The trip is doable, but it will be 2 very long days.

In Guerrero Negro we stopped by the Desert Inn to check out the restaurant for breakfast (and immediately left once we saw the prices)--that's a chain of hotels throughout Baja and I'm guessing is one of your better bets for a connecting room or at least two rooms next to eachother.

I disagree about cell phone coverage. Expect complete dead zones for miles on end. My T-Mobile GSM and my friends Telcel GSM (Tijuana) could only be relied upon near significantly populated areas. I remember specifically trying to report a brush fire to 060 between Loreto and La Paz and never getting a signal.

I'm not sure how to get the tourist cards beforehand. Might be easier to just get them as you drive into Mexico (enter Mexico from one of the far right lanes, go through the "something to declare" side, park, and there's a set of offices in there where you apply on the spot). You can also prepay insurance online and stop and get the documents as you enter, too.

This site has an excellent road guide: http://www.ontheroadin.com/baja/thebaja.htm (the road logs and driving guide EXE file produced a PDF that was not password protected, although their camping guide on the same page was protected)

Hi peterlim, welcome to Flyertalk!

I have only a few data points to contribute to your assessment of what's best for you and your family. One is that you might check out airfares out of LAX, vs. SAN. There is more competition out of LAX and so the fares are better, I have found. I flew a Mexicana direct flight in April and it was a great flight.

Two is that your minivan guesstimate of $800 for a week maps with my experience in April. I think ours was about $900 all-in (we took all the insurances) for the week. In retrospect it was hardly worth it -- we did use it to go to downtown Cabo one day and to go to the Mega to buy groceries, but even if we added in cab fares to take those trips, the airport transfer + occasional cabs would have been cheaper by far.

We were only 2 people so the economics were different. We paid $230 RT from LAX and I don't know what the story was with that crazy $100/week car deal. We just found it on Orbitz and it was with Enterprise. Just a little cheapie--less chance of it getting broken into! Obviously a mini-van would be a lot more.

I suppose I shouldn't have said that we had cell coverage all the way down. When we checked occasionally we seemed to have it. We weren't really worried about having it at all times but rather my husband wanted to check his voicemail once or twice a day, which we did w/o problem. He just used his US account. Costs more than a local but we weren't using it much. Just make sure your international roaming isn't blocked.

I agree with just getting the tourist card at the border. Didn't take long.

Thanks everyone for your $0.02. Jim, on that road guide, it says that there's no parking on the other side of the border so that you should walk across, get the tourist card, come back, and then drive across. It also says that the Tourist Cards are "payable at a bank." Huh? Does that mean I get the card, fill it out, stop at a bank, and then pay for it? Does anyone know how/if the tourist card can be obtained prior to that day? I'm just trying to eliminate any possible delays that morning that I cross over into Mexico.

Any recommendations which insurance company to go through?

I'm thinking now of starting at 8am from San Diego and driving all the way to San Ignacio instead of stopping at Guerrero Negro. Is this nuts?

When you enter Mexico using one of the far right lanes, pull into the "something to declare" side. There's plenty of parking spots. Maybe the road guide (meant for RV'ers originally) refers to RV parking, I dunno. As far as paying at a bank goes, yes, this is true. The bank is three offices down (10 second walk) from the tourist card office, and you'll be directed there. Otherwise call the Mexican consulate here and see how to get the cards before.

Bajabound and Bajamex are good enough for the insurance.

As far as it being nuts, you said you had young children, so yes, it's nuts. :D

I thought I would just follow up on this thread with a post-trip summary of lessons learned.
I took my trip in the first week of August. I purchased mexican auto insurance online a couple of days before and printed out my policy. I left SD at around 8am and stopped off at the border for the tourist cards (Thurs morning). There was one person ahead of me in line so the wait was very quick. We gassed up whenever the fuel gauge was below 1/2 a tank, making sure that we filled up in El Rosario. It was starting to get a little dark by the time we got to San Ignacio but we kept going and stayed over night at Santa Rosalia Casitas. It was all dark by the time we got there and I was nervous about driving at night but it turned out OK. It was a warm but endurable night even for my little ones. Our room at Santa Rosalia Casitas was spacious with two King/Queen? beds. My 4 year old slept on two chairs that we put together to form a makeshift bed. The next morning, we left at around 8am. The coastal drive south of Mulege is some of the most gorgeous I have ever seen. I drove through the La Paz/Todos Santos route and ended up in CSL at around 7pm. It was a rather easy drive, especially because we had Nintendo DS games for the kids and DVDs playing on my laptop computer. (Power provided by one of those DC/AC cigarette lighter power generators)

The only scary moment during my trip occurred when I was about 45 minutes away from CSL when a car coming toward me on the opposite side of the hwy decided to pass the car in front of it by coming into my lane. He almost didn't make it back into his own side until just a few inches away from colliding into me. I was actually bracing for impact. I could feel the bumps at the edge of the asphalt as I was over as far right as I could without being forced off the road. There was no shoulder. The next time I'm in this situation, I'm going to slow down considerably and flash my high-beams in order to maximize the other guy's time to go back into his own lane.

On the return trip home, I started at around 8:30am from CSL and drove to San Ignacio Springs Bed & Breakfast. We actually reserved the "La Muralla" room but because of some mixup, we were given a yurt. My daughters were squeamish about some of the bugs we found in the room and the fact that that those yurts were not completely bug-proof (openings around the air conditioner...) so we decided to move on to Guerrero Negro. Because of the mixup, the owner at SISB&B gave us our deposit back. We got to Guerrero Negro when it was almost dark. We tried to stay at Los Caracoles Hotel but they were booked so we went to the Malarrimo. They had a good family-sized room with a loft for $55. The food prices were much higher than I expected though... on par with Mexican food in San Diego. I should also mention that the weather on the Pacific side (Guerrero Negro) was much cooler so it was more bearable than San Ignacio or Santa Rosalia. The next day was an easy drive back to San Diego. The wait time at the border was around 90 minutes. It was heart-breaking to see so many people begging for a handout during that wait at the border. Many with young kids.
At gas stations in Mexico, I usually used my credit card whenever possible. I could get used to someone pumping gas and washing my windows for me. I usually tipped them 10 pesos. I would advise anyone going to Mexico to bring plenty of pesos. Whenever they convert from USD to pesos or vice versa, they try to work it in their favor so just pay with preconversion currency whenever possible. I've heard some people say that you should "bribe" the military guys at the checkpoints but I didn't see anyone else doing that and I never did that and I got through just fine without any hassles.

Thanks for the update Peterlim.
I hope to be able to do that drive one day soon.

One should never give a mordida (a bribe) to anyone while in Mexico. That can make you situation worse. When I lived there people always told me that a mordida was a normal part of life, but I would not even try it...

noooooo no no no no.... One should NEVER try to bribe the military, that's a big no no and is just looking for BIG trouble. They're after drug smugglers and they're completely harmless unless you're carrying drugs or weapons.

These are the only guys you shouldn't be bribing, I've never heard of anyone being stopped by the military for a crime they never committed or being accused of one. They're only looking for drugs and your "good intentions" will only take you to the closest military zone for a "once in a lifetime experience".

When you drive into Mexico, the government wants to make sure you bring the vehicle back out and don't try to sell it. They do this by requiring security (a bond) to make sure you bring the vehicle back out.

When I drove into Mexico a few years ago, (it may have changed now) you could secure the bond with your Master Card.

The whole process of driving into Mexico past the border (enterprise?) zone is a little confusing. Anyway, at some point, depending on where you enter Mexico, there will be a place (either at the border or at a location further into Mexico) to process the necessary paperwork. Just make sure you have your passport, drivers license, registration and proof of owner ship, plus money. You should carry extra copies of these documents with you in case you are required to submit them.

If you are hauling other vehicles such as ATV's and motorcyles, you will have to do the same paperwork for them.

After taking care of the appropriate paperwork, you will be required to pay the necessary fees at a nearby bank. The bank will give you a receipt for the fees which you take back to the first office to prove the fees have been paid.

On the way out of Mexico, you need to stop at the same type of place to prove you are coming out with the same vehicle you went in with. The hold on your Master Card (in my case) will then be released.

Make sure you pay the vehicle bond before leaving the border zone (which can actually extend many miles from the border). Your car can be impounded if it is caught outside the border area without the bond.

I wouldn't drive any vehicle into Mexico that I couldn't afford to lose.