Border Tecate, Mexico. How to cross there?

[strsout]

Have you ever cross from USA to Tecate, Mexico?
Do you remember where are the Banjercito and where did you got the Turist Permit (is this the name?) to be there inland Mexico?
I will be arriving at that border after dark, and would be nice to know where are the places and what expect.
I will have copies of:
My Brazilian Passaport
My US Green Card
My bike resgistration
My bike pink sleep
my US insurance
My Mexican insurance
Any other docs I have to have copies?

Thank you

[Sjoerd Bakker]

You worry too much,strsout, Tecate is a dream crossing , so easy. To wit, going in from the USA you pass the US customs guys unmolested and once you cross that imaginary line into Mexico the Mexican official will just glance at you but if you insist you can stop and as him to direct you.. Immediately to your right will be the small building for the aduana and Migracion .Park your bike at the side ,go in show passport and get the Banjercito counter , which last time I looked was across the street, the folks will gladly point it out to you. You do not need to do it in the evening when you arrive .If you wish you can spend the night at the hotel in Tecate - you are already a legal tourist in Mexico- and wait until in the morning when the sun i s up. You are always in Tecate town, no way to get lost .
Your documents are in order, have copies of ownership, drivers license, passport , if not they have copier available. Also have a valid big-name credit card in your name for Banjercito import fee.
Now go out there, relax and enjoy yourself

[Kkrusty]

Hey Sjoerd
Just reading this thread on Tecate and I see you are also from Ontario so you must have some experience traveling in the south west U.S.
My wife and I are planning on trucking down to Arizona in March of '08 and then offload our bike for a couple of months touring the south west and Mexico..............we were planning on spending a bit of time in Baja..................from what I've read it is actually safer there than in the U.S...................any advise on saftey issues and how far should we venture once we arrive?...............don't think we would do the whole peninsula but possible halfway down............any solid advise on what to expect?
Thanks a lot
Krusty

[Sjoerd Bakker]

A P.S . to strsout on my previous post : it has been over a year since my last crossing at Tecate as this past winter's entry was made through Tijuana. In the interval they may have rearranged the furniture slightly, so to speak but this should be no problem. One can not micro-plan a trip for such triffling detail, this is what I mean by winging it, be ready for a few surprises and take them in stride as you encounter them , they will not spoil a vacation.
Kkrusty, if you are starting a couple of months of winter touring in Arizona this WINTER, you have a chance , dare I say an obligation , to travel the full length of the Baja California peninsula. Running around in circles in southern AZ and So-cal will be about your only other option , considering the cold and snow in the high country of AZ. The choice of paved roads in Baja is rather slim so you will have little problem to get down to Los Cabos in four easy days on Mex . Then either take the same road back or hop the ferrry from Pichilingue( La Paz' port) to Topolobampo and take Mex 15 up the west coast all the way back to Nogales AZ This will leave you on the coastal plain in a region of warm to mild to cool weather and a chance to visit the touristy areas of Guaymas , Kino Bay and even Puerto Penasco . P.P. is actually a weekend destination for much of Phoenix and does not require a temp import permit.
Going half way down Baja you have no choice but to retrace your pavement route as far as Ensenada .For a shorter loop you could go from San Luis border crossing south of Yuma to Mexicali and then San Felipe then west to Ensenada and back to Tecate or Tijuana and the USA.
Security is never a concern if you keep common sense things in mind like anywhere else.Don't make yourself an obvious mark for pickpockets in crowds and cities , stay out of naughty neighbourhoods, keep your nose clean and do NOT ride at night on the open highway- cattle possible anywhere ,all open range, and not a good time if you have mechanical problems.Besides you can't see all the scenery if it is dark.
What to expect ? Varied weather conditions but nothing to keep you locked inside.Snow possible in the high mountain spine in north BCN, so avoid that if a storm is coming from the northwest. In BCS it will be all nice weather , cool nights possible even in Cabo San Lucas.

[strsout]

Besides the option to exchange US for Pesos on the ATM machine, can I buy pesos at the border easily?
I know that at Tijuana border there are hundreds of 'kiosques' that sell pesos, but wonder if I would find then at Tecate.
Thank you

[mollydog]

I may be wrong but I don't believe Mexican Insurance is nice but NOT required and you won't be asked for it.

[Sjoerd Bakker]

As I noted in an earlier post to strsout the TECATE crossing is open from 6 am to midnight and is very easy as explained also.
As a further clarification to strsout you do not "exchange" dollars for pesos at an ATM. You just slide in the bank card from your USA home bank ,punch in your PIN, select the language you want ( unless the screen shows bilingual) and follow the instructions - withdrawal ,from chequeing account, agree to the special $2 - $5 service fee, type in the number of pesos you want and answer YES when asked if you want a printed record of the transaction. Always get the printed record of transaction and with pen write on the back the info of date, amount, place , bank which appear on the front. These record slips are printed with crummy technology which causes the printing to fade rapidly- disappearing ink. With these records you can verify your home bank statement and raise a complaint if discrepancies occur.This is all same as you do in any ATM, in USA, Brazil, Europe.... The money is debited straight from your home bank account.
Tecate has many such ATMs to choose from,so will any town in Mexico and lots of convenience stores have them too. With dollareso ratio being about 10:1 you can take out 5000 pesos and have a stash to last you a while. If there is a lower limit go with that .Then figure out how much money you use daily and calibrate your next ATM extraction so you will just about use up all the pesos before return to the USA.
At the end of your trip if you have pesos left over you can either keep them till a next trip , use them up on a tank of gas or exchange them for US$ at one of the small casa de cambio you see ,either on Mex or USA side.Keeping large peso amounts is not recommended in case the exchange rate takes a dive for the worse.
The casas de cambio are okay to use too but are sometimes hard to find and not open 24/7 .Their rate of exchange is not much different from one to the other , they figure in their comission, and it has a convenience factor . Banks actually charge more and on the US side many won't even touch pesos.
The copies of your documents can be in b&w , not an issue , and they do want you to show your ORIGINALS .
IMPORTANT :Pat is right , the Mexicans do not care about your US"green card" but you will want to have that and your Brazilian passport in order to get back into the USA. Repeat - to get back into the USA!
strsout , Yesterday I did a quick scan of my earlier posts and I see that as long ago March'07 you were already making plans for this trip and you had some unrealistically rapid transit expectations through Baja and to the Copper Canyon country . I hope that by now you have realized that it will take time , as I have already outlined elsewhere. Please for your own health and happiness, slow down . Take a deep breath and restrain your nervousness and the apparent tendency to micro-plan the entire trip . The more items you have in your daily planner the more you will be frustrated as things do not go exactly as plotted out. And not much is likely to go precisely as planned. The only two things you can work with for sure are your start date and the time when you must be back in the USA, either by choice or job restrictions. Give yourself the maximum time available. Like a job , any trip can be expanded to fill the time alotted for its completion.

[strsout]

With the info that I may over estimating the miles I will accomplish every day in Mexico, I decide to change the route.
We willl still crossing on Tecate and still sleeping there we will get Mex 2, towards Mexicali ( and the reason I'm not crossing there is that I already have my Import Permit, and on that paper is stated that I will cross Tecate... nor sure if I could change that to Mexicali, any how, Tecate will do).
Then from there Sonoyta and try to sleep in Santa Ana.
It will be 415 miles that I should be able to to in about 9 to 10 hours.

Next day going to Baseasechic area and then next day Creel.

That way , if we have time, we will do the way back by Los Mochis--La Paz, if we don't, just be back the same way.

Thank you for the info

I'm probably too used with US roads and maybe I'm not evaluating Mexican roads on the right way. For me 700 miles day is a good day riding, but maybe it's not that so easy in Mexico.

[mollydog]

I don't think you can make Tecate to Santa Ana in a day. Days are shorter now.

[Sjoerd Bakker]

Glad you ar e getting realistic strsout, in Mexico 700 mile days are a practical impossibility It has been done by some but it entails a lot of reckless speeding and not seeing anything of the country. Attempts at 700 km days are even to be shunned . Be happy if you make up to 400km.
That you have the import permit done is good, save you time at the border,this means you also already have the tourist cards for you and the missus.Good now for entry at ANY port you choose for the next 180 days.
Mex 16 from Hermosillo is not difficult to find. Either get on the circonvalente as you come in from the north just a few blocks past the Pima Inn Motel( by pass around east side of city) and miss all city traffic ,or carry on through downtown on Mex 15 and you will get to Mex 16 east about 1 km south after passing the small rocky mountain with all the radio towers to your left.(Nice view from the top if you take the time)
Carrying on with Pat's suggestion , if you are really,really scared you will run short of time you could carry on in the USA on Interstates 8 and 10 to Tucson then I 19 down to Nogales (Kind of negates the purpose of a Mexico trip though). Then it will be a fast ride down Mex 15 toll road to Hermosillo. You CAN dodge the first toll plaza by going through town center of Magdalena de Kino, There is another toll plaza near Hermosillo but dodging that , though possible turning east to Pesqueria then south on road alongside railroad, will take more time.
Either way If you do wind up starting on the evening Tecate ,Mexico is still a reasonable choice for a motel or you will have to push on to Ocotillo CA or El Centro. Do not drive into Mexicali at night, you will get yourself lost . Along the way in Mexico you will be able to pick out m/hotels in lots of towns, don't worry about them, just get off the road before sunsetFor example on Mex 2 there are hotels available in San Luis,SON, then nothing until Sonoyta, Caborca ,Santa Ana , Magdalena and then down to Hermosillo.East on Mex 16 they get sparse so don't force yourself to ride into such blanks, Time your day so you will be near a hotel town by evening-Tecoripa,Yecora,Maycoba,Basaseachic, San Juanito Creel.
This all goes to make the case that whentaking a trip to Mexico give youself the maximum amount of time and don't be greedy to see everything- save it for a next trip---- soon.

[strsout]

Originally Posted by mollydog

PS...what kind of bike are you riding? 700 mile days? Ummmmhuh! yea, right.

Patrick

Great info Mollydog as well the tips from Sjoerd on Hwy 16

I'm just starting my ridding days with this 1150GS that I bought year ago. My last 7 years of ridding were in a K1200LT (one 1999 and the current 2002) and I logged more then 100K miles on that, Alaska included, and when we are just going from home to our destination, we do average 700 miles/day. (I can do couple 900 miles day in a row if needed).
But with the GS it is a little less, but we have done 500 miles w/o problems. Again, here in US.
Actually, you can see some trips at:
Viagens nos EUA - O mais completo site em Portugues sobre viagens nos EUA.
Now, this one will be our first adventure outside home and we are kind of learning how it will work with the GS and for us.

Now, on the turist card, I didn't get any paper that could resenble a turist card with my Motorcycle Temporary Import paper... not sure on that and will have to ask at the border any way.

[Sjoerd Bakker]

Evidently you did your temp.import online so you do not yet have the tourist cards. Not a problem, it is just a small paper form to fill out, go to any Mexican border crossing and stop at the MIGRACION office, they will have you fixed up quickly and you can pay at the border or sometimes they may still ask that you pay it at a bank. If to a bank do it as soon as possible and get the form stamped there.
As you seem to be going on a breakneck tour of only ten days I suggest that when you go home you do NOT CANCEL your documents when leaving Mexico. They are valid for 180 days and when you get back to San Diego you will be documented and ready for more exploratory jaunts into Mexico for months to come. Then , when expiry date looms you can go to TJ or Tecate and cancel them . that is legal procedure.

[flashy_bmw]

My wife and I are about 3,500 miles from completing a RTW from NE China to Cabo San Lucas (44,000+ miles, 30 countries, four continents, 14+ months and three bikes so far).

Right now we are recouperating from the rigors of a long trip at our son's home in SoCal. We will leave for Cabo on the Sat after Thanksgiving and plan to return here just before Christmas before heading off to on the next adventure.

We will cross at TJ to visit friends in Ensenada. I assume that the procedure will be about the same. The one thing I did pick up is that some paperwork can be completed online. Can anyone give me the internet address on the site where I can get info/paperwork?

Help is always appreciated.

BTW, take it from someone who has made all the planning mistakes - you can't micro manage international bike travel and whatever your experience is in the US, it doesn't apply as soon as you cross a border. Stay loose and keep a positive attitude, anything else is a formula for disaster.

Jack and Janet
Still on the road
'06 - 2007 Touring by Motorcycle, a Chang Jiang 750 cc & a 2003 BMW SR 850 R China, Europe & USA

[strsout]

Originally Posted by flashy_bmw

We will cross at TJ to visit friends in Ensenada. I assume that the procedure will be about the same. The one thing I did pick up is that some paperwork can be completed online. Can anyone give me the internet address on the site where I can get info/paperwork?

On this very useful (for me) thread:
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...o-i-need-29608
I found the info that you can do the temp import here:
Importación Temporal de Vehículos

[IanJ]

FYI
We came through Tecate 4 days ago and we could not get the import paperwork for the bike done here. We were told that we would have to get it from Tijuana or Mexicali.

We got the same answer from three different immigration people at the Tecate border crossing, wether that was just something peculiar to that day or they don't do it there any more (that was the impression that I got) I'm not sure.

We are staying just south of Ensenda and I found out that there is a Banjercito at the immigration office here but they only do the import paperwork for boats, bugger.

I went back up to Tijuana today and got the permit/sticker no problems. They wanted a copy of my passport, registration details (which I had), also a copy of my Tourist card (which I didn't but they did not worry about that in the end) They do have copy facilities at the immigration/Banjercito. And a credit card.

The only problem I did have was finding the place but that was due to the fact that I was trying to get there from the south. I suspect that if you were coming across the border it would be as big a problem. I grabbed a GPS waypoint for info
N32 32.424'
W117 01.943'

Have fun

Ian J