The Volaris Experiment: Part 2 Crossing the Boarder

OK,

So Alaska/Horizon tickets were about $450 from LAX to Loreto and I was in San Diego with an itch to go fishing.

Determined Baja traveler that I am, I decided to give the Volaris route a try.

I walked down to the Greyhound station in San Diego at 1st and Broadway about three hours ahead of my flight - about 6:00am. It was very close to my hotel in San Diego and I found the walk quiet and pleasant in the calm coolness of the morning.

The ride on the Curcero-USA bus (http://www.crucero-usa.com/) from San Diego to the Tijuana Airport was $15 US but you can get tickets for a few dollars less on the web. Buses run every hour or two from 6:45am to 11:30 pm. It takes about an hour to get from downtown San Diego to the Tijuana airport but leave early boarder delays are always possible and unpredictable.

Here we are about to cross over to el otro lado. I haven't made the land crossing at San Ysidro in a while and while much is still the same a few things have changed. The south bound traffic backed up in the photo are cars being stopped for searches on the US side prior to entering Mexico.

All vehicles were being stopped and we had to wait while a crew of officers really looked over a nice SUV and pick up driven by two young latino guys. Afterwards a series of three very serious officers visited the bus covered by an officer with the most fearsome looking shotgun I have ever seen. I think these guys were ICE but it was serious enough that I forgot to write down who was doing the searches. They ran a dog through the bus and made some announcements about carrying more than $10,000. This isn't usually a worry for El Moscero. If I had $10,000 I wouldn't be on the bus.

After a significant but not fatal delay we were on the way.

Always build extra time into your travel plans. You will need it here.

A volunteer from the bus gets to push the Aduana (Mexican Customs) red/light green light button - we got lucky and dozen or so people on the bus cheered as our volunteer got the green light.

The Volaris Experiment

Here is the situation - I found myself on a work trip to San Diego in mid-July and really wanted to make a quick trip down to Loreto for a couple of days after I was finished with my San Diego meeting.

I previously reported on the fishing from this trip and want to continue with the story of my experiment taking the Volaris Tijuana to La Paz service.

The question before me was what was the best way to get from San Diego to Loreto and back with a minimum of hassle and expense and no car.

Horizon Air (Alaska Airlines regional partner) flies from LAX to Loreto 4 days per week but LAX is a long way from San Diego and the flights were expensive.

The bus from Tijuana to Loreto is about 18 hours and $80 US.

I went with Volaris Tijuana to La Paz and then bus to Loreto.

The next few posts will document my trip and provide an answer to the questions:

Is it worth all the trouble?

Did it save any money?

Do you need to speak Spanish?

Would I do it again?

Stay tuned for more!

Taking the bus

Many Americans think travel on the bus in Mexico involves old, broken-down school buses crammed with sweating uncomfortable people and at least a few farm animals. Nothing could be farther from the truth. In Baja California fleets of modern, comfortable buses, many manufactured by Mercedes-Benz, cruise the highway. Movies are shown on computer screens that fold down from the ceiling and about every two hours they stop for a break at a station with food and drinks available.

The seats are large and comfortable with plenty of leg room - I'm a big guy and am comfortable. The buses are well air conditioned and sometimes chilly. Its good to bring a sweater or blanket especially for overnight trips.


One of the major lines is ABC. Their gigantic ABC Plus buses are a familiar sight to those who have traveled the high way. Their web page is in Spanish and a little confusing but usable. Note that they offer a 10% discount for round trip tickets and have a frequent traveler plan.