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funkynassau
Junior Nomad
Posts: 46
Registered: 5-7-2011
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Why so long to cross border?
I'm Canadian, going to Ensenada in Nov. for two wks., going to San Diego from Buffalo and doing the bus/trolley to get to the border. I am wondering
why the delay to cross back into the US is so long. I just read one person waited 3.5 hours. Is it that the line up is long or are the customs
people just really slow?
Is there a time of day when it's possibly quicker to cross back into the US?
Thanks
Funkynassau
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Marc
Ultra Nomad
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Location: San Francisco & Palm Springs
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Mood: Waiting
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Funky the 3.5 hour was at the TJ-SY border in a car. That's longer than I have ever had to wait there.. I have never crossed on foot but I think that
wait would be minutes not hours.
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funkynassau
Junior Nomad
Posts: 46
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Thanks that's good to know. I assumed it was for on foot or in a car that the wait was long for both.
Funkynassau
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tripledigitken
Ultra Nomad
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Marc
Funky the 3.5 hour was at the TJ-SY border in a car. That's longer than I have ever had to wait there.. I have never crossed on foot but I think that
wait would be minutes not hours. |
Marc,
We cross on foot occasionally and it varies like the auto traffic crossing. Last time crossing on a Thursday around 1pm it was over 1 hour.
Ken
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mcfez
Elite Nomad
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Location: aka BN yankeeirishman
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http://apps.cbp.gov/bwt/
Each border location updates its estimated wait times hourly.
Check out the Border Wait Times site so you can plan your trip around the crowds and have a few more hours to lay on the beach
Old people are like the old cars, made of some tough stuff. May show a little rust, but good as gold on the inside.
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shari
Select Nomad
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Mood: there is no reality except the one contained within us "Herman Hesse"
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my favorite way to cross the border at TJ is on the greyhound bus...it zooms past all the traffic, car and foot passengers and has it's own lane and
is very quick and easy.
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SFandH
Elite Nomad
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If you're walking back to the US from Tijuana, cross in the early evening, around 6 PM. Don't get anxious if you find a long line, they move
pedestrians through pretty fast if you have the proper WHTI (Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative) documents, like a passport. The line for non-WHTI
documents can be very slow.
I walk across to buy medicines and take a book with me to read if I hit a long line coming back. If you're a charitable person, have some peso coins
with you to give to the legless, blind, and old women beggars. They really need the help.
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DENNIS
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Stay away from the SY crossing on Sundays and Monday mornings. There is no rhyme or reason for what they do. They like to be spontaneous and
unpredictable.
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lizard lips
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For those of you that have Sentri and are walking back to the U.S. you don't have to wait in the long line. Just walk right up to the front and stay
to your left where you will see the sign for "Sentri Only" pedestrians.
I had to catch a flight in San Diego and took the bus up a few weeks ago and the walking line was very long. As I was walking past people no one said
a thing as I passed them until I got to the front where a woman blocked my way and told me to get to the back of the line. I rolled the wheels of my
suitcase over her exposed toes and went on my way. The TJ cops also asked me why I was moving to the front and all I said was Sentri and they let me
pass.
Probably saved 2 hours from standing in the sun....
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Bajajorge
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Increased security has caused longer wait times. You can blame Al Queda and the Cartels, not the Customs guys.
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Mulegena
Super Nomad
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crossing by bus
As Shari said, the sweetest way to cross north is by bus.
You breeze past everybody standing in the long lines.
However, I don't think the buses stop in San Diego, but bypass to Orange County.
Anybody know for certain on this point?
"Raise your words, not your voice. It's rain that grows flowers, not thunder." ~Rumi
"It's the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." ~ Aristotle
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DENNIS
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| Quote: | Originally posted by lizard lips
I rolled the wheels of my suitcase over her exposed toes and went on my way. |
Sweeet.......
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Woooosh
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| Quote: | Originally posted by DENNIS
| Quote: | Originally posted by lizard lips
I rolled the wheels of my suitcase over her exposed toes and went on my way. |
Sweeet....... |
LOL. I hope she was just kidding though. kinda.
\"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing\"
1961- JFK to Canadian parliament (Edmund Burke)
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BajaBlanca
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you can catch a bus that leaves you right on the san diego border (shorter line across than regular line) I have done this too. sweeet is right !
or a bus can take you to the grayhound station downtown san diego. I have doen this and it is closer for my family to pick me up. sweeeet.
or to many other US locations. Probably listed on grayhound website.
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DENNIS
Platinum Nomad
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| Quote: | | Quote: | Originally posted by Woooosh
Sweeet....... |
LOL. I hope she was just kidding though. kinda. |
I think you mean he.
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Pescador
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There used to be a bus that started at the parking lot on San Ysidro side and it was only $6 to do the round trip, but they are not in business as of
last week. So Shari, what bus do you use and where does it stop?
Another side, I talked to a couple of guys looking for handouts in the line (before the gate for pedestrians) and he says they only let a certain
number of people in to solicit every day and you have to be there early to get a spot. And if you get in one day, you probably will not be approved
for the next day, so they must have some kind of system in place to keep the numbers of beggars at a manageable level. We did see a lady with
Elphantitis and the largest swollen up foot I have ever seen, and the next day she was in another part of Tijuana by the Plaza Rio.
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JoeJustJoe
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I often park on the US side and walk in., and then take a cab wherever I'm going.
The average wait crossing back into the US is less when you "walk in" compared with crossing with your car. I would say the average wait for a car
is between one-hour and one and a half hours, and only those special days when something is going on or the border patrol as a bug in their rear end
and takes forever asking questions of people trying to cross the border.
I find the average wait when walking during the day is between 20 minutes and 45 minutes. During the late night after 11PM to the morning hours. There
is almost no wait. The lines are between 5 to 10minutes and some days there is no wait at all! ( except on weekends when the bars close it gets busy
during the night)
For those of you that think the border regions are ghost towns because of the cartel violence. Sorry, the border areas are always teeming with
people, espeically around the US/Mexican border where thousands of people cross back and forth daily.
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Udo
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We normally cross into TJ at the Otay Mesa crossing. However, during the Tequila Expo in October, we normally cross and return on the MEXICOACH. Same
$6.00 US as pescador mentioned. Busses run about every 1/2 hour. Very fast entry back into the US because they have a dedicated bus lane at the CBP.
Udo
Youth is wasted on the young!
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Pescador
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Udo
We normally cross into TJ at the Otay Mesa crossing. However, during the Tequila Expo in October, we normally cross and return on the MEXICOACH. Same
$6.00 US as pescador mentioned. Busses run about every 1/2 hour. Very fast entry back into the US because they have a dedicated bus lane at the CBP.
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Okay, but is Mexicoach running at San Ysidro? Also, does anyone know if the Light Rail runs all the way to the San Diego Airport?
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David K
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No... but there must be busses between the two... they are not that far apart, either.
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