COVID-19 Updates for Baja California
-The U.S.-Mexico temporary land border restrictions were extended until at least November 21, 2020. U.S. Citizens and Canadian Citizens have been allowed to cross back north into the U.S. and have had no problems crossing south into Mexico from the U.S.
-Mexico has instated a national “stoplight” system allowing certain regions to begin reopening. The state of Baja California is finally into the “orange” light designation and hotels restaurants, beaches, parks, retail shops, and museums/theaters/movie theaters, will be operating at 50 percent capacity. The state of Baja California Sur has a “yellow (level 3)” light designation and hotels, restaurants, beaches, parks, and shops are operating at 50 percent capacity. The stoplight designations are being assessed on a weekly basis.
-Some of the California/Baja land borders are operating on reduced hours. The following are the current hours for border crossings:
San Ysidro: open 24 hours
(PedWest is closed but PedEast remains open 24 hours)
Otay Mesa: open 24 hours
Tecate: 5am-2pm daily
Calexico West: open 24 hours
Calexico East: open 6am-2pm
Andrade: open 6am-2pm
-For up-to-date information about COVID-19 in the state of Baja California (norte) please visit the Baja California COVID-19 page. For up-to-date information about COVID-19 in Baja Sur, please visit the BCS COVID-19 website.
-For Emergency Assistance for U.S. citizens in Mexico, call 55-8526-2561 from Mexico or 1-844-528-6611 from the United States. The U.S. Embassy in Mexico has put together a COVID-19 webpage or you can follow them on Facebook for updates.
-You can find the latest updates on our Road Conditions Page. Call the DBTC office at 800-727-2252 for more information about U.S. travelers crossing the border.
Prepaid FMM Reminder
If you get a prepaid FMM tourist permit through Discover Baja, please remember that you must take all three sheets of paper (the front of the FMM, the back of the FMM, and the 8.5″ x 11″ full-sheet receipt) with you into the INM immigration office at the border when you get the FMM stamped for entry. If you do not take the 8.5″ x 11″ full-sheet receipt with you, the immigration officials have no idea that you have already paid and may require you to pay again.
Travel Insurance
If you are traveling during this time, we recommend that you purchase extra travel insurance, which can help cover things like emergency evacuation, and medical services. You can see our recommendations for travel insurance here.
“Build That Park” Initiative
A renewed campaign headed up by The Friends of Friendship Park is working to reestablish Friendship Park, the binational park at the Tijuana border. The Friends of Friendship Park is a non-partisan, grassroots coalition of individuals and organizations advocating for increased public access to the historic meeting place on the US-Mexico border. You can learn more about the initiative on the Build That Park website.
Photo by Keenan Shoal for TOSEA
Camp Cecil de la Sierra
Todos Santos Eco Adventures (who brought us Camp Cecil on Isla Espiritu Santo) has a new glamping experience, Camp Cecil de la Sierra, located in the Sierra de la Laguna biosphere reserve, just 90 minutes from Todos Santos. The remote camp is dedicated to sustainable practices and boasts four luxury tents in a beautiful hiking and birding destination. The camp highlights the cultural and natural heritage of the sierras and is a way to experience the traditional ranchero lifestyle with a local ranching family that is an integral part of the experience, providing all the meat, cheese and tortillas for the camp, teaching guests how to make traditional food and crafts, and acting as guides in the reserve. For more information and a video on Camp Cecil de la Sierra, visit the TOSEA website.
“Tijuana 1964: The Photography of Harry Crosby” Exhibit in La Jolla
The La Jolla Historical Society reopened on October 15th showing the exhibition “Tijuana: 1964: The Photography of Harry Crosby.” The exhibit features more than 60 black-and-white photographs that Crosby took on assignment of the vibrant life in Tijuana back in the 1960s. In addition to Crosby’s work, there is a gallery featuring an exhibit called “Tijuana 2019” with photographs from twelve high school students (six from San Diego and six from Tijuana) who spent four days in Tijuana last July photographing some of the same locations Crosby did in 1964. The exhibits will be showing through January 10, 2021 and admission is free. More information can be found on the La Jolla Historical Society website. Discover Baja has rare first-edition copies of Crosby’s Tijuana 1964 book for sale.