Driving Down The Baja – August 4, 2017

This article/info is supplied by Greg Jackson who I have known for over 50 years. I made my first drive down the Baja with Greg & Phil Smith in October of 1985.

Hi Mike,

It’s easy to get the visa at the San Ysidro border crossing at Tijuana.  After crossing the into Mexico, you drive about 500 meters along the border fence before reaching the immigration/customs area.  They need to stay to the far right and enter the separate parking area adjacent to the government building and then walk through the lobby exiting the building and turning immediately to the left to find the immigration office.  Usually there are some tables outside the office with the forms they will need to fill out.  Then you go into the office where the officer will give them paperwork to take back into the lobby area where there are two bank cashier windows, one on the left and one on the right.  Sometimes only one of the two is open.  You pay about $25 USD per visa and the teller marks the paperwork paid which is then returned to the immigration officer who will then endorse the visas and stamp the passports.  Upon exiting the parking area, they can merge into lanes that take them through the customs area.

Upon exiting customs, stay to the right and follow the signs to the toll road.  Some of the signage might also say Playas de Tijuana or Rosarito Beach.  There will be 3 tolls of 33 pesos or $1.90 USD collected on the way to Ensenada.  A nice alternative is to take the “Ruta de Vino” through the Baja wine country with lots of good dining and boutique hotels.

Driving the highway is a great adventure and I am sure your people will enjoy it.  Here are a couple of tips just in case they are first time Baja drivers:

  1. Buy car insurance.  Baja Bound is an excellent source  and the policy can be purchased online and printed out.
  2. Don’t drive at night.  I like to keep it to about 6-8 hours a day of actual driving.  An excellent place to stay for the first night is at the Baja Cactus hotel in El Rosario.  The place is very well run with nice rooms and good king size beds.  A few steps away is historic Mama Espinosas restaurant for dinner.  It’s important to fill up in El Rosario at the station next to the hotel since the next station is about 4 hours  down the road.
  3. The new edition of the Moon publishing Baja is an excellent resource for the trip.  It was written by Jennifer Kramer who has a wealth of experience traveling the peninsula.

Thanks for all your help with our last trip down.  I will get the tuna shipment out to your dad taken care of in the next couple of days.

Greg

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