This was my second foray into Tijuana. There have been other, very helpful posts on TUSCL, and my intent with this long-ass article is to add details that I think would also prove helpful to anyone who has not yet made the journey and is contemplating it. And yeah, ya should. The place is just unreal.
Planning for this trip started a few months ago. I had to be in Orange County for a conference, so my flight to California from the East Coast was covered by my employer. I went out a few days early, rented a car, and drove the 90 minutes south to the border. The first thing I will tell you is that instead of staying in San Diego as I did for visiting family during the last trip , I booked a room in San Ysidro, California, the town where the border crossing is.
For a number of reasons, staying in the U. Just trying to avoid the inevitable "Honey, when you called me three of the nights you were gone, how come there are roaming charges from Mexico on our cell phone bill? A guy does what he has to do to preserve domestic tranquility. The old crossing still works pretty much the same way as before, and you can travel south into Mexico and north into the U. I read that that will change sometime soon, and eventually the old crossing will be torn down.
I stuck with the old crossing and parked in the lot next to and behind the Jack-in-the-Box. It's a short walk from there to the border crossing β just follow the crowd. I had heard they were stamping passports going into Mexico now, and to avoid that plausible deniability and all β and based on advice here on TUSCL β I had gotten a Global Entry pass several months ago.
It also allows you to skip the long lines coming back and provides automatic TSA Pre-Check whenever you fly. Worked like a charm coming back. Going into Mexico the first two days, I was not stopped by anyone nor required to show anything. I showed him my Global Entry card, which he said is only good for getting back into the U. He said, "You have to have a passport.
