General Reports

[Baxter Slade]

Other night, with friends, ended up in Hong Kong version of a club, for chicks and gay men. I thought we were going to a bar. No it was a strip club, with men dancing, men charging fichas, and a few tables of woman, paying to watch, talk, drink, touch these guys. And men as well. I had never seen anything like it, I guess cause I walked in not knowing it was a strip club, but seeing the same exact set up of the men's clubs like HK, Adelitas, but for woman was really funny. It was 2 blocks from HK.

Sounds like you discovered Premire mens club. When I was led there by an amigo who was meeting a female friend there. I was disgusted and threw up in my mouth 3 times.

And then I thought about it and figured there are probably a ton of people out there who are totally disgusted by our behaivor in HK.

Jajajaja.

[Dogers69]

Other night, with friends, ended up in Hong Kong version of a club, for chicks and gay men. I thought we were going to a bar. No it was a strip club, with men dancing, men charging fichas, and a few tables of woman, paying to watch, talk, drink, touch these guys. And men as well. I had never seen anything like it, I guess cause I walked in not knowing it was a strip club, but seeing the same exact set up of the men's clubs like HK, Adelitas, but for woman was really funny. It was 2 blocks from HK.

[Goyo61]

Trying to text Chica in a texting app that does translation automatically. Any suggestions?

Google translate just translates and then I need to copy it to WhatsApp and send it which is a pain.

[LuvMexicanas]

Let me help. First, the wikitravel entry is outdated. What they state used to be the policy, but is no longer. All people entering Mexico are "supposed" to have an FMM. The hard part to enforce is people who drive in. There's no good way to force them to have one, but they are supposed to. I only drive in, but I have one because I stop and get them from time to time, but that's beside the point.

The process is that when you walk across for the first time you will fill out one of the FMM cards. The person at the desk will process it and ask how long you'll be in Mexico. You'll say 6 days, they'll write an expiration date on it and charge you nothing. Now you're good.

Normally one would surrender his FMM when leaving Mexico, but Tijuana is the exception. You may cross back on land and retain your FMM for use later. So, you may theoretically cross back into San Diego daily. When reentering Mexico you will use the Mexican Nationals lane and skip the lines.

You might want to reconsider crossing back into San Diego. Others who cross on foot can expand on this, but some days the lines to reenter the USA are reasonable, other days it can be a multi-hour wait. That is, unless you're crossing rather late at night. In other words, when you cross back into the USA allow yourself plenty of time. Border wait times can be highly unpredictable.

Yes, Mexico will stamp your passport.

If you only intend to visit Tijuana for several hours, they may just waive you through without stamping your passport.

[Phordphan]

Hi Guys, I'm a newby here to Tijuana and hope if someone here might help me with this! I am travelling on a EU passport but don't require a visa for either the USA or Mexico.

I will travel to Tijuana next week and I will firstly fly into the USA to Los Angeles before travelling south and crossing the border at San Diego San Ysidro to Tijuana. What I am reading about is the Tourist Card formally known as a Forma Migratoria Mltiple (FMM). I have 9 days in total for the trip and have 6 days accommodation booked in Tijuana and I am planning to spend my last night in Los Angeles before my early morning flight home. I have a European Passport so don't need a visa for either the USA or Mexico.

However I read some conflicting information, The Mexico Tourist Card (FMM) costs $533 peso but I read it is free for trips under 7 days and entering by land, (I fall into both of these categories). Is this true?

I read this on wikitravel; "All visitors to Mexico, with the exception of those arriving by land and staying within 20 kilometres of the border for less than 72 hours, are legally required to obtain a tourist card. ".

As I will be in Tijuana for the 6 nights I am also planning to return to the US side and explore San Diego for a daytrip and return back to my hotel in Tijuana again later that night, I might even do this twice, however if I had to buy a new Tourist Card each time for $533 peso I would only make the one trip. I have six nights upon arrival in Tijuana, the final night in Los Angeles prior to my early morning flight home and I have two nights as of yet undecided, I could extend longer in Tijuana or just stay in San Diego if I had to pay $533 each time I cross into Mexico. Will the Mexicans stamp my passport when crossing into Tijuana? I am hoping they will as it just purely a travel quirk I like.

Thanks for the help guys.

Let me help. First, the wikitravel entry is outdated. What they state used to be the policy, but is no longer. All people entering Mexico are "supposed" to have an FMM. The hard part to enforce is people who drive in. There's no good way to force them to have one, but they are supposed to. I only drive in, but I have one because I stop and get them from time to time, but that's beside the point.

The process is that when you walk across for the first time you will fill out one of the FMM cards. The person at the desk will process it and ask how long you'll be in Mexico. You'll say 6 days, they'll write an expiration date on it and charge you nothing. Now you're good.

Normally one would surrender his FMM when leaving Mexico, but Tijuana is the exception. You may cross back on land and retain your FMM for use later. So, you may theoretically cross back into San Diego daily. When reentering Mexico you will use the Mexican Nationals lane and skip the lines.

You might want to reconsider crossing back into San Diego. Others who cross on foot can expand on this, but some days the lines to reenter the USA are reasonable, other days it can be a multi-hour wait. That is, unless you're crossing rather late at night. In other words, when you cross back into the USA allow yourself plenty of time. Border wait times can be highly unpredictable.

Yes, Mexico will stamp your passport.

[Hargow20]

Since you are going making several trips to Tijuana you only need to declare the length of each individual trip. My guess is that if you simply tell them you are going for a week or so they probably won't require you to get a tourist card. My understanding is that they only require a tourist card if you travel far south into Mexico or staying for a extended period time. The police don't check in Tijuana in any case. You might be better off simply staying in hotel or Airbnb in the US side and walking over. So worst case is that you will have to purchase a tourist card for your longer stay.

Hi Guys, I'm a newby here to Tijuana and hope if someone here might help me with this! I am travelling on a EU passport but don't require a visa for either the USA or Mexico.

I will travel to Tijuana next week and I will firstly fly into the USA to Los Angeles before travelling south and crossing the border at San Diego San Ysidro to Tijuana. What I am reading about is the Tourist Card formally known as a Forma Migratoria Mltiple (FMM). I have 9 days in total for the trip and have 6 days accommodation booked in Tijuana and I am planning to spend my last night in Los Angeles before my early morning flight home. I have a European Passport so don't need a visa for either the USA or Mexico.

However I read some conflicting information, The Mexico Tourist Card (FMM) costs $533 peso but I read it is free for trips under 7 days and entering by land, (I fall into both of these categories). Is this true?

I read this on wikitravel; "All visitors to Mexico, with the exception of those arriving by land and staying within 20 kilometres of the border for less than 72 hours, are legally required to obtain a tourist card. ".

As I will be in Tijuana for the 6 nights I am also planning to return to the US side and explore San Diego for a daytrip and return back to my hotel in Tijuana again later that night, I might even do this twice, however if I had to buy a new Tourist Card each time for $533 peso I would only make the one trip. I have six nights upon arrival in Tijuana, the final night in Los Angeles prior to my early morning flight home and I have two nights as of yet undecided, I could extend longer in Tijuana or just stay in San Diego if I had to pay $533 each time I cross into Mexico. Will the Mexicans stamp my passport when crossing into Tijuana? I am hoping they will as it just purely a travel quirk I like.

Thanks for the help guys.

[Dogers69]

Hi Guys, I'm a newby here to Tijuana and hope if someone here might help me with this! I am travelling on a EU passport but don't require a visa for either the USA or Mexico.

I will travel to Tijuana next week and I will firstly fly into the USA to Los Angeles before travelling south and crossing the border at San Diego San Ysidro to Tijuana. What I am reading about is the Tourist Card formally known as a Forma Migratoria Mltiple (FMM). I have 9 days in total for the trip and have 6 days accommodation booked in Tijuana and I am planning to spend my last night in Los Angeles before my early morning flight home. I have a European Passport so don't need a visa for either the USA or Mexico.

However I read some conflicting information, The Mexico Tourist Card (FMM) costs $533 peso but I read it is free for trips under 7 days and entering by land, (I fall into both of these categories). Is this true?

I read this on wikitravel; "All visitors to Mexico, with the exception of those arriving by land and staying within 20 kilometres of the border for less than 72 hours, are legally required to obtain a tourist card. "..

You don't need to buy anything. Tell Mexico you are going to Tijuana only, and for couple nights. Then come to San Diego. The fee, allows you to save 10 minutes in line each trip back to mexico, and stops additional stamps in your passport. So I get one stamp every 6 months. So I buy the 6 month pass to not ruin my passport. Anyway, you do not want 6 nights in Tijuana. San Diego is best city for a vacation. 45 dollar hotels now on weekdays in San Diego. So much to see here. Tijuana, exploring, on your own, being new, wandering around Tijuana, as a European, really not good idea if you can do the same in San Diego.

[Winthorp]

Hi Guys, I'm a newby here to Tijuana and hope if someone here might help me with this! I am travelling on a EU passport but don't require a visa for either the USA or Mexico.

I will travel to Tijuana next week and I will firstly fly into the USA to Los Angeles before travelling south and crossing the border at San Diego San Ysidro to Tijuana. What I am reading about is the Tourist Card formally known as a Forma Migratoria Mltiple (FMM). I have 9 days in total for the trip and have 6 days accommodation booked in Tijuana and I am planning to spend my last night in Los Angeles before my early morning flight home. I have a European Passport so don't need a visa for either the USA or Mexico.

However I read some conflicting information, The Mexico Tourist Card (FMM) costs $533 peso but I read it is free for trips under 7 days and entering by land, (I fall into both of these categories). Is this true?

I read this on wikitravel; "All visitors to Mexico, with the exception of those arriving by land and staying within 20 kilometres of the border for less than 72 hours, are legally required to obtain a tourist card. ".

As I will be in Tijuana for the 6 nights I am also planning to return to the US side and explore San Diego for a daytrip and return back to my hotel in Tijuana again later that night, I might even do this twice, however if I had to buy a new Tourist Card each time for $533 peso I would only make the one trip. I have six nights upon arrival in Tijuana, the final night in Los Angeles prior to my early morning flight home and I have two nights as of yet undecided, I could extend longer in Tijuana or just stay in San Diego if I had to pay $533 each time I cross into Mexico. Will the Mexicans stamp my passport when crossing into Tijuana? I am hoping they will as it just purely a travel quirk I like.

Thanks for the help guys.

[KC Questor]

It would be so nice if there were more to do in Tijuana during your "downtime" Such as a movie theater, shopping mall, gym to workout or even an arcade.

If only this modern city of two million people had a movie theater or shopping mall. Imagine, if they only had a gym or even an arcade!

I swear, some people think Tijuana is nothing but strip clubs and donkey shows.

[KC Questor]

This is the reason why I don't book a place to stay in Tijuana and just head back to my hotel across the border in chula vista. The headache of waiting in line for 2 hrs and seeing so many Mexicans shortcut you and having to argue with each one isn't worth it.

I don't understand this post. If you stay in Tijuana you don't have to keep crossing the border twice a day. Just stay in Tijuana and avoid the headache. How does crossing back to Chula Vista every day save you any time?

[Mr Enternational]

Thanks. I don't know if you have to fly within the US but in case you do, any issues with TSA? You know like dirty looks, winks, etc.

They see vibrators all day everyday the same as a doctor sees dicks and pussies all day everyday. It is just like a sailor seeing water.

[Jim0129]

I disagree. First, service and product quality are two different things. The quality thing can be debated later.

Anybody who thinks businesses the world over deliberately abuse their clientele have never run their own business. All owners know that without customers you have no business. Now that being said, it seems that loads of tourist clientele tend to bring out the worst in employees and if you don't have strong management the practices will continue. But that's beside the point and to say all Tijuana businesses are like the gringo-centric ones is a gross generalization itself.

Now far too many Americans travel abroad and expect everything to be the same as it is back home. It's not, and never will be. One must always take into account cultural differences. Mexico is Mexico and the sooner visiting gringos start to adapt to Mexican ways the sooner they begin to have better experiences overall.

I go all over Tijuana. Shops, restaurants large and small, bars, whatever. I have found far more good service than bad. And the bad service tends to be from companies who deal with either gringos or tons of "one-time" clientele. Such as taxis or gas stations, although I've never been mistreated at a gas station, it's just that all the locals say to keep an eye on them because they may not give you as much gas as they charge you for. Some irritations are things like supermarkets, who never bring out enough checkers. It's not deliberate bad service or them not giving a shit, it's a cultural thing. Mexicans aren't as obsessed with time as Americans. What's an extra 5 minutes in line?

The major exception the world over tends to be taxis. Why an industry like that attracts the worst employees is something of a mystery. But if one learns the culture one can avoid a lot of the ripoffs. And yes, Uber has been a Godsend for both travelers and locals alike.

I agree with the overall message of your post, talking about supermarkets, a clear example are Walmart and Costco, both american companies that have a presence here in Mexico (I'm Mexican BTW), the waiting times in Mexico are longer en these stores compared to the US, even though they are the same companies, remember that corporations will cut costs and remove services to the point just above the tolerance of the customers, and like you said, the tolerance in Mexico for waiting in line at a supermarket its higher than in the US, that allows the companies to reduce their cashiers.

About the taxis, I have never had good taxi service in any country that I've visited, except Japan, usually people who are just bad workers in general or have a criminal background end up as taxi drivers in most countries, that's why UBER was such a hit, it isn't the incredible good service that UBER gives, it's the really bad service that taxies give all over the world.

[JabberWock]

I bring a vibrator every time. Have it in my backpack and run it through scanners without any issue.

Thanks. I don't know if you have to fly within the US but in case you do, any issues with TSA? You know like dirty looks, winks, etc.

[Captain Solo]

Sunday got down to Tijuana about noon.

PedWest pedestrian line, 4 across, filled the bridge over El Chaparral border crossing.

Did not see the pedestrian line on PedEast, but the line of returning cars backed up into downtown Tijuana.

On the way back at 6 PM, the pedestrian line, Ready and Regular car lanes were backed up to the park. 6 SENTRI lanes were open. It took us only 5 minutes to cross.

[ChinaMan360]

Tried to return by foot Sat. 9 am. El chaparral line all the way to taco stands. Walked to trolley border, line way out to streets, and worst part wasnt moving at all because theirs underground economy of medical passes being sold for 10 bucks person to cut line. Ever 20 seconds you watch another person cutting line with medical pass salesman. I walked back to el chaperal, they can't use medical pass here but every 20 seconds people walk pass with either sentri, or just to cut the line at some point. Mexicans are very laid back in USA cutting line would end in fights no matter what ethnicity you are it's just not permitted. But Mexicans don't even look upset by it. Anyway this is 3 hour wait today.

This is the reason why I don't book a place to stay in Tijuana and just head back to my hotel across the border in chula vista. The headache of waiting in line for 2 hrs and seeing so many Mexicans shortcut you and having to argue with each one isn't worth it.