Posted: 9/4/2012 12:09:50 PM EDT
So me and the wife are headed to San Diego in about a month for 2 weeks to see family. Been debating about going down to Tijuana. Is it worth going with all of the violence going on? Anything there worth doing/seeing, besides the donkey shows anyway lol. This will be my first time in Cali, and I don't know when I'll be going back.
Thanks all |
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I go to Tijuana fairly frequently for work and have formed the opinion that Tijuana is probably the worst city in Mexico and represents the worst of Mexico. It is dirty, polluted, and gritty. Because they are used to seeing Americans as the idiots that come to their city and raise hell and cause trouble, the locals aren't as friendly as the norm for Mexico. The safety issue for tourists isn't the cartel violence, but just normal robbery, taxi rip-offs, pick pockets, bar fights, etc.
The only things to do there as a tourist are to see the downtown and drink. You can drink in San Diego unless you're underage - if that is the case, then Tijuana is good for that. If you want to see Mexico, just skip Tijuana and go further south in Northern Baja. There are some awesome wineries outside of Ensenada in the hills. Puerto Nuevo is pretty good for seafood restaurants, and there are some nice places to see around there. You can arrange tours online from San Diego. Just Google Baja Wine Tours or something like that. Your wife will appreciate it much more than the donkey show or the slummy Tijuana bars. One thing to keep in mind is that you need your passport to cross back in the US now from Mexico unless you have a mini-passport crossing card from the State Department. You can't just go back and forth with your driver's license anymore. |
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Tijuana is a shit hole - avoid it. I'll spend time in everywhere in Baja except Tijuana - we drive thru TJ on our way to Ensenada for the Baja 500 & Baja 1000 and none of us has any desire to spend time in TJ.
The winery area between Ensenada and Tecate is pretty nice - worth the drive in my opinion. Not all rental cars can go to Mexico - check with the company. Brian |
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You couldn't pay me to stay in that shit hole. The place smells like burning used tampons. The people are not friendly. It is not safe. You will not feel clean till you get back into the states and get a bleach shower. The food will give you faucet butt and the local water will likely kill you. The tourist traps are just that and are not at all nice (think third world flea market). The traffic is horrible and may give you nightmares. Don't park and leave the car unattended (duh!). The border crossing reaks of a blood sucking sound to our country. The cops are crooked and you will pay out if you run into them to stay out of a Mexican jail (lets think about that...). The federalies are much worse to deal with.
I've lived in Mexico for two years. My brother is still there. |
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Avoid it like the plague. That goes pretty much for all of the Mexican border towns. Frankly with the exception of tourist cities, avoid Mexico entirely. While the authorities have a hold (a tenuous one at best) on the major tourist cities (and really on the the "tourist" parts of those) there are entirely too many problems in Mexico now to risk going there.
Some will say the odds of having problems are small, but if you do, YOU WILL BE ON YOUR OWN!!! Don't expect the authorities either Mexican or American to be of any assistance. |
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Quoted:
I go to Tijuana fairly frequently for work and have formed the opinion that Tijuana is probably the worst city in Mexico and represents the worst of Mexico. It is dirty, polluted, and gritty. Because they are used to seeing Americans as the idiots that come to their city and raise hell and cause trouble, the locals aren't as friendly as the norm for Mexico. The safety issue for tourists isn't the cartel violence, but just normal robbery, taxi rip-offs, pick pockets, bar fights, etc. The only things to do there as a tourist are to see the downtown and drink. You can drink in San Diego unless you're underage - if that is the case, then Tijuana is good for that. If you want to see Mexico, just skip Tijuana and go further south in Northern Baja. There are some awesome wineries outside of Ensenada in the hills. Puerto Nuevo is pretty good for seafood restaurants, and there are some nice places to see around there. You can arrange tours online from San Diego. Just Google Baja Wine Tours or something like that. Your wife will appreciate it much more than the donkey show or the slummy Tijuana bars. One thing to keep in mind is that you need your passport to cross back in the US now from Mexico unless you have a mini-passport crossing card from the State Department. You can't just go back and forth with your driver's license anymore. I second this: I go to TJ about 3 days a week for work and other parts of mexico. for a vacation DO NOT GO TO TJ. if you want mexican food you can go to chula vista, or las curator milpas just south of downtown SD. TJ's Oyster house is another hole in the wall mexican place in chula vista that has excellent mexican food. |
| I never thought much of TJ until I went there with a friend who lives down there part time and has family there. Basically we just went to places where the locals shop and eat and it was great, and now that's what I do when I go there. Aside from that, the Mexican food in San Diego's some of the best you'll ever have. |
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People just blow it out of portion with the cartel BS. Yes its bad but people watch too much TV. They think that just because they have Cali plates they are going to robbed and kidnapped. That has always been a threat even before the cartel problems. I went to Fiji and I was told to be careful at night in town. Not to wear jewelry etc. Things are messed up anywhere you go. Sheesh I remember people saying to stay away from Watts, South Central and other gang infected areas and that is in our own backyard.
You cannot beat the lobster and price it goes for in Puerto Nuevo. I used to make the drive monthly just go visit and eat lobster. Now with three girls two being in some type of class like dance, swimming, etc all those trips have been put on the back burner. Now my trips are more to places like the zoo, Disneyland, etc. People will always think what they want so believe what you want. I would still go and just mind my own business. |
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Mexicos drug gang violence is over rated? Oh really?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/25/mexico-drug-war-guadalajara_n_1830845.html?utm_hp_ref=world More than 55,000 Mexicans have been killed in drug-related violence since President Felipe Calderon took office in December 2006 and launched his crackdown on cartels. (Reporting By David Alire Garcia; editing by Todd Eastham) Edit- But don't worry. The new elected president (sworn in this Jan 1 for six years) is much more tolerant of the cartels and is said to be in bed with multipul drug organizations. |
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Yes there is a problem with the cartel murders. But from what I read and hear from family members that live in Mexico, the majority of the crimes are between them and anyone related such as family, partners, etc. Yes there are innocent people that also get killed along with police. But most of the crimes usually involve corrupt police and ex-police that join the cartel.
But it is never mentioned that the U.S. also has murders rates that exceed 10,000 murders a year’s easily. If you look up the census, there has been over 16,000 murders a year. http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2012/tables/12s0312.pdf |
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I would not recommend going to Mexico. Drug cartel violence is huge. I will never ever step foot inside Mexico ever again. + 87 not a chance. We used to drive down to a little resort south of Ensenada once or twice a year. Other then the traffic circle and the road that runs up the hill along the border to the toll road we never ventured into TJ. Never had any problems down there but refuse to cross the border these days until the country gets stabilized. Just too risky to me. Hear the same thing from many former frequent border crossers (surfers, offroad guys and fisherman). "NFW am I going down there the way things are now". |
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You're comparing a country that has 314,000,000 people that has 16,000 total murders annually, to a country that has 112,000,000 people and over 10,000 murders a year contributed only to drugs and drug related gang violence. You're also comparing a country that actively protects rape victims and is very harsh on the convicted (the US) to a country that really doesn't have a rape statistic because rapes aren't reported because they do not persecute the offenders.
I can go on like this all day with comparable crime between the US and Mexico. Even cities like Chicago, Detroit, and Atlanta are safer than the US/ mex border towns. |
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I am not trying to make Mexico look as if it safer than the U.S., I was just stating that I would not have no problem going to TJ or any other place in Mexico. I love vacationing in Cabo and it sucks that crime is so high due to the drug cartels. If the U.S. would not have such a drug problem, the cartels would not be what they are today.
I do not agree with the majority of what goes on in Mexico, I do not agree with what goes on here. I feel that child molesters, rapist, and murderers get off pretty easy here also. I think rapist and child molesters should be housed with the general public. Let’s see how long they last there. I am American and love what we stand for and what freedoms we have, especially the right to bear arms. |
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Quoted:
Mexicos drug gang violence is over rated? Oh really? http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/25/mexico-drug-war-guadalajara_n_1830845.html?utm_hp_ref=world More than 55,000 Mexicans have been killed in drug-related violence since President Felipe Calderon took office in December 2006 and launched his crackdown on cartels. (Reporting By David Alire Garcia; editing by Todd Eastham) Edit- But don't worry. The new elected president (sworn in this Jan 1 for six years) is much more tolerant of the cartels and is said to be in bed with multipul drug organizations. Uhh....aren't we talking about Tijuana here? This article is from down south...Guadalajara! |
 if you go further south on the toll road #1 to ensenada there are nice beaches and little hamlets.
Its pretty cool that you can ride ATVs and still camp on the beach. 
You can pull your truck on the beach and set up camp. too bad the Mexican Gov is shit. God I wish Baja was annexed by Arizona. |
