BajaNomad - Tecate border crossing going north

Tecate border crossing going north

elfbrewery - 2-27-2022 at 12:55 PM

I have tried to find the weekday border wait crossing times for Tecate, but see only "average" and "today." Knowing Tecate is not a major crossing, does it matter what time of day or day of the week one tries to cross going north? I normally plan border crossings for Tuesday-Thursday, but this trip will have me crossing either Friday or Saturday.
Thanks for your advice!

David K - 2-27-2022 at 02:51 PM

Friday at 4 pm was no line for me, as well. The Tue-Thu plan is wise, however.

elfbrewery - 2-27-2022 at 03:58 PM

Thanks for the confirmation. Much appreciated.

Lee - 2-27-2022 at 07:37 PM

Any numbers you see will be guidelines. I've researched and studied the numbers for years and there is no pattern. When there should be no lines, there are lines.

Friday 4pm would absolutely not work for me. Neither would early weekdays.

After discovering Mexicali East, I'll never cross Tecate N. again. (East Sunday early = no lines at all.)

Skipjack Joe - 2-27-2022 at 08:03 PM

There is no place in Baja that you're more likely to get falsely cited for a traffic violation than near the border crossing at Tecate going north. There are real crooks over there. Beware.

mtgoat666 - 2-27-2022 at 08:30 PM

Quote: Originally posted by David K

Friday at 4 pm was no line for me, as well. The Tue-Thu plan is wise, however.

Dk, what year was that? Things have changed with covid,… CBP staffing was slashed everywhere during covid, and staffing has been poorly restored,… and peoples patterns of xing border are changing rapidly with the change in vax rules, change in travelers, change in commuters — lots of things in flux, nothing is constant.
The border lines are only going to get worse with rapid return of tourism this year…

TMW - 2-28-2022 at 09:50 AM

Before the pandemic I always tried to cross at Tecate around 9-10am on Sunday. Usually it was a 15-20 minute wait. Now with the Pandemic who knows. It seems to be all over the place.

David K - 2-28-2022 at 10:12 AM

Quote: Originally posted by mtgoat666

Quote: Originally posted by David K

Friday at 4 pm was no line for me, as well. The Tue-Thu plan is wise, however.

The best times before Covid are still the best times after, perhaps just longer than before.
My last time driving my truck north through Tecate was August 2018. In 2019, I was a passenger with TV show crews, twice. Otay in Feb. and Mexicali East in May.

ehall - 2-28-2022 at 10:52 AM

2 hours friday around 2:30 at Mexicali west. going north.

Bob and Susan - 2-28-2022 at 12:40 PM

last time at tecate///90 minutes at 11am

tecate is not the best place to cross