US Customs Border Crossing Otay Mesa

This is a contender for the worst border crossing in the world. Let me hasten to say that the difficulty is all on the Mexican side. I say this as one who loves Mexico and want to note at this point that the inefficiency of their officialdom is balanced by the kindness and helpfulness of the ordinary people.
Tried to drive recently from the parking lot at TJ airport to the border. A very short distance, but: the traffic is a chaotic free-​for-​all, the traffic lights don’t work, the trucks that clog this road are so enormous that you won’t be able to see the signage and if by some miracle you did see the signage it would be of no help at all. The crossing is called ‘Garita de Otay’ — singularly unhelpful for English-​speakers who won’t know what ‘garita’ means – but that’s OK, because none of the signs say it. I did finally glimpse numerous signs directing me to the Mental Hospital (apt choice!) but never a single one for Garita de Otay. Finally did find a sign that (sort of) directed me in the general direction of the US Sentri Line entrance. There, the US personnel could not have been nicer.
Happily, this mega-​hassle may soon be a thing of the past once they open the pedestrian bridge from the US to the airport. Then, the promise is that you’ll be able to park in the US and not have to drive in or park in Tijuana at all. We’ll see.

I prefer this to San Ysidro because the street parking is free if I’m just dropping off or picking up sometime. The pedestrian line is shorter also, but the wait for permits is super long. I’ve never compared to how long it takes to get a permit at San Ysidro, but here it took three hours for a line of no more than 50 people. I can’t wait until the California’s Bridge to the Tijuana airport is ready so that getting to/​from that airport is made easier.

Review 58
My buddies who always randomly select me for additional screening! No I’m not kidding!!!
Ok, so I learned, what you reply will determine if you’re going to go through the X-​Ray and/​or get your car dismantled. Be cool when you’re crossing and listen to the ICE guard carefully, reply smoothly and welcome back home :)
Getting to the border can be done 2 ways, very few know the shorter way that has allowed me to pass in less than 8 min on my last visit: non sentry.
Be patient and don’t run over the pedestrians trying to make a living.
Use the Border Wait application and submit your wait time, the more that use the app the better and more accurate it is for all.
I just picked up my Sentri, my life will change moving forward and will definitely will be venturing to Baja more often. Cabo baby!!!
Plan B

Save the drama fo yo Mama! The last time I crossed at San Ysidro I waited 4 hours, ef that! We have waited anywhere between 1 – 2 hours at this crossing, that’s about half the time of the San Ysidro Crossing!!!
This entry is difficult to get to because there are no signs from within the city. Apple maps got us close but still it was tricky to get to. We did see some Sentri (border fast pass) signs as we got close but if you follow those signs you will have to beg drivers to let over to the left lanes if you do not have that pass. Sentri lanes are on the left/​east, Ready Lanes (only accepts RFID documents) are on the far left/​west, standard traffic in the center.

Crossing the boarder at night took about an hour and 30 mins. I was tempted by the churros… Tempted by the elotes… Tempted by the guys trying to clean my windshields… Tempted by buying toys… The best part of the night was the fire breather and the 2 juggling 7 year olds. Got them on my snap chat!!! Bonus!!!