Baja Mexico Hangout

Yes. Every attendee (including children) must have a valid passport with an expiration date of August 14, 2020 or later. You must bring your passports with you to check-in.

If you are a U.S. or Canadian citizen, you don’t need a visa. However, you do need a FMM (Forma Migratoria Múltiple), basically a Mexican tourist card, for each attendee. You can obtain the FMM online within the month before our border crossing. The cost is about US$35 a person, depending on the current exchange rate. We will provide each attendee with detailed instructions for how to do this. You must bring your printed FMMs and payment receipts with you to check-in. We will have the Mexican authorities stamp our FMMs when we cross the border into Mexico.

Mexican federal law requires that you have vehicle liability insurance issued by a Mexican insurer. This insurance covers bodily injury to and damage to property of third parties while you’re driving. The minimum required coverage level is 50,000 pesos (about US$2,600) in property damage costs and 100,000 pesos (about US$5,200) in personal injury expenses, but for their own protection, most visitors purchase at least $100,000 in coverage.

Each self-propelled vehicle that you plan to operate in Mexico must have its own liability policy. If you have a motorhome and a toad, that means you’ll need two policies. Owners of towed trailers will need coverage only on their tow vehicle.

The cost for this coverage can vary greatly–anywhere from US$100-$300 or more–depending on your vehicles and the options you select. In the past, some Escapees members have saved money by insuring their motorhome for just the two driving days. You’ll want coverage on your toad or tow vehicle for the entire duration of the Hangout so that you can drive it while you’re there.

Remember that your U.S. policy has two main parts: liability to third parties (bodily injury and property damage), and damage to your own vehicles (collision and comprehensive).

The liability portion of your U.S. policy is not valid in Mexico. You must purchase a Mexican liability policy as described above.

The damage to your vehicles portion of your U.S. policy MAY OR MAY NOT cover you for damage incurred in Mexico. Read your policy and talk with your insurer to find out. If your U.S. policy does not provide damage coverage in Mexico, you can add this coverage when you buy your Mexican liability policy. If your policy does provide coverage for damage to your vehicles in Mexico, be sure you understand and comply with any applicable restrictions. If you’re OK with those restrictions, don’t spend the extra money on redundant Mexican damage coverage.

FCIS Insurance, an Escapees Endorsed Vendor, can assist you with your Mexican liability insurance. Call 800-331-1520 or email info@fcisinsurance.com to discuss options with one of their RV insurance specialists.

You can also price and buy your Mexican liability insurance from a number of online sites, including Mexpro.com and Oscar Padilla Mexican Insurance. Or if you prefer, you can visit a Mexican insurance broker in one of the U.S. border towns. Finally, your U.S. insurer may also be able to suggest a source.

Be sure to shop around, as premiums can vary significantly between insurers.

The roads are all paved, and pretty much like you’d find in the United States, at least as far south as San Felipe. In Mexicali, the surface streets are similar to those in major U.S. cities. The highway between Mexicali and San Felipe, and most of the roads in San Felipe itself, are all either two-lane or four-lane paved roadway. 

According to reliable third-party sources, all of the diesel fuel sold in the northern Baja Peninsula is ultra-low-sulfur (ULSD) suitable for use in all diesel engines. You will not see it labeled as ULSD, however. 

If you prefer not to buy diesel in Mexico, know that the round-trip route is about 290 miles long, so most vehicles can make it on one tank of fuel. You can also bring extra diesel fuel with you in appropriate containers if you wish.

Yes, pets are permitted in Mexico as long as they have current vaccinations and parasite treatments. As of December 16, 2019, a veterinary health certificate is no longer required for dogs and cats, but may still be required for other animals.

Dogs must be kept on leash at all times while outside your RV. Please be sure to pick up after your dog.

No. Guns and ammunition are illegal in Mexico. Enforcement is strict. Expect your vehicles to be inspected at the border and again at a military checkpoint on the way to San Felipe. Any guns or ammo found will be confiscated and result in you being immediately sent to prison. 

In the past, some Escapees members have shared the rental of a self-storage unit in El Centro, AZ to store their prohibited items the night before departure. We have also heard of travelers leaving their weapons with a pawn shop in the U.S. and then retrieving them when they return.

No. Recreational drugs, including marijuana, are illegal in Mexico. Again, enforcement is strict. You should expect your vehicles to be inspected by drug-sniffing dogs at least once. Illegal drugs will be confiscated and you will be sent to prison.

If you take any controlled substances prescribed by a physician, be sure they are in the original bottles with the prescription label attached. And if possible, don’t bring any larger quantity than what you’ll need during the Hangout.

While not required, it’s highly recommended. While we are caravanning to and from San Felipe, we will use two-way radios to keep in contact with everyone in the caravan. They are especially useful if you need assistance during the journey. In addition, the park’s restaurant and bar monitors the radio for orders to be delivered directly to your rig. 🙂 

Any Family Radio Service (FRS)-capable walkie-talkie will work. If you don’t already have one, they cost $25-$50 for a pair on Amazon. Be sure your radio has fresh batteries if it uses disposables, or fully charge rechargeable batteries before each travel day.

Citizens-band (CB) radios are not required.

In general, the municipal water quality in San Felipe is good. But…better safe than sorry. To help ensure that illness doesn’t interrupt your fun, we recommend drinking and brushing your teeth with only purified bottled water. (Bottled water is readily available at stores in town, so don’t worry about bringing a 10-day supply.) 

The fresh water supply is fine for bathing, washing dishes, and so on. Many RVers sanitize their fresh water systems upon returning from Mexico, again just to be safe.

Yes, there is a Calimax store, similar to a Super Walmart, about two miles from the RV park. The Calimax has a wide selection of food items as well as other household goods and supplies.

Victor’s RV Park has wifi, but as with many campground wifi systems, it is relatively low bandwidth and may not be reliable with so many people in one area.  If you need data intensive bandwidth, there is a coffee shop nearby with a good connection, or you may wish to use your own cellular hotspot.

Your cell phone will work in Mexico, and coverage in the RV park and the cities is generally good. However, availability of service, data speed and data caps will vary depending on your device, plan and carrier. Please check with your carrier beforehand.

We strongly recommend that you have at least mobile voice service on your phone while you’re in Mexico for use in an emergency. If your current U.S. plan does not include service in Mexico and you can’t add it temporarily, it is possible to get a local SIM card and add data to it to use in your cell phone or other mobile device. The cost is about $5 per gigabyte of data.

Yes. On the night before departure day, in the Imperial Valley Mall parking lot, generators may be used until 10:00 pm and after 6:00 am. Generators may also be used in the dry camping area at Victor’s between 8:00 am and 10:00 pm.

To the extent feasible based on rig size, we will try to locate solar-powered rigs that don’t plan on using generators together in the dry camping area. However, you should be aware that the dry camping area is relatively small, so you will likely still hear generators being used.

Tents are not permitted in the camping area (dry camping or full hookup) due to space constraints. Small shade tents or shelters are OK on the beach.

Most Hangout attendees will dry camp in the parking lot of Imperial Valley Mall on the evening of February 13. The mall has restaurants, shops, and a 14-screen Cinemark movie theater you can enjoy that evening.

You are welcome to stay at a nearby RV park with hookups on the night before departure if you wish. However, you and your RV must be back at Imperial Valley Mall, fueled up and ready to go, by 7:30 am on February 14. The caravan will not wait for you if you’re late. 

If you do decide to stay at an RV park, we still ask that you and your travel companions attend the informational meeting at the mall at 4:00 pm on February 13. You don’t need to bring your RV.

The town of San Felipe is probably safer than most American cities. You will see tourists and residents alike walking around and to and from the Malecón and downtown areas at night. Of course, it’s always a good idea to take the same reasonable precautions you would in the United States.

From Imperial Valley Mall in El Centro, CA to the border crossing (Puerto Fronterizo Mexicali II) and then to the campground in San Felipe is 145 miles and about 2.75 hours of driving time. Our actual travel time, however, will be closer to 5-6 hours, allowing time for customs and immigration formalities at the border and checkpoints along the way.

The return trip from the campground back to the border is 128 miles and about 20 minutes shorter.

No, but we encourage you to travel with the caravan for safety and fun, as well as to have the benefit of the police escort through Mexicali and expedited crossing at the border.

Yes! Mexicali is a large and dense city, with a population of about one million people in the metro area. It can be easy to get lost or separated from the rest of the caravan. To help prevent this, the local police department will meet us on the Mexican side of the border and escort us through the city. Motorcycle officers will stop traffic at each intersection so that our caravan can proceed straight through without stopping. When we return, the escort will meet us on the south side of Mexicali and take us back through the city, directly to a dedicated line at the border crossing.

No. The park is hosting an Xscapers Convergence immediately before the Hangout, and your site will likely be filled by other visitors on the day you depart. However, you may stay at another campground in San Felipe or elsewhere on the Baja Peninsula if you wish.

Unfortunately, no. Because of the different sizes of sites in the full hookup area and the shortage of larger sites, we will assign rigs to sites based on their rig size. In general, we will put each participant into the smallest site that can accommodate their rig.

No. Each rig owner must register themselves separately, and at least one person in each rig must be an Escapees member.  

Yes, drones are permitted at the campground and in the surrounding areas.

No. Our campground hosts speak excellent English, and most restaurants and shops in San Felipe speak at least basic “tourist English”. Of course, it’s always polite when traveling internationally to learn a few words to be able to communicate in the local language!

No, there are no car rental agencies in San Felipe. 

No problem! Just email hangouts@escapees.com with your question, and we’ll do our best to get you an answer.