South of the San Diego Border - Tips and tricks?

I've been looking at going to Mexico for a while now. Despite living in TX AZ and SD For some reason or another it never happened. Anyway I'm looking at going to Tijuana, maybe Rosarito as well for a long weekend with a friend or two. Never been but I've traveled a lot so I'm not an idiot when it comes to travel etiquette and the like. So from those of you who have been, what are the good areas to go and areas to avoid? Just looking to eat some good authentic Mexican food, socialize a have some untainted drinks. Maybe do some activities that you don't do much in the US. I Don't care much for the "historical" stuff in that part of the country. I speak mediocre Spanish - enough to carry a conversation using the wrong tense of verbs.

 

You really want to go to Tijuana? Have you watched the news at all?

 

Want advice on Tijuana? Don't f@ckin' go there. Areas to avoid? All of it.

Just no.

 

No I haven't. But they always find bad shit to talk about no matter where you wanna go. People go all the time I know this.. Hence my questions for tips and tricks. Or first hand experience if you advise not to go.

 

Do you HAVE to go to Tijuana? I spent quite a bit of time in MX the last few years on work and I'll admit there are parts of MX that I love. Great people, great food, great beer.

Tijuana is Hell but with screaming diarrhea and donkey shows.

 

TJ or Rosarito. Either my friend is driving or we're taking the bus so we won't be going too far south of the border

 

I’ve been in TJ recently and it’s not too bad. better to go during daytime though.

if you are into wine, you can go south of TJ and East, and there is a little-known up-and-coming wine region with quite a few wineries. I’ve heard it’s pretty nice actually.

https://www.sandiego.org/articles/baja-california/baja-california-wine-region.aspx

 

If you're a beer drinker one tip I try and do in places I'm not comfortable is only order beer in bottles, NEVER draft, no glass and the cap still on it and sealed. I have a bottle cap opener in my shave bag, take it with me and open the beer myself.
I drink Heineken because it's the same every place you go (except for the chopp in Brazil) and you'll know instantly if its tainted or bootleg.

All learned from being set up in a hotel bar in Turkey. Luckily I saw the set up coming before they could close the deal. lol!

 

Yes I wasn’t trying to be a dick but TJ is a no go. If you drive across the border stop at the last exit and get auto insurance, what you currently have probably won’t cover you in Mexico.

as for TJ I have always driven through as fast as I could and didn’t stop.

 

BTW, we parked in the large parking lot on the USA side of the border and walked across the pedestrian bridge. Once we were in TJ, I called for an Uber that took us downtown. Easy peasy and like $2.

 

It's been 8/9 years since I've been down there. If your at Purple Rain, tell Maria I miss 'er.
Taqueria Franc opens at 4pm.
Make sure ya jump in the hot tub at Hong Kong Club. It's right as ya walk thru the doors, on your left.
Stay together, don't wander off alone like I did and woke up under a cardboard box, behind a church at Las Playas. T'was a Long Walk to the border with no cash in my wallet.

 

Is there a big black market in well-worn dwarf organs?

 

Cash, credit cards and passport.

 

Would have been funnier to hear you woke up in a kitchen sink full of ice missing a kidney bean

 

oh, they didn't get me. I figured it out, left the drink and got the f@ck outta dodge asap.

 

he aware of whats going on...they'll try to pick pocket you allot. a long time since I have been in TJ, the last time almost ended in disaster lol.

 

I had $300 in my breast pocket of my shirt. Kids swarmed me and stuffed flowers in my face.
One kid snatched the cash.
Little shitz were no older than 10.
Had $2500 stashed under mattress at a Rosarito hotel. Had a couple of chicks in the jacuzzi on balcony. Ordered champagne a few times that night, woke up next afternoon and cash was gone. No clue how they knew it was there.
I was 17 when I moved here. Couldn't get into bars in San Diego, so ended up in Tijuana every Wednesday thru Saturday.

 

Don't leave your bottle on the rail.
The "zebras" aren't.
K-39 for the surfing.
No drinking on the street.
The closer to jail, the steeper the payout to get out of the cop car.

 

K39 for the win

 

Seriously?