Border wait time

ernesto

Well Known Member
They are currently showing 240 minute wait coming into the US, incredible.They could make traversing the border so difficult that people don't go. Go to San Diego. Both sides are culpable. Sat on my ass in the valley because the roads North to the mountains and South to Mexico were clogged. Maybe go manana.
 

brokenwave

Well Known Member
At 6:15 pm it's backed up past the curve with 2 lanes being used. Avg time this afternoon to cross has been 4-5 hours.
There are people and the Policia having US people give them $$ allow people to jump into the line by having people go stand
in front a car a few blocks from the border and let those who paid trucks jump in front, there's videos on FB.

There's going to be some unhappy people who won't get thru today when they close the border at 8 pm.
Sonoyta Police have been putting cars into 2 lanes almost all day

Even for those who left at 6 am had a 45-60 min wait. I've never seen that wait so early. Penasco must have been packed this weekend.
 

ernesto

Well Known Member
Interesting. They were reporting an hour wait all afternoon yet google maps showed them backed up to the bridge
 

playaperro

El Pirata
They did shut the port down last night opened at 4am this morning, pobre gente that didn't make it across in time, some paid to get to the front and bypass the 4 hour wait.
 

Buffalo Marty

Well Known Member
I wonder how the typical group of holiday travelers breaks down between long-time RP visitors, and newbies who have maybe gone just a hand full of times?
The RP "lifers" know the border drill well and probably have been burned before- they are more likely to accept the good with the bad when it comes to the border, and Mexico in general (like most of us here on the forum).
But for the casual traveler going for the first time or maybe tagging along with friends/family, I wonder how much they are turned off by the ridiculous wait times? (and God forbid, if you had to camp out overnight in Sonoyta) I would think a large number would say "F that, I'm never going back" due to the mismanagement of the border crossing.
A lot of people here may reply "good riddance, we're better off without those types anyways". Maybe there is some truth to that- the reason why real estate is so much cheaper than a comparable beach town in the US is precisely because of the downsides of being across the border.
At the same time, some part of me just doesn't like it when people come away with a bad impression of Mexico, since I love it so much. (obviously the border crossing time in the end isn't even Mexico's fault, but its still part of the whole experience)
 

tortolita

Junior Member
I'm curious how it seemed like more people than ever visited, yet the resort and hotel capacities are supposed to be reduced at this time. Where did they all stay, or is it just the border in both directions being more difficult to cross, maybe to punish people for non-essential travel, plus the addition of the xray machine?
 

mexicoruss

Lovin it in RP!
I wonder how the typical group of holiday travelers breaks down between long-time RP visitors, and newbies who have maybe gone just a hand full of times?
The RP "lifers" know the border drill well and probably have been burned before- they are more likely to accept the good with the bad when it comes to the border, and Mexico in general (like most of us here on the forum).
But for the casual traveler going for the first time or maybe tagging along with friends/family, I wonder how much they are turned off by the ridiculous wait times? (and God forbid, if you had to camp out overnight in Sonoyta) I would think a large number would say "F that, I'm never going back" due to the mismanagement of the border crossing.
A lot of people here may reply "good riddance, we're better off without those types anyways". Maybe there is some truth to that- the reason why real estate is so much cheaper than a comparable beach town in the US is precisely because of the downsides of being across the border.
At the same time, some part of me just doesn't like it when people come away with a bad impression of Mexico, since I love it so much. (obviously the border crossing time in the end isn't even Mexico's fault, but its still part of the whole experience)
After reading your comment it got me to thinking about travelers. There are simply some people who are so put off by any inconvenience that they shouldn't travel outside of their bubble. The border cluster is a non-stop problem and is in flux all the time but at the end of the day it is an international border and there are protocols for both countries to follow the way each country decides to, as travelers we have nothing to say about that. Some people get that concept and some people don't, if they don't understand that then, I guess they should stay home. Maybe some will never come back because they were caught by surprise and didn't do any homework or thought that it wouldn't happen to them, that's ok. I think most will balance the good time they had in Peñasco against the cluster at the border....if they want to come back I think they will plan to avoid that situation again, it is how we learn. I don't like it either when someone comes away with a bad impression of Mexico but in my 14 years here and observing people....there's just no changing that.

My wife and I were in Italy a few years ago. We hiked from a town Rappalo to Porto Fino ( a long hike) we knew when we got to Porto Fino that we could catch a ferry back to Rappalo in the afternoon so we "knew" it was a one way hike. Well there were about 500 other people who had the same idea....the weather changed and the wind started blowing and they had to cancel the ferry. We'll catch a public bus we thought to ourselves, so I stood in line, bought our tickets, and when the bus came it was already packed with tourist and workers going home. Next bus comes about 30 minutes later...we decided even though it was packed we would board. Standing room only, way to close to other people (I'm talking nose in armpit close. We rode that bus for about 15 minutes and when it made the first stop we couldn't get off fast enough, we walked the rest of the way back to our hotel about an hour. Were we frustrated at the situation? yes. Was there anything we could do to change the dynamics? no. We did what we had to do to get back to our room. Do we have ill will to Porto Fino? NO! Italy in general, NO! I even forgive the tall guy standing next to me on the bus that doesn't know what deodorant is....Are we going back? Absolutely! As soon as the things get better for traveling we will hit it again.
 

JimMcG

Well Known Member
US Customs and Border Protection web site still has the border being open from 6am until 12 midnight.
 

brokenwave

Well Known Member
For some reason they haven't updated that time on some of their websites pages.
The display they have on at the border booths shows 4 am- 8 pm Mon-Sat and 6 am-8 pm Sun.
Here is a screen shot of their operating hours.
ScreenShot_20200908101435.png
 

ernesto

Well Known Member
The covid virus exacerbated the problem that has existed on the border for many years. Nobody wants to fly. I have a place north of Payson. Complete cluster trying to travel there also. My solution is to stay home on these holiday weekends or already be there when the shit hits the fan.I chose to stay home and hide inside this time. I really don't believe the people manning the border going into the Uppa US have ANY sympathy for those returning from the beach. Just my humble opinion after going down for 40 years. That was a problem when they locked people out going down (Mexican Aduana) as well as coming back (US Border Agents) Not cool guys. Show a little empathy, you guys ALL saw this coming.
 

brokenwave

Well Known Member
To avoid the border lines these days, you need to go during the week and leave early in the morning. We've done that 3 times in the past month and had zero issues with lines. Get to the border by 8 am and the Mexican agents, the military and the crooked Policia are still drinking their coffee and not doing much. US side is also slow so you can leave by 9 am and no lines
 

Mexico Joe

Cholla Bay 4 Life
To avoid the border lines these days, you need to go during the week and leave early in the morning. We've done that 3 times in the past month and had zero issues with lines. Get to the border by 8 am and the Mexican agents, the military and the crooked Policia are still drinking their coffee and not doing much. US side is also slow so you can leave by 9 am and no lines
Last October 27th when I had the epic day of fishing and Sea of Cortez dolphin adventures on the Cholla Bay sleigh ride YET SKY, I left RP Sunday morning so early that I made it home about 1 minute before kickoff for a Cardinals 10am start... Pretty epic. I left RP @545am or 550am I think it ended up being. That was with trailer so no speeding on that trip. I agree that on a big weekend the rules apparently have changed. Go early or don't go! Over the last decade we had employed the tactic of leaving extremely late. Near sunset. Sometimes later. Generally if you get to the border after 10pm even on a busy three day weekend you can usually pull right up or have minimal wait. Obviously that has changed. I remember not too long ago getting to the border kind of late and still having a line. That's when I knew people were starting to catch on.
 

playaperro

El Pirata
So I crossed back at the port of entry only one in line, IO says he hears voices coming from underneath my truck, yup I replied sent me through X-ray, apparently you can’t go near X-ray if you have a pacemaker, all good.
 

Mexico Joe

Cholla Bay 4 Life
So I crossed back at the port of entry only one in line, IO says he hears voices coming from underneath my truck, yup I replied sent me through X-ray, apparently you can’t go near X-ray if you have a pacemaker, all good.
Guaranteed he's a Trump supporter.
 
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