BajaNomad
Not logged in [Login - Register]

Go To Bottom
Printable Version  
Author: Subject: Tecate - FMT + Bank - good place to park?
mojo_norte
Senior Nomad
***




Posts: 725
Registered: 2-14-2006
Member Is Offline


[*] posted on 1-13-2011 at 05:33 PM
Tecate - FMT + Bank - good place to park?


Thinking about doing the tourist card thing at Tecate. As I understand it, there is no parking or bank at the immigration office (correct me if I'm wrong here).. So looking for suggestions on a good place to park within reasonable walking distance to immigration and bank. Not too interested in parking on the US side and walking across.
View user's profile
Spearo
Nomad
**




Posts: 153
Registered: 11-30-2010
Location: Moscow, Idaho and Pescadero, BCS
Member Is Offline


[*] posted on 1-13-2011 at 09:57 PM


There's a bank straight down the hill one block across the street. I have never parked in that area. We walk across and do the FMT thing in the afternoon, camp at the county park and hit the border at 0600. Don't stop until we see Cortez.
View user's profile
Pacifico
Super Nomad
****


Avatar


Posts: 1299
Registered: 5-26-2008
Member Is Offline


[*] posted on 1-13-2011 at 10:32 PM


There is a place to park....it is off of one of the side streets to the right after you cross into Mexico. It is the 1st street on the right, just past customs (if I remember correctly). You might have to go past it and go around the block because I think it is a one way street. When we parked there, there was a security guard who watched everything.

The only pain was having to walk down the big hill and back to the bank. San Ysidro still beats Tecate as easiest for the FMT and bank...

Good luck!
View user's profile
absinvestor
Senior Nomad
***




Posts: 725
Registered: 11-28-2009
Member Is Offline


[*] posted on 1-13-2011 at 10:58 PM


I know you said you are not interested in parking on the us side but you might want to reconsider. There is a parking lot less than a block from the immigration office. We parked there, (US side) walked the 1/2 block to immigration. Got the paperwork in about 5 minutes and then walked another 2 blks to the bank to pay. We found Tecate around the bank to have heavy traffic and trying to find a parking place not worth the hassle. Have a safe trip. Ron
View user's profile
roadhog
Nomad
**




Posts: 105
Registered: 10-29-2009
Member Is Offline


[*] posted on 1-14-2011 at 09:53 AM


Across street from American Customs, right side road before tthe border, is a 7-11 with parking lot on it's north side: $5.

The bank takes Pesos not US.

Visit Potrero Park, San Diego County Parks

Better try Parking at San Ysidro at $8. Walk over to the official customs station with your passport.
View user's profile
mulegemichael
Super Nomad
****




Posts: 2310
Registered: 12-24-2007
Location: sequim,wa. and mulege
Member Is Offline

Mood: up on step

[*] posted on 1-14-2011 at 10:03 AM


go straight ahead for two blocks, take a right and park in front of the school...almost always parking available right there.



dyslexia is never having to say you\'re yrros.
View user's profile
roadhog
Nomad
**




Posts: 105
Registered: 10-29-2009
Member Is Offline


[*] posted on 1-14-2011 at 10:13 AM


Procedures at Tecate and Tijuana are different. At Tecate I was asked to fill out a long form then the bank wouldn't take US.
At San Ysidro, Tijuana, Customs filled the forms out then the Customs Bank Teller took pesos and issued the Tourist Card.
However, the walking line back into the US is long, an hour ?
View user's profile
b1
Junior Nomad
*




Posts: 51
Registered: 12-27-2007
Location: On the Reality side of the Paradise/Reality border
Member Is Offline

Mood: Kicked it in neutral; hang'n cool.

[*] posted on 1-14-2011 at 09:08 PM


Roadhog and Spearo, please check your u2u's. thanks, b1



When the winds turn white in Idaho, it\'s my time to visit the banana trees of Baja.
View user's profile
Martillo
Newbie





Posts: 3
Registered: 12-3-2005
Member Is Offline


[*] posted on 1-15-2011 at 11:25 AM
tecate fmt bank


Fmt- You can get prepaid fmt from vagabundos del mar office. Then all you need to do is get it stamped. Parking - after customs take first right, then right again, right again and park along side the road and walk a 50 yards to Immigration office. There is a HSBC bank at the border across from immigration office. Opens at 9:00 A.M. across from the immigration office.
View user's profile
turtleandtoad
Senior Nomad
***


Avatar


Posts: 730
Registered: 1-20-2005
Location: Wherever I park. See sig for current location.
Member Is Offline

Mood: Good if fishing

[*] posted on 1-15-2011 at 11:49 AM


Of course, all this talk of taking this turn and that turn and parking assumes that you are driving a car and not an RV :o.

I haven't crossed at Tecate in a couple of years but when I last did, you didn't have to walk down to the square to find a bank. There was a little hut directly across the main drag from the Customs house that was a Banjercito for paying fees. You had to dodge the traffic coming into Mexico but that wasn't hard.

I used to walk down to the bank on the square anyway, just to use my ATM card to get some pesos. That way I knew the card would work in Mexico. I also took the opportunity to sit in the square, people-watch, and have lunch.




Mike & Robin; Full-Time RV\'ers
37\' Georgetown w/3 slides & 275 Watts of Solar Power
06 Taco TRD
www.turtleandtoad.com
I am here

To paraphrase Frank Lloyd Wright; I\'m all in favor of keeping dangerous weapons out of the hands of fools. Let\'s start with keyboards. -- Mike Dean
View user's profile Visit user's homepage
Pacifico
Super Nomad
****


Avatar


Posts: 1299
Registered: 5-26-2008
Member Is Offline


[*] posted on 1-15-2011 at 12:52 PM


Information only......last time we were there (a couple months ago)the bank across from customs was closed. We were there during normal business hours when we thought they would be open. Maybe it was a temporary thing....
View user's profile
toneart
Ultra Nomad
*****




Posts: 4901
Registered: 7-23-2006
Member Is Offline

Mood: Skeptical

[*] posted on 1-15-2011 at 01:11 PM


I usually tow a trailer and also use the Tecate crossing. While I don't need to get an FMM (I have an FM3) I do stop to convert currency before I cross into Mexico. There is parking usually available, either on the street near that currency conversion shack. You will see the shack about a block before the actual border, on the left.

If you don't see parking on the street at that point, turn left and go around the shack and up that road. A half a block up you make a left hand turn into a mini-mall. There you will see a store that also has a currency conversion window inside. There are also some gas pumps. I park illegally there because I can't fit into a regular space with the trailer. Nobody has ever protested or given me a ticket. You will see curbs with room to park. I am usually traveling alone, but if you have someone who can sit in your vehicle, all the better.

I have also gone across and then found parking in the neighborhood near the border crossing that others have referred to. During those times I was caravaning with others and they had to get their FMMs.




View user's profile

  Go To Top

 






All Content Copyright 1997- Q87 International; All Rights Reserved.
Powered by XMB; XMB Forum Software © 2001-2014 The XMB Group






"If it were lush and rich, one could understand the pull, but it is fierce and hostile and sullen. The stone mountains pile up to the sky and there is little fresh water. But we know we must go back if we live, and we don't know why." - Steinbeck, Log from the Sea of Cortez

 

"People don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care." - Theodore Roosevelt

 

"You can easily judge the character of others by how they treat those who they think can do nothing for them or to them." - Malcolm Forbes

 

"Let others lead small lives, but not you. Let others argue over small things, but not you. Let others cry over small hurts, but not you. Let others leave their future in someone else's hands, but not you." - Jim Rohn

 

"The best way to get the right answer on the internet is not to ask a question; it's to post the wrong answer." - Cunningham's Law







Thank you to Baja Bound Mexico Insurance Services for your long-term support of the BajaNomad.com Forums site.







Emergency Baja Contacts Include:

Desert Hawks; El Rosario-based ambulance transport; Emergency #: (616) 103-0262