Tecate Border Crossing

I’ve crossed the Tijuana border hundreds of times, but this was my first time at the Tecate border crossing. This is a small 2 lane crossing and it gets a lot less traffic, but because it’s only two lanes if it is busy, you could have a long wait.
This crossing is open from 5AM to 11PM
We got in line at 8am on an August Sunday morning. We were less than one mile from the actual crossing when we first joined the line. From that point it took one hour to make the crossing. It was not too painful and the agent we talked to was friendly… maybe TOO friendly, we were ready to roll, but he was chatty! haha
That early, there were not really many vendors along the line, only a couple of people asking for change and a couple of vendors selling tortillas or sweets.
It is my understanding that peak times can get pretty busy; that would be weekday mornings and Sundays.

We reached this crossing into the states a mere 10 minutes before they closed at 11;00 p.m. It had been a long 16 hour day starting in San Felipe. Pulling a large trailer with our truck thru, believe it or not, a rain storm ! Even our 2 cats were ready to kill anything that moved. The officers on duty that night could not have been nicer. Even when we discovered that I couldn’t find my passport (those damn cats !) and told them I did have my old passport… NO PROBLEM. These guys are up against the wall most of the time dealing with us idiots. GIVE THEM A BREAK. We have crossed the border over 50 times in the last 22 years and yes we have met a few of their officers who obviously needed a long long vacation. Sure, they ask a lot of questions, but remember this… they could give you a I Q test. Think about that for a while. Better for some of us that they stick with the easy questions, like who are you and where have you been. dah dah

It’s a two lane line with a few vendors walking up and down. Left from Puerto Nuevo around 130pm and got to San Diego City at 5pm last Sunday so it still took a few hours– but prob less than going over the TJ or Otay Mesa border. Border Patrol stopped us for a «Random» secondary inspection, but it wasnt too long and just had their dogs sniff the whole car… They seemed pretty chill in general… I heard it’s a scenic drive, but I didnt find it scenic– maybe compared to TJ it’s scenic, but not the type of «wine country» scene I would expect… There is a secondary inspection once in the USA after like 15 mins, but it was very simple and little wait

I have crossed this border today after several years and it seemed to me much more organized and fast. 1.5 hours waiting to cross from Tecate to San Diego, not that bad, considering i heard is much slower from the other lines. What i like is that you can at least entertain yourself eating churros, Mexican paletas, nieves and tamarindos and all sorts of goodies. The wait is more relaxing also if yo know Spanish and can read the fun messages in the walls. The transaction of checking passwords was very smooth and quick once your car reached an agent for inspection. Courteous people.

A lot better that Tijuana. Wine country was classy and there was no traffic. It was kind of weird that you crossed and then drive 10 miles through the middle of nowhere and get checked again. Family trip with kids and dogs so they didnt give us a hard time at all.

First time crossing on foot, so much better in my opinion, you get to experience the city alot better, and walking through the border feels like a little museum when you go inside the office. alot of neat stuff. love tecate will definitely be going back.

in so far as the border Port of Entry. Really it all depends on who you get as a customs officer. most of them are fine. There is a guy who wears a smoky hat (you know like what a drill sergeant wears) that guy is an ass hole half the time. If you ever have a problem you should speak with the supervisor. The supervisors are mostly ass holes worse that the agent that pisses you off and really do all they can to further demean you. If you complain online you just get a generic letter form the Public Affairs Officer saying they have the authority to inspect at the border. It is the same letter with no bearing on your situation.
Onc ein a while they will have Border Patrol aiding in the inspections. These guys are disproportionally ass holes. When you see a customs agent holding an M-​4 you cant take a picture but you should and it is worth keeping. They are scared shitless of the weapon. I dont think most of them know how to use it.
Oh and depending on who is staffing the Check Point on the 94 you might deal with more BP ass holes.
Sometimes if you are walking through in tecate they will have thier dogs sniff you. As demeaning as it might be to have the dogs sniff you and your children they make sure to make it more demeaning by having the dog stick its snout up your ass and your private area. i speak from first person experience.
Most of the agents are ok but if you have a prblem no one gives a fuck. At one point they would have cars get Xrayed hile the drivers were being exposed to the Xrays.

Stopped here in the EARLY AM to get some gas… literally just feet from the border (really the only store on the US side). Everything was fine but it was somewhat alarming the number of questionable folk that were congregating at the station while I filled the Outback… forming like a strange circle you may see in a Children of the Corn movie.
hurry the S*** up stupid pump!
As I pumped «gas-​water» I started to have flashbacks of all the horror movies I’ve seen over the years that resembled my current «eerie» situation… I needed to be smart and on my toes! What actions would NOT lead to certain doom???
I decided if anyone got too close some basic level kung-​fu would buy me a little time HOWEVER I may need to bust a Dukes of Hazard «car hood slide» when I made my way back to the car from getting snacks. I mean come on… even though I was surrounded by the undead I still needed some snacks and a soda for the ride back to Carlsbad: O)
I guess they all could sense the presence of a kung fu, car hood sliding master becasue these undead creatures did not attack… I was lucky this time.
I give this janky border gas station 5 «non-​undead janky deadbeats in need of coffee and creeping me out» out of 10

Sunday ½/​11 6:00pm — We waited for 1h15m before we reached freedom in the USA. I thought Tecate border crossing was supposed to be fast!!!
We did enjoy the scenic drive through the wine country and drank plenty of wine but all the fun wore off when we came to the realization that the route was really out of the way. Highway 3 sucks and our car was clearly unhappy with our choice to take this route. Yes, Prius was pissed off when we went over something rough on the road too fast. Now Prius is makes a loose plastic clicking noise when the engine is on. So sad considering that it is less than one year old.
There are only 2 lanes at the border crossing and you have to go up and over one large hill before reaching the gate. If you have a stick shift, you will get a very good left and right foot exercise waiting for your turn. If your car is automatic transmission (like Prius), you will get a good right leg workout. While we were waiting for what seemed like eternity, numerous vendors approached our car with things for sale. Since we still had 33.5 pesos, we decided to buy 1 torta de jamon y queso (20 pesos and really gross) and 1 tamal (12 pesos and not hot but better than the torta). I then paid $ 1.50 USD for a bag of warm and delicious churros right before we reached the USA.
We were so relieved when we passed the border crossing but it took another 30 minutes to reach civilization. The road in the US was dark, windy and dangerous. No thanks!

BEST. BORDER-​CROSSING. EVER.
After a week of building houses in Ensenada with a local church, my friends and I were exhausted, and wanted to get back to San Diego as soon as possible on a Saturday morning. That left two options: Wait for about three hours or so in the Tijuana line, or go about 40 miles out of the way and drive over to Tecate.
Score. It was a scenic drive through Baja’s wine country, and the crossing itself took NINE MINUTES to get through. Nine. That’s right. Estoy feliz. Woot.
The border crossing spits you out just east of Dulzura, or 40 miles east of San Diego proper, in the heart of October ’07 Fire country. It’s an easy drive on the 94 back into the city.
Damn, I think I’m gonna always come back this way now.

my review isn’t so much for the border crossing itself, it’s for what you get once you’re across. tecate is a border town, but it couldn’t be any different than tijuana or mexicali. it’s a small town, so it feels more like any ordinary small town in mexico, and only about 40 miles from downtown san diego.
of course, the brewery is there, you can walk there from the border to take a tour or get a free beer in the beer garden. there is a small plaza in the middle of town lined with shops and restaurants. they don’t really cater to tourists because not that many tourists go here. go on a sunday afternoon, you can get a michelada and some made-​from-​scratch caldo de res sit outside under the trees and just watch everybody in town out for a walk.