for today,,,

dean wrote:bobos starting to come out.  

The announcement came just days after a December extension was given to finalise all the details.
Baja California Sur is the first state in Mexico to introduce a tourist tax. But Governor Carlos Mendoza believes states with a similar tourist profile may follow suit.

Around 95% of the monies collected will be earmarked for infrastructure projects. And if this promise is kept, a huge amount of good work could be done. (Los Cabos alone could bring in almost $40 million US dollars at current exchange rates).

The tax has been controversial from the beginning and a lot of people are against it. Some service providers believe that tourists already contribute enough to the economy. And fear that the imposition of this tax will discourage visitors.

Cruise passengers will be exempt - as they are in Cabo less than 24 hours. And it's not clear if the tax will be levied on national, as well as international tourists.

Whatever your view, it’s starting in December. And at 350 pesos, approximately 20 dollars, it's hardly going to affect your vacation. Especially if it is put to a good use.

Ready to book your next vacation?

bajanomad wrote:
NEW ROADBED OPEN!
In the 2 weeks since I was last on this route, barriers blocking the new highway elevated roadbed (south of the original road) were removed and other cars were on it. During construction, these detours could very well change back.

Mile 0.0 Hwy. 1 & Hwy. 5 Junction, 1:58 pm.
Mile 0.9 Fork right onto new roadbed.
Mile 3.5 original and new roads rejoin.
Mile 5.2 off of new roadbed.
Mile 8.0 Construction camp, leave new road alignment and head for Coco's Corner.
Mile 12.9 Coco's Corner 2:36 pm
Mile 16.8 Las Arrastras 2:45 pm Rejoin new road route.
Mile 22.3 On pavement and new bridges.
Mile 23.2 Km. 167 (just north of previous pavement start.
Mile 35.5 Gonzaga Bay Pemex, 3:12 pm

A great tool that we came across is SimplePay. If you also think paying Mexico bills is inconvenient, you're not alone! Frequently, the bills in Mexico arrive late (or they never do); then you need to go across town to pay your electric or water bill before they shut-you-off.

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We surveyed thousands of foreigners who own or rent a home in Mexico, and most of them spend 6+ months out of Mexico. This is why SimplePay is so convenient. You can finally keep on top of your Mexico bills, without having to pre-pay the whole year in advance or ask friends for favors. Click here to view

bpe wrote:This plan is the real deal. Unlimited talk, text and data to/from anywhere in North America for two phones for $60 per month. I had the rep dig deep into customer service to find out who they partner with in Mexico and it is TelCel. If you sign up at Costco there is no activation fee and the SIM card is free. We switched to T-Mobile today.

bpe wrote:Ladies, watch your purse! Yesterday while having lunch at one of our favorite restaurants, my friend’s purse was removed from the back of her chair, taken over to another table, wallet removed and then the purse was gently replaced on the back of her chair while a second man engaged us in a nonsense conversation in Spanish. Very slick and professional. All was caught on video but no one recognized the three men. I am not going to name the restaurant, so please don’t ask. Within a couple of hours thousands of dollars was charged at various stores in Cabo area.

Attention border crossers: For 57 hours in September, all cars will be barred from entering Tijuana through San Ysidro.

Lasting from Sept. 23 at 3 a.m. until noon on Sept. 25, the closure is part of a plan by the U.S. General Services Administration to realign a portion of Interstate 5. The operation launches the third and final phase of the $741 million expansion of the San Ysidro Port of Entry.

The closure will affect tens of thousands of drivers--students, commuters, shoppers and others who regularly travel between San Ysidro and Tijuana, passing through the busiest border crossing in the Western Hemisphere.

Authorities are comparing the operation to Carmageddon, when a large swath of the busy Los Angeles I-405 Freeway was shut down for a weekend in 2011 for a highway expansion project.

In this case, the partial closure of I-5 at San Ysidro will cause all vehicle traffic crossing into Mexico during that period to be rerouted to Otay Mesa, where Mexico has only five inspection lanes.

“If you have to cross that weekend, plan on delays,” said Anthony Kleppe, a senior asset manager with the GSA.

At a forum hosted Monday by the San Ysidro Chamber of Commerce and the South County Economic Development Council, Kleppe announced key dates for the massive project, which entails re-building the southernmost stretch of I-5 as it leads into Tijuana’s El Chaparral Port of Entry.

The project is scheduled for completion in June 2019, Kleppe told a crowd of several dozen residents, business owners, and government officials from both sides of the border gathered at the Las Americas outlet mall in San Ysidro.

The aim is to double the number of southbound lanes that feed into El Chaparral from five to ten. It will also involve adding eight more northbound inspection lanes at the San Ysidro Port of Entry, bringing the total to 33. In addition, plans call for southbound vehicle inspection booths to be operated by U.S. Customs and Border Protection inspectors, and a secondary inspection area.

During the construction period, the northbound flow of vehicular traffic will not be affected, Kleppe said. Nor will the pedestrian crossings in both directions.

The 57-hour closure of the southbound vehicle lanes is necessary for the safe removal of a large steel and canvas canopy that currently covers a portion of the southbound car lanes, according to GSA. During that time, workers will also remove concrete crash barriers, and install infrastructure and temporary paving and striping.

“We start with a bang,” Kleppe said.

Following the closure, southbound lanes will be reduced from five to three for a two-month period. After that the plan calls for adding a fourth lane before Thanksgiving, and softening the current sharp 110-degree turn toward El Chaparral to 90 degrees. “It has a better curve, even though there are fewer lanes,” Kleppe said. GSA expects that as a result of the gentler curve, the flow of traffic will not change significantly from what it is today, despite the reduction in lanes.

Monday’s presentation was seen as the launching of an effort to get out the word about the closure and lane reductions. “As the message continues to go out, people are going to be able to plan their trips better,” said Efrain Ibarra, assistant director of the South County Economic Development Council.

“We hope to turn this into a positive,” said Jason Wells, executive director of the San Ysidro Chamber of Commerce, where the fear is that a drop in traffic could mean loss of business.

Plans to hold a festival during the closure and promote pedestrian crossings “can make this an economic boost for us down here,” Wells said.

BPE wrote:Drove from LB to GN today (Friday) and we encountered the most federal police writing tickets and patrolling in the 30 plus times we have driven the Baja. Almost every town starting with La Paz and ending up in Guerrero Negro had people pulled over and many more patrolling, probably 25 Federal Police sometimes 2-3 waiting in one spot with radar. Also saw approximately 100-150 Marines in buses headed north out of La Paz, good to see them! Drive slower, be safe and watch out.