like it's less convenient. I understand that the "old" ped crossing will be temporary closed at some time, so
they build "new" Ped West for this temporary purpose. gsbotanico - 11-1-2016 at 04:45 PM
We plan on staying in Ensenada Friday night and driving my daughter in law up to border. The taxi sounds like a good idea, will have my son ride in
the taxi with her to Tijuana end of pedestrian bridge while I wait somewhere in Tijuana for him. I am guessing 2 hours should be enough on toll road
to get from Ensenada to a place in Tijuana where we can find taxi? Thanks for all the suggestions.
old Chuck in Portland OR
The suggestion to hang out at Caesar's Hotel on Revolución is not a bad idea. If you take the toll road and continue along the border all the way to
downtown Tijuana you will end up on Ocampo. This runs parallel to Revolución. (All streets run one-way alternately and are signed at intersections.)
Turn right on 3rd Street and continue to Revolución, turn left. Caesar's is on the right between 4th and 5th. They have valet parking.
Another option is to turn left on Madero (one block before Revolución) and watch on the left for a paid parking lot between 5th and 6th. It costs
about 90 pesos, but you can stay for hours. No obligation to eat at Caesar's. You can walk the 1½ blocks to Caesar's if you need help in flagging a
taxi. Make sure the taxi driver knows which ped crossing you want: the new or old one.
K7BVT - 11-1-2016 at 09:55 PM
Thanks again for all the good suggestions. Think we will go Caesar's Hotel parking and taxi from there.
In the past we have stayed at Las Palmas (secure parking for bikes) in Ensenada but looks like we may not be able to get in Fri 11/11 - Sat 11/12 this
year. Any suggestions for place with secure parking convenient to restaurants for those days?
Old Chuck in Oregonkimberleygd - 11-2-2016 at 08:35 AM
I did this exact thing last Wednesday. I took the ABC bus from Ensenada then crossed the border. (same time, about 4:30) It took me about 1/2 hour to
get through the crossing (I stayed in San Ysidro as my flight was the next morning)From San Ysidro to the airport was almost an hour (32.00 Uber fare)
Coming back yesterday it was about 30 minutes with much less traffic.
Edit to say I went across on the new pedway.
[Edited on 11-2-2016 by kimberleygd]bajaguy - 11-2-2016 at 09:15 AM
Hotel hacienda on Second street might work for you, can walk to almost everywhere
Thanks again for all the good suggestions. Think we will go Caesar's Hotel parking and taxi from there.
In the past we have stayed at Las Palmas (secure parking for bikes) in Ensenada but looks like we may not be able to get in Fri 11/11 - Sat 11/12 this
year. Any suggestions for place with secure parking convenient to restaurants for those days?
Old Chuck in Oregon
[Edited on 11-2-2016 by bajaguy]joerover - 11-2-2016 at 07:44 PM
The new, non airport, Tijuana pedestrian crossing runs next to the Rio Tijuana. Along the East side of the rio Tijuana. It is accesed from the
pedesterian bridge leading to the old and very long linea. The TJ arch is within 2 blocks of the closest you can get with a car. Let them out at the
arch and have them walk East on the pedesterian streets.
Second choice.
Volaris schuttle from TJ airport to San Diego airport. Used to be $15, that was a long time ago.K7BVT - 12-11-2016 at 10:57 PM
Taking a cab to the entrance of the pedestrian crossing was a great idea, we would not found it on our own. Took daughter in law about hour to get
across. Couldn't get to Caesars, apparently a fire caused the police to close the entire block so waited in Burger King. Not sure what some poor
devil did, maybe walked out a café bill, but attracted a crowd where folks were taking turns wacking him. Bummer.
We left through Mexicali where our GPS steered us to two lines of cars where we mistakenly thought someone would let in line for border crossing.
Lots of horns and probably threats in Spanish before we got the idea that we had to go few more blocks to end of line.
Thanks for suggestions. Had a great trip, no injuries/health problems, no breakdowns, and the guys we pitted for a Borreago, 1X & 3X won.
