Tropical Storm Lidia Update
On Thursday, August 31st, Tropical Storm Lidia hit Baja Sur, causing flooding and severe damage. Los Cabos was hit especially hard with damages that will take months to repair. Highway Mexico 1 was flooded and damaged in many areas so proceed with caution and expect detours and major delays. You can read more on our Baja Road Conditions page.
San Ysidro Border Temporary Southbound Closure: Sept 23-25
The San Ysidro El Chaparral border will be temporary closed to southbound vehicular traffic from 3am Saturday, September 23 until 12 noon on Monday, September 25th. Northbound vehicular traffic will not be affected and pedestrian traffic (both southbound and northbound) will not be affected. Learn more.
Mexican Independence Day: September 16th
Mexican Independence Day is celebrated on September 16th each year. The festivities begin the night before on September 15th when the current president of Mexico reenacts “El Grito de Dolores,” the call for revolution that Miguel Hidalgo gave in 1810 that resulted in Mexico’s Independence from Spain 11 years later. ¡Viva México!
DMV Smog Forms
There is a new California DMV Smog Exemption form for vehicles that are located out of state. You can download the form HERE. Note that the vehicle is located at your vacation home in Baja. As for how long it will be out of state, the DMV suggests writing in one year increments each time it comes up for registration.
Addressing the Mexico Travel Advisory
We’ve received a few calls about the recent State Department travel advisory for Mexico, so we thought we’d take a moment to answer some of the questions here.
Why is everyone making a big deal about this new Mexico travel advisory?
This travel advisory for Mexico is not new; in fact, Baja California and Baja California Sur have been included in the travel advisory for the past number of years. What is new is that the travel advisory was expanded to include areas of mainland Mexico that had previously not been included in the report. Therefore, this new expanded report suddenly became “newsworthy” to local news channels across the U.S. Again, Baja California and Baja California Sur have been included in this report for years, so essentially nothing has changed for the advisory for the peninsula.
Why does the wording in the travel advisory seem so scary?
The American Citizen Services at the U.S. Consulate in Tijuana once described the State Department travel advisory as a notice that they gear towards a college student from Minnesota heading on Spring Break. In other words, for liability reasons they are being overly cautious in what they advise.
What about all of the killings in Tijuana?
Yes, there has been an increase in the homicide rate in Tijuana that is hard to ignore. When El Chapo was captured, turf battles between drug cartels skyrocketed in key regions, Tijuana being one of them. The killings have been extremely targeted towards members of the drug cartels and those related to them.
What can I do to make sure I’m traveling safely in Baja?
As you would when traveling anywhere (either within the U.S. or overseas), we advise you to be an aware and astute traveler. Always be conscious of your surroundings, don’t flash around expensive electronics or jewelry, and always remember to only drive during daylight hours!