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Family heading to Baja to windsurf

 
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NickJill



Joined: 23 Oct 2011
Posts: 1

PostPosted: Mon Oct 24, 2011 12:33 am    Post subject: Family heading to Baja to windsurf Reply with quote

This is our first time heading to Baja/Mexico. We are reading consulate advisories indicating trouble in the northern border regions, etc. Just wondering if anyone else is heading down there that we could convoy with or if anyone has any advice on things?!?
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B737



Joined: 27 Mar 2009
Posts: 216
Location: Jersey Shore

PostPosted: Mon Oct 24, 2011 10:20 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

dont want to sound like debbie downer, an alarmist or come down on your plans. but i travel to mexico for work, to the tune of 5-6 times a month. While im staying in places like Mexico City, Monterrey, and Guadalajara, which are very different from your destination, i can say, without question, i would never go to mexico for any sort of pleasure or activity. I would not want my family there. i go because i am forced to, for work. I do not leave the hotel.

The last hotel i stayed at in mexico had an x-ray machine, and magnetometers to enter the hotel lobby, and armed police at every exit. In MTY they barricaded a casino shut and set it on fire last month with all the people still inside. Mexico is a MESS man, please be careful.

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jsampiero



Joined: 20 Jun 2006
Posts: 677

PostPosted: Tue Oct 25, 2011 2:49 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

My experience does not echo B737's, although I have certainly not been to the same places.

I - and many other windsurfers I know - have crossed the border at TJ multiple times in the last three years into Baja.

On no occasion have I felt unsafe or in danger - although I certainly didn't dally (or even get out of my truck) in Tijuana. From Ensenada south, Mexico has been warm and welcoming and felt very safe.

That said, don't be stupid. Read a few of the expat forums; look for some tips here. Plan on being able to drive straight through TJ onto Baja-1. Have cash stashed in a few different places. Know some spanish.

Some great wind and some fantastic waves can be found, and it's refreshing to experience another culture. And damn, I love me some tacos al pastor.

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mchaco1



Joined: 08 Sep 2010
Posts: 645

PostPosted: Tue Oct 25, 2011 3:02 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Im from tucson and have gotten a pretty good feel for it. The problem isnt mexico in general its places where drugs/money/weapons flow. Mostly the places where these things flow between the US and mexico, as well as major points where they flow from south/central america up north. Places like baja (not the northern most part obviously) where there is just a dead end dont have that flow and the fight for control that comes with it. Like Josh said just get through the border parts without stopping, in day light with a few lone 20's spread around if a bribe is necessary to avoid commiting " traffic offenses"(especially if you have a trailer, it happens). Oh... and maybe pick up some old cowboy hats and western shirts at the goodwill and avoid the big white sun hats, fanny packs and khhaki shorts Laughing
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B737



Joined: 27 Mar 2009
Posts: 216
Location: Jersey Shore

PostPosted: Tue Oct 25, 2011 8:56 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

i feel like such a party pooper... for the record im an east coast guy who loathes Mexico, i can simply attribute that to work Smile im most likely just going to all the wrong places.
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combs



Joined: 01 Apr 1997
Posts: 129

PostPosted: Tue Oct 25, 2011 9:57 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nonsense! Baja is not the Mexican mainland!!

I agree completely with Josh's comments.

You may get more traffic on this thread if you post in the Northwest or SouthWest forum, as Baja is a major migratory destination for many west coast windsurfers this time of year.

Check out Mike Godsey's excellent summary at: http://www.iwindsurf.com/travel.iws?genID=22

I will be in La Ventana Dec-Jan. Hope to see you there!!
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swchandler



Joined: 08 Nov 1993
Posts: 10588

PostPosted: Tue Oct 25, 2011 3:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

While I'm not interested in driving into Mexico anymore, I have friends who still do. More recently, with all the trouble in the Tijuana/Ensenada corridor, it's my understanding that crossing at the Tecate border site is far less problematic, and the road will bring you into Ensenada where you can then connect up with Hwy 1 south.

Another approach would be to fly into La Paz or Cabo, and skip the driving altogether.
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