Why is tijuana so bad

Now he never crosses alone. This is how I learned this tip. After that night, I will never make this walk alone again after dark. Instead, they park on the U. Tijuana is easy to get around without a vehicle. The main tourist areas are walkable and public transportation is affordable and convenient. With that being said, some visitors enjoy the freedom of having their own transportation. Driving is the fastest and most convenient way to get around.

It also allows you to easily explore the entire region on your own time. Of course, there are some risks involved. Probably the biggest risk of driving in Tijuana is getting pulled over by a corrupt police officer. Tijuana police are known to pull vehicles over to solicit bribes from the driver. Unfortunately, this is fairly common.

You may be more likely to get pulled over while driving a vehicle with a U. After pulling you over, the officer may accuse you of committing a crime.

For example, they may tell you that you made an illegal maneuver or accuse you of driving drunk. They may search you and your vehicle as well. At this point, they may imply that you can pay and leave. Usually, pesos is enough to satisfy them. Some police will try to take all of the cash you have on you. Some will simply ask you to hand over your wallet and take what they feel is fair.

If you refuse to pay, the officer could ask you to come to the police station to pay the fine. Sometimes the cop will just let you go. Sometimes you can talk your way out of whatever it is that they stopped you for. For more info, check out my complete guide to police corruption in Tijuana. Another potential risk of driving in Tijuana is getting in an auto accident.

Road conditions and signage can be poor as well. Minor fender benders are common in Tijuana. Accidents are often settled on the spot in cash. If you are going to drive in Tijuana, you should buy temporary auto insurance before you cross the border. There are numerous locations in San Ysidro where you can buy Mexican auto insurance by the day before you cross the border. You can also buy insurance online before your trip or through your regular insurance provider.

For more info, check out my guide: How to Drive to Tijuana. Here, I discuss temporary vehicle insurance, parking, driving in Tijuana, the border crossings, and more.

A few of the most common scams to look out for in Tijuana include:. You can find many of these in Tijuana in one form or another.

While walking around Tijuana, you will likely be approached by a fast-talking hustler or con man. These are usually guys who used to live in the United States but were deported for committing crimes.

After getting deported they were dropped off in Tijuana. These guys speak perfect English and make their living running scams on tourists. They run some pretty elaborate scams involving accomplices and possibly a corrupt police officer. Con men are most common in Zona Norte and Zona Centro.

They will ask you about your trip and ask if you need help with anything. After chatting for a bit, they may start telling you a sob story.

They might tell you that they need to buy medicine or that they were recently deported and need help. They will tell you anything to part you with your hard-earned money. Sometimes these guys have deals arranged with the police where they work as a kind of informant. For example, they may offer to sell you illegal drugs.

After you buy from them, they will turn you in to the police. At this point, the police stop you and force you to pay a big fine or threaten you with jail time. After paying the bribe, the police pay the scammer a cut for turning you in.

To be safe, you should never get too friendly with anyone who approaches you on the street. Also, never buy drugs in Tijuana. Unfortunately, there is poverty and homelessness in Tijuana. Occasionally someone will approach to ask for money. Some of these people are sick or mentally unstable. Try to avoid them as you can never predict how they will behave. For example, I was once walking down the street minding my own business when a woman started yelling, jumped toward me, and punched me right in the stomach.

She then continued walking as if nothing happened. These days, I cross the street if I see someone that looks dangerous or sketchy. While walking around town, you may encounter small children selling gum or trinkets.

They are harmless. Over the past couple of years, thousands of migrants have made their way to Tijuana. Some are still there waiting. In fact, they are more likely to be victims of crimes than criminals. These areas attract crime. Police corruption is a problem in Tijuana. It is not uncommon for Tijuana police to stop tourists and ask for a bribe or mordida in Spanish. Sometimes police set up roadblocks or perform random searches on a street corner.

After stopping you, the officer may tell you that you committed a serious crime and that you need to pay a fine. They may tell you that you made an illegal turn or parked illegally. In some cases, they may accuse you of drunk driving or carrying illegal drugs.

The officer might threaten you with jail time or tell you that they will impound your vehicle. At that point, the officer will imply that you can settle the matter there and then by paying a fine.

Sometimes they want to take all of the cash you have on you. In some cases, they may ask that you hand over your wallet. It depends on the officer.

When talking to the police in Tijuana, speak as respectfully as you can, be patient, and play dumb. Also, try to stall as much as you can. Ask for directions. Sometimes the officer will become bored or frustrated with you and send you on your way. Sometimes you may be able to talk your way out of it.

Never show any aggression, frustration, or anger. While talking to the officer, try to take note of their badge number and name on their badge.

Also, note the number of their vehicle. You may need this information later. If the officer is insisting that you pay them, there are a number of different ways to handle the situation. Everyone has a different philosophy on handling police corruption. You can:. Of course, not every cop in Tijuana is corrupt and looking for a bribe.

Most police officers are honest and just doing their job. An officer could pull you over for committing a legitimate traffic infraction.

If you did commit a crime, you should expect to pay a fine. The best way to go about paying is to go to the station with the officer. If you pay the officer directly, the money will go into his pocket.

This way, the officer sees that you know who to call if they try anything illegal. The hope is that the officer will let you go rather than risk getting in trouble. Some travelers have reported success with this method. Be warned that this could anger the officer and land you in a worse position. It depends on the mood of the officer who pulled you over. You can read more about this in this thread on Baja Nomad. The best way to avoid getting pulled over is to obey all laws. You are less likely to get pulled over if you follow all of the rules of the road.

You can also reduce your likelihood of getting pulled over by driving a vehicle with Mexican license plates. Corrupt police regularly stop drunk tourists shake them down for bribes. Also, avoid making eye contact with the police when you walk by them. They could stop you and hassle you for no reason.

Also, never carry anything illegal on your person. An officer could stop you and search you at any time. If they find something, you could end up with a big fine or jail time. For more info, check out my guide to police corruption in Tijuana. The Tijuana police are not known for being too helpful to tourists. They do their best to keep the peace and protect tourists from violent crime.

After all, Tijuana makes a lot of money from tourism. The city already has a bad enough reputation. If the police recover your stolen stuff, you might have to pay to get it back. The police in Tijuana have an incredibly dangerous job.

I respect them for doing it. Many tourists chose to skip Tijuana entirely and just drive or take a bus straight through to Rosarito or Ensenada. Rosarito is a pleasant little beach town about 12 miles south of Tijuana. Ensenada is a small coastal city about 70 miles south of Tijuana known for its excellent, fresh seafood. Some travelers visit Tecate, which is a small pueblo located 35 miles east of Tijuana on the border.

These are quiet and safe cities that you can visit if you want to avoid the big city hassles of Tijuana. These cities have lower rates of crime and fewer scams to deal with. While visiting Tijuana, you do have to be a bit more cautious about what you eat and drink. In general, food hygiene standards are just a bit lower in Tijuana than in the US. The problem is that the water can get contaminated with heavy metals and bacteria as it passes through old pipes on its way to your tap.

To be safe, you should only drink bottled water or purified water in Tijuana. You can buy bottled water at any supermarket, pharmacy, convenience store, restaurant, and food stand. Most hotels offer a water dispenser in the lobby where you can refill your water bottle with purified water.

The water comes from liter jugs called garrafones. This water is perfectly safe to drink. It is the same as bottled water.

You can also buy your own liter jug and refill it or swap it out. Another safe water option is to buy a water filter. I use the Sawyer Mini ad. With it, you can filter tap water and save on buying bottled water. The filter removes bacteria, debris, and contaminants that are greater than.

Zona Norte, also known as Hong Kong District, is one of the most dangerous and highly trafficked tourist areas. Also, the town is dangerous because of territorial disputes between drug cartels, countless scams, and numerous muggings.

If you travel to Tijuana, make sure to stay in heavily policed areas known for tourism. Neighborhoods like Zona Rio and Playas de Tijuana are known to be some of the safest areas.

I could tell you that any place you travel to is dangerous. Before you close the book on TJ, you should understand that it can be visited safely if you pay attention to some things. Come on, to party a bit. The fact of the matter is, Tijuana has a long history with party-goers. And the people are great, there is quite a bit to see and do, and the food is both amazing and international.

Being a border town, there is a little of every type of cuisine there. While the Spanish discovered the region in , the city was actually founded by farmers and ranchers in The town was nothing but farmland until the early 20th century.

Really, Tijuana was just an agriculture mud-hole. American Prohibition really made the city what it is. So in the s Tijuana exploded as a getaway for Americans looking to indulge in both drinking and gambling during prohibition times. As I mentioned earlier, there is more to the town than its early roots suggest.

Tijuana has a lot of great food. The city has a range of food from street vendors serving up some of the best tacos in Mexico to high-end restaurants of many international flavors. In , an Italian immigrant named Caesar Cardini moved South of the border to Tijuana in an effort to improve his restaurant business.

Due to the limited food supplies at the time in the region, he invented the caesar salad. The one and only famous caesar salad was invented in none other than Tijuana. You can still visit this restaurant. Caesars Restaurant is on Avenida Revolucion in downtown Tijuana. The original wood bar that is still standing from the s is the focal point of the restaurant with a vintage cash register surrounded by liquor bottles.

Here are a few notable ones:. You can arrive at the border by either car, train, or bus. The metro and greyhound station is within walking distance of the border. There is also parking at the metro station, although many choose to park more North and take the blue line into the border.

The rates appear to be daily, although they are in hour increments. It will take about 45 minutes. You will need to catch the blue line from any station traveling South toward San Ysidro.

View the San Diego blue line schedule and map here. From the station, there are signs marking the path toward Mexico. Additionally, there are plenty of officers around here, so you can always ask them if you get confused. Note: If you plan to enter Mexico by land and stay more than 72 hours, you will need to stop in the immigration module located at the border.

As you walk, there will be taxi drivers along the pathway offering their driving services. Additionally, there will be taxis queuing at the end of the pathway as well.

Because the rates of taxis are not always consistent, I would suggest taking an Uber there. I think facts are the best way to understand how dangerous Tijuana is. After all, the city has been ranked as the most violent city in the world for multiple years running now. The rating is mostly based on its insanely high homicide rate of 2, With a population of 1,,, there are murders per , people.

This is significantly higher than Juarez, Mexico. And Juarez has long been known as the place El Chapo and many other infamous drug kingpins reside. In fact, due to corruption and drug violence , Mexico holds the top 5 positions on this list. As you might have guessed, most violent crimes are drug-related in Tijuana. Essentially, this is an age-old story that repeats itself about every decade in Mexico. In , Baja California police reported a total of murders in 1 week.

Stratfor WorldView paints a different picture for both tourists and expats traveling to Tijuana. There are more people over the last few years visiting the city than ever before. Stratfor Worldview reports that just in , over 35 million Americans visited Mexico. In , 4 young Americans headed to Tijuana for a night of partying, but their night ended when they were brutally murdered.

For most people, the trip down there is uneventful. There is great food and shopping. What had happened? As ambulance technicians strapped the blood-spattered man to a stretcher with silver duct tape, a police officer claimed he was a convicted burglar probably shot while trying to rob a local home. But like so much of the bloodletting, the case would go unreported by newspapers, unnoticed by society and unsolved by the police.

It has been just over a decade since a savage turf war for control of drug smuggling routes into the United States made Tijuana one of the most ill-famed cities on Earth. In one of the most disturbing episodes 12 corpses were abandoned with their tongues hacked out and placed nearby in a black plastic bag. Negative headlines sparked government action and by the number of annual murders had plunged.

That appeared to be what was at stake on the night of 8 October when dozens of heavily armed police descended on a petrol station after a drive-by shooting left four men injured, one critically. Illuminated in the the red and blue lights of emergency vehicles, a half-naked man lay in a pool of blood, shot through the thigh and fighting for his life. After a minute race to the hospital, he was carried in past police with white skulls stamped on to their black uniforms and rifles slung from their shoulders.

The woman reached for her smartphone to show a series of macabre images depicting conditions inside.