How the land border works
The US–Mexico border has dozens of crossings, from San Ysidro, one of the busiest land ports in the world, to small desert gates that close at night. Millions of Americans cross every year for a beach weekend in Rosarito, a crown at a dentist in Los Algodones, tacos in Tijuana or a week in Rocky Point.
The trip is lopsided. Going south into Mexico is usually quick, and many people are waved through without showing a passport. Coming north into the US is the slow part, because every vehicle and pedestrian is inspected by US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and lines at the big ports can run for hours. Planning around the northbound wait is most of the craft of border travel.
The rules also change with distance. A day trip to Tijuana needs only your passport book or card. Drive to Ensenada or Rocky Point and you're supposed to get a visitor permit. Drive to Guadalajara and you also need a permit for the car. This page covers each case. For documents in general, see passports, permits and entry.
Walking across
Walking is often the smartest way to visit a border city for the day. You skip the car line, you don't need Mexican insurance, and Tijuana, Nogales and Mexicali all have taxis and ride-hail apps on the other side. Bring your passport book or card. Under the State Department's guidance, you can stay up to 6 days within about 12 miles (20 km) of the border without an FMM visitor permit.
San Ysidro to Tijuana
The San Diego Trolley's Blue Line runs from downtown San Diego to San Ysidro station, steps from the border, which makes this the easiest walk-in crossing in the country. There are two pedestrian routes. PedEast is the main one; PedWest, near the outlet mall, keeps shorter hours. On the Mexican side you'll pass through Mexican immigration and customs, where you can get an FMM if you're going farther. From there it's roughly a 15- to 20-minute walk, or a short taxi or Uber ride, to Avenida Revolución and downtown.
Otay Mesa
A second San Diego crossing, closer to Tijuana's airport and eastern neighborhoods. Lines are sometimes shorter than San Ysidro's, but there's no trolley, so you'll need a ride to the port. It also handles most of the area's truck traffic.
Calexico to Mexicali
Calexico West puts you on foot in downtown Mexicali, the capital of Baja California and a good Chinese-Mexican food city. Calexico East is mostly for cars and has SENTRI and Ready Lanes.
Andrade to Los Algodones
The medical and dental tourism crossing. You park on the US side and walk a few steps into a town packed with dentists, pharmacies and optometrists. See the medical day trips section below.
Nogales
The downtown DeConcini crossing lets you walk straight into Nogales, Sonora's market streets. The Mariposa port on the west side handles trucks and much of the car traffic heading south to Hermosillo.
El Paso to Ciudad Juárez
Pedestrians generally walk south on the Stanton Street bridge and come back north on the Paso del Norte bridge, paying a small bridge toll. Juárez is in Chihuahua (Level 3), and US government employees are limited to a defined area near the bridges and downtown, so most visitors stay close to the border and don't wander.
Laredo, Progreso and Brownsville
These Rio Grande crossings lead to Tamaulipas, which carries the State Department's highest warning. Government employees may visit Nuevo Progreso only on foot, between 7 am and 6 pm, within a short radius of the bridge, a routine many Rio Grande Valley winter visitors follow for pharmacies and dentists. Nuevo Laredo and Matamoros are limited to official travel in defined areas.
Insider tip
If you're walking into Tijuana for the day, take the trolley instead of driving to the border. Parking lots near San Ysidro charge by the day and fill up on weekends, and the trolley drops you at the crossing.
Cross Border Xpress to Tijuana airport
Cross Border Xpress (CBX) is a private enclosed footbridge from a terminal in Otay Mesa, San Diego, directly into Tijuana International Airport (TIJ). It exists because flights within Mexico from Tijuana are often much cheaper than flights from US airports, and Volaris, Viva and Aeroméxico fly from TIJ to dozens of Mexican cities.
- Who can use it: only passengers with a flight from or to Tijuana airport. Southbound, you can cross up to 24 hours before your flight. Northbound, you use it shortly after landing.
- Cost: a ticket is required each way, quoted in US dollars, and prices vary by season. In recent years a one-way ticket has run roughly US$20–30, with discounts for round trips, families and buying ahead online (CBX says up to 20%). Check crossborderxpress.com for your dates.
- Where: 2745 Otay Pacific Drive, San Diego. There's paid parking at the US terminal, and you can be dropped off.
- Immigration: you clear Mexican immigration and customs inside the CBX facility going south, and US CBP coming north. Lines are usually much shorter than at San Ysidro.
Because you technically enter Mexico on foot, you're processed as a land arrival. If you're flying on to Cancún, Guadalajara or Mexico City and staying more than a week, expect to need an FMM and pay the visitor fee (MX$983, about $53, in 2026), because a domestic Mexican ticket doesn't include it the way an international ticket does. Do it online before you go or at the INM counter in the CBX building.
Save money
Compare the total. A cheap Tijuana–Cancún fare plus CBX, parking and the visitor fee can still beat a nonstop from LAX or San Diego for a family, but for one person the saving is sometimes small. See flights for nonstops from US cities.
Driving in: border zone, Baja, Sonora and permits
Driving your own car into Mexico involves three separate questions. Do you need an FMM for yourself? Do you need a temporary import permit (TIP) for the car? And do you have Mexican insurance? The answers depend on where you're going.
| Where you're going | Your FMM | Vehicle import permit | Mexican insurance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Border city, within about 12 miles (20 km), 6 days or less | Not needed | Not needed | Required |
| Anywhere in Baja California or Baja California Sur (Ensenada, San Felipe, Valle de Guadalupe, Los Cabos) | Needed beyond the border zone; free for 7 days or less | Not needed | Required |
| Sonora (Rocky Point, Hermosillo, Kino Bay, San Carlos) | Needed beyond the border zone; free for 7 days or less | Not needed under the Only Sonora program (see below) | Required |
| Rest of mainland Mexico | Needed | Required | Required |
The border zone
A strip roughly 12 miles (20 km) deep along the whole border works almost like an extension of the US for paperwork. You can drive a US-plated car there without a permit, and you can stay up to 6 days without an FMM. You still need Mexican auto insurance.
Baja California and Baja California Sur
The whole Baja peninsula, from Tijuana to Cabo San Lucas, is exempt from the vehicle permit. You can drive the length of Highway 1 without one. You do need an FMM once you leave the border zone (Ensenada, Valle de Guadalupe and San Felipe are all well beyond it), and you need it stamped at the INM office at the crossing. If you plan to put the car on a ferry from La Paz or Santa Rosalía to the mainland, you'll need a full TIP before boarding; Banjercito, the military bank that issues permits, has an office at the La Paz ferry terminal.
Sonora and the Only Sonora program
Sonora's Only Sonora (Sólo Sonora) program was designed for Arizonans heading to the beach. Its permit-free area covers the northwest of the state, including Puerto Peñasco (Rocky Point), Hermosillo, Bahía de Kino and San Carlos–Guaymas. The State Department's guidance goes further and describes Sonora as permit-free statewide, but the rules for the far south of the state have changed several times over the years. If you plan to drive south of Guaymas, ask at the Banjercito module at the Km 21 checkpoint south of Nogales before you continue. The advisory also puts Guaymas and everything south of it off-limits to US government employees.
The exemption stops at the state line. If you continue into Sinaloa or Chihuahua, you need a full TIP, and the State Department rates Sinaloa Level 4, Do Not Travel.
The temporary import permit (TIP)
For the rest of Mexico, a US-registered vehicle needs a TIP from Banjercito. The State Department warns that driving without one can lead to the car being towed and a fine equal to its value.
- Where: online through Banjercito's site before you go, at Banjercito modules at the major crossings and at the Km 21 checkpoint near Nogales, or at some Mexican consulates in the US.
- What you need: your passport, your FMM, a valid driver's license, the vehicle's title or registration in your name, and a credit card in the owner's name. Leased or financed cars need a letter from the lender or leasing company permitting the car to go to Mexico. Temporary or paper plates are not accepted.
- Cost: a nonrefundable permit fee plus a refundable deposit, both charged in US dollars. The deposit depends on the car's model year and has long been US$200 for 2000 and older, US$300 for 2001 to 2006, and US$400 for 2007 and newer. Banjercito adjusts its fees, so confirm the current amounts when you apply.
- Getting your deposit back: you must cancel the permit at a Banjercito module when you leave Mexico. If you drive home without stopping, you lose the deposit, and the car stays in Mexico's system as still being in the country, which can block you from bringing a vehicle in later.
Our driving guide covers tolls, fuel, checkpoints and police stops once you're on the road.
Mexican car insurance
Your US auto policy does not provide the liability coverage Mexican law requires. Mexico requires liability insurance from a company licensed in Mexico for cars on federal highways, and in an accident, a driver who can't show coverage can be held until fault and damages are settled. That can mean a night in custody and an impounded car, even for a fender bender.
Buying it is easy. Several US-based brokers sell policies from Mexican insurers online, by the day for short trips or by the year for frequent visitors, and offices near the border sell it in person. At minimum, carry liability. For a car you care about, add physical damage and theft, legal assistance and roadside help. Some US insurers extend physical damage coverage a short distance into Mexico, but that still doesn't replace a Mexican liability policy.
Different from home
In the US, an accident usually means trading insurance details and driving away. In Mexico, police may hold the drivers until responsibility is decided. Your Mexican insurer's adjuster coming to the scene is what gets you moving again, so save the claims phone number in your phone and call it before you call anyone else. More in driving in Mexico.
Wait times and how to beat them
CBP publishes live northbound wait times for every crossing on its Border Wait Times site and app, broken down by lane: general, Ready Lane and SENTRI, for cars and pedestrians. Check it before you leave your hotel, and again an hour before you reach the border.
The spread can be dramatic. On a Monday afternoon in late October 2026, CBP showed about a two-hour wait in the general car lane at Calexico East and about 10 minutes in the SENTRI lane at the same port. Weekend and holiday peaks at San Ysidro and Otay Mesa can be longer.
- Worst times northbound: Sunday afternoons and evenings, the end of US holiday weekends, weekday mornings when commuters head to work, and the days after Christmas and Easter.
- Better times: late morning to early afternoon on weekdays, and very early Saturday or Sunday mornings at 24-hour ports.
- Smaller ports: they can be faster, but many close at night. Lukeville, the Rocky Point crossing, is open 6 am to 8 pm, and Andrade, for Los Algodones, 6 am to 10 pm. Arrive after closing and you'll be sleeping in Mexico.
- Southbound: usually quick, but Friday evenings and holiday weekends into Tijuana can back up.
Insider tip
In the northbound car line, you'll be offered churros, phone chargers, pottery and just about anything else by vendors walking between cars. That's normal and harmless. Keep your windows mostly up and your phone out of reach of an open window in slow traffic.
SENTRI and Ready Lanes
SENTRI
SENTRI is CBP's trusted traveler program for the southern land border. Members, after a background check and an in-person interview, use dedicated lanes for cars and pedestrians at most major crossings in California, Arizona and Texas, including San Ysidro, Otay Mesa, Calexico, San Luis, Nogales, Douglas, El Paso, Laredo, Hidalgo, Pharr and Brownsville. The fee is about US$120 for five years, and the car you use must be registered and inspected for the program.
SENTRI also gives US citizens Global Entry kiosk access at airports and TSA PreCheck, so for anyone who crosses by car more than a few times a year, it's the better buy than Global Entry. Apply on CBP's Trusted Traveler Programs site and book the interview early, because appointments near the border fill up.
Watch out
Smugglers have hidden drugs in magnetic boxes under the cars of SENTRI members, who cross quickly and predictably, then retrieved them on the US side. Park in attended lots, look under your bumpers if you park on the street in a border city, and never carry a package for anyone.
Ready Lanes
Ready Lanes are a middle option with no application. Every person in the car needs an RFID-enabled card, such as a US passport card, an enhanced driver's license (issued by a few states, including Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Vermont and Washington), a trusted traveler card or a newer green card. Officers read the cards before you reach the booth, so the line moves faster than general lanes. The passport card's real superpower is here: it's the cheapest way to qualify.
What you need to come back into the US
Under the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, US citizens entering by land need one of these:
- US passport book or passport card
- SENTRI, Global Entry, NEXUS or FAST card
- Enhanced driver's license or enhanced ID from a state that issues them
- US military ID if you're traveling on official orders
A regular driver's license, including a REAL ID, is not enough on its own. US-citizen children under 16, or under 19 when traveling in a supervised school, religious or sports group, can show a birth certificate (an original, a photocopy or a certified copy), a Consular Report of Birth Abroad or a naturalization certificate. Other teens 16 and older need an adult document.
At the booth, the officer will ask where you went and what you're bringing back. Declare everything you bought, especially food, medicine and alcohol. Fresh fruit, many meats and plants are prohibited, and an undeclared mango can earn a fine. Alcohol limits for land crossers are stricter in some states, and medicine has its own rules. All of it is in bringing things home.
Watch out
Don't joke with CBP officers, don't take photos at the booth, and don't carry anything you didn't pack yourself. Being sent to secondary inspection is routine and isn't an accusation, but it can add an hour.
Drive-to beach towns
These are the beach towns Americans drive to most, with the State Department's current advisory for each state. The levels apply to whole states. The tourist areas of these towns see far less violence than many other parts of the same states, and most visits go smoothly, but the advisories describe real risks, especially on the roads after dark.
Puerto Peñasco (Rocky Point)
Arizona's beach, on the Sea of Cortez, 62 miles (100 km) and about 1 hr 15 min south of the Lukeville crossing. Condos, seafood, sand dunes and calm water. Most visitors cross at Lukeville and drive Highway 8 through Sonoyta. The State Department permits government employees to visit Puerto Peñasco only by Highway 8 to and from the Lukeville-Sonoyta port, and bars them from using taxis, buses or ride-hail apps, so stick to that road. Lukeville is open 6 am to 8 pm; time your return so you don't miss it. Rocky Point is beyond the border zone, so get an FMM at Sonoyta.
San Felipe
A low-key fishing and snowbird town on the Sea of Cortez, roughly 120 miles (190 km) south of Mexicali on Highway 5. The advisory restricts government employees from most of the Mexicali Valley, the farm country east of Highway 5, but Highway 5 itself forms the western boundary and San Felipe is not restricted. Drive it in daylight and don't detour east into the valley. You need an FMM, but no vehicle permit.
Rosarito
A beach town just south of Tijuana known for lobster in Puerto Nuevo, surf, and spring-break weekends. Take the toll road (Highway 1D, the Escénica) rather than the free road. The State Department places no extra restrictions on government employees in Tijuana, Rosarito or Ensenada, though it notes that homicides are high in Tijuana's non-tourist areas.
Ensenada and Valle de Guadalupe
A port city with fish tacos, a cruise terminal and Mexico's best-known wine country 20 miles (30 km) inland. The toll road down the coast is one of the most scenic drives near the border. You need an FMM (free for stays of 7 days or less), and you should stop for it at the crossing. See Baja California for where to eat and stay.
Driving all the way to Baja California Sur (Level 2), with Loreto, La Paz, Todos Santos and Los Cabos, is a classic multi-day road trip of about 1,000 miles (1,600 km) from Tijuana to Cabo. It needs no vehicle permit, but it does need planning for fuel, military checkpoints and long empty stretches. Our Los Cabos and driving pages cover it.
Insider tip
Pay tolls in pesos. The booths on the Tijuana–Ensenada toll road accept dollars, but the change comes back in pesos at a poor rate. Keep a stash of MX$50 and MX$100 notes in the car. More in money.
Medical and dental day trips
Los Algodones, a tiny Baja California town just across from the Andrade port near Yuma, Arizona, exists largely to serve Americans and Canadians looking for cheaper dental work, glasses and medicine. In winter, when snowbirds fill Yuma, its few blocks are crowded with dental offices, pharmacies and optical shops, and the northbound pedestrian line can stretch around the block by early afternoon.
- Park in the large paid lot on the US side, run by the Quechan Indian Tribe, and walk across.
- Bring your passport book or card. You don't need an FMM for a day visit.
- Book with a dentist ahead and ask for a written treatment plan and price. Check reviews and credentials, ask what materials and labs they use, and ask what happens if work needs fixing.
- Head back before the midday rush. The crossing closes at 10 pm.
- Declare all medicine at the US booth and carry the prescription. CBP limits drugs bought abroad to personal-use quantities, and controlled substances face much stricter rules. See bringing things home.
Baja California carries a Level 3 advisory, but the State Department specifically permits government employees to visit Los Algodones, as long as they cross through Andrade. Tijuana also has a large medical and dental tourism industry, from cleanings to bariatric surgery. The CDC advises extra caution with surgery abroad, after outbreaks of infections linked to procedures in Mexican border cities; our health guide explains how to choose a clinic.
Save money
Get a written estimate from your US dentist first, so you know what you're comparing against. Big savings usually come on crowns, implants and bridges. A cleaning or a filling may not be worth the line.
Safety at the border
Most Americans who cross the border for a day of shopping, a dental visit or a beach weekend have no trouble at all. That said, the border states include some of the places where the State Department's advisory is most serious, and violence between criminal groups is real. As of the May 29, 2026 advisory, Baja California, Sonora and Chihuahua are Level 3 (Reconsider Travel), Coahuila carries restrictions on government employees, Tamaulipas is Level 4 (Do Not Travel), and Baja California Sur and Nuevo León are Level 2. The State Department advises private travelers to follow the same limits it sets for its own employees. Read the full picture on our safety page.
- Drive in daylight. Plan every road leg to finish before dark. Highway robbery and carjackings happen mostly at night and on remote roads.
- Use toll roads (cuotas). They're safer, better maintained and patrolled by the Green Angels roadside service (dial 078).
- Stick to the routes the advisory allows. For Rocky Point, that's Highway 8 from Lukeville. For Los Algodones, the Andrade port. In Ciudad Juárez, Nogales and the Tamaulipas towns, the State Department sets tight boundaries.
- Never bring a gun or a single bullet. It's the fastest way to a Mexican prison. Check your truck before you leave home. See entry rules.
- Police stops. If you're stopped and accused of a traffic violation, stay polite, ask for the written ticket (infracción), and offer to pay it at the station. Don't hand over your license unless required.
- Emergencies: dial 911 anywhere in Mexico. Enroll in the State Department's STEP program for alerts, and save the number of the nearest US consulate. There are consulates in Tijuana, Nogales, Hermosillo, Ciudad Juárez, Nuevo Laredo, Matamoros and Monterrey.
Watch out
Phone scams known as virtual kidnappings target people near the border and in tourist areas: a caller claims to be holding a relative and demands money fast. Hang up, then call or message the relative directly. Our safety page explains how they work.
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