Mika
Junior Nomad
Posts: 60
Registered: 1-8-2009
Member Is Offline
|
|
Bring Car to Mainland
Hi,
I am thinking of going to Santa Rosalia to Guaymas by ferry and taking my car, and trying to figure out if I still need a vehicle permit before I get
on the ferry. What is current official policy? I checked Santa Rosalia ferry website and it is not working well....
|
|
|
CasaManzana
Nomad
Posts: 398
Registered: 7-4-2004
Location: Was Mulege:Posada Beach/now Zihuatanejo
Member Is Offline
Mood: Naykid
|
|
Import permit
We go to the mainland every year from La Paz via ferry. The import permit is totally required to get on...period. Problem for you- the SR permit
office is now closed so you have to get your permit in TJ as you come down or in La Paz. And you better check cuz I heard the SR ferry was not
running now...uncomfirmed.
Things are expensive, but at least we get a free trip around the sun once a year
|
|
|
Kimpatsu_Hekigan
Junior Nomad
Posts: 57
Registered: 5-11-2005
Member Is Offline
|
|
The destination for the Santa Rosalia ferry, Guaymas, is within the Sonora "Hassle Free Vehicle Zone" where no vehicle Temporary
Importation Permit is required. So you may not need one.
You will need a vehicle permit if you plan to drive farther south on the mainland, but you can get the permit at the
checkpoint at Km 98 just south of Empalme on Hiway 15.
I would make more of an effort to check the ferry website, or talk with someone who has actually made the trip recently.
FWIW,
-- K.H.
|
|
|
wilderone
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3894
Registered: 2-9-2004
Member Is Offline
|
|
"but you can get the permit at the checkpoint at Km 98 just south of Empalme on Hiway 15."
I wouldn't risk being able to get a vehicle import permit at a checkpoint. In my experience, they are not set up to issue one, and will send you back
to the nearest border entry/exit. If you will be traveling on the mainland, get the vehicle permit at the TJ/Tecate border or La Paz ferry. Make
sure you have all necessary documents and 2 copies of each.
|
|
|
David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 65409
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
|
|
Cindi, things on the mainland are done a bit more professional or cilvilized than in the frontier land of Baja California... So, I have heard.
We need to get over to that side... It has been a long time since I was last over there!
|
|
|
bill erhardt
Super Nomad
Posts: 1376
Registered: 4-2-2005
Location: Loreto, BCS
Member Is Offline
|
|
| Quote: | Originally posted by Kimpatsu_Hekigan
I would make more of an effort to check the ferry website, or talk with someone who has actually made the trip recently.
-- K.H. |
I took the ferry Santa Rosalia - Guaymas in January, 2006. At that time a temporary import permit was required to take a vehicle across on the ferry.
I got a permit for my truck at an office near the ferry dock in Santa Rosalia.
Last year, in January, 2009, I towed my boat north from Loreto and stopped in Santa Rosalia to get a temp. permit for my boat (for future use). The
office was closed where I got the permit three years earlier. I was told that since the line of demarcation for required vehicle/boat permits on the
Mainland had been moved south of Guaymas it is no longer required that one have permits to cross on the ferry from Santa Rosalia. After the change on
the Mainland, the office that had previously sold the permits in Santa Rosalia was closed.
|
|
|
Pompano
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8194
Registered: 11-14-2004
Location: Bay of Conception and Up North
Member Is Offline
Mood: Optimistic
|
|
Same story as Bill. Last year in Feb, I took my pickup to hunt doves on a ranch near Guaymas. Ferry required no vehicle permit at that time. I can
check again in Santa Rosala in a few days and report what I find out.
So it looks like you will not have a problem...but remember...This is Baja. 
I do what the voices in my tackle box tell me.
|
|
|
stanburn
Nomad
Posts: 145
Registered: 10-4-2007
Location: Santiago, Colima, MX
Member Is Offline
|
|
Wilderone,
The 98 kilometer checkpoint is a permanent building set up at the end of the no permit zone to allow those heading farther south to obtain a TIP for
the vehicle.
It isn't a couple of guys with weapons looking at your vehicle.
|
|
|
wilderone
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3894
Registered: 2-9-2004
Member Is Offline
|
|
I'm certainly not referring to a couple guys with weapons. I'm talking about the computerized input of information, processing of credit card
deposits, paperwork shuffling, forms to be completed, copies made, etc. that is required when one gets an auto registration. And when you go further
and have those windshield stickers checked, there is no provision at a checkpoint to get a permit, and you have to go back and get one if it is
required. OK - fine - if there's an office at the end of the no permit zone and it's their function to issue permits, then yeah, good information.
Thank you. And a little different than a "checkpoint". And let's hope it's open when one needs the permit and they're going in that direction.
|
|
|
Mika
Junior Nomad
Posts: 60
Registered: 1-8-2009
Member Is Offline
|
|
I appreciate your comments/info very much!
I heard from somebody in mainland that the rule changed recently, so I was getting worried.
Pompano, I would love to know what you find out when you are in Santa Rosalia next time.
I think I am pretty used to how things operate in Baja and other parts of Mexico, but I still wish if these sort of official info is more easily
available. : )
|
|
|
Kimpatsu_Hekigan
Junior Nomad
Posts: 57
Registered: 5-11-2005
Member Is Offline
|
|
| Quote: | Originally posted by wilderone
I'm certainly not referring to a couple guys with weapons. I'm talking about the computerized input of information, processing of credit card
deposits, paperwork shuffling, forms to be completed, copies made, etc. that is required when one gets an auto registration. |
Apologies for any confusion. "Checkpoint" was an unfortunate choice of words.
The "facility" at Km 98 south of Empalme (a few minutes beyond Guaymas) is operated by Banjercito who administers the vehicle Temporary Importation
Permit (TIP) program on behalf of Aduana Mexico (Mexican Customs). They do indeed have all the services mentioned by wilderone above,
and will issue both "All-of-Mexico" and "Only Sonora" TIPs.
This location is popular with RV caravans, as it is woefully underutilized and hence, there is almost never a wait to get the vehicle permits unlike
the busy Km 21 "facility" south of Nogales where waits can stretch into hours.
Currently, all southbound foreign-plated vehicles are diverted off of Hwy 15 at the Sonora-Sinaloa border to check for the TIP sticker and/or papers.
HTH,
-- K.H.
[Edited on 1-16-2010 by Kimpatsu_Hekigan]
|
|
|
![[*]](images/xmbforum/default_icon.gif){kind=icon}
