Preparing my trip for late March.
Initially wanted the route most direct.
It took me over Sinaloa area Mexico, so changed my mind.

Then thought about crossing to Baja peninsula and fly along the California coast then Oregon and then thru a valley over I 90 to Seattle.
How safe is Baja peninsula? California coast? foggy?

Would like to spend as little amount of time in Mexico as possible, so another route considering is fly toTapachula, then Pto Vallarta and enter the USA thru Laredo.
Then fly from laredo to the valley on the east side of California.


Once in the USA Im looking for low alt terrain.

I have been given some advice of routes, but the more options and advice I get the better, so Im open more advices of routes.
I dont know what I dont know.
Dont plan to fly more than 500NM per leg.

motoadve wrote:Preparing my trip for late March.
Initially wanted the route most direct.
It took me over Sinaloa area Mexico, so changed my mind.

Bah, they caught El Chapo this morning so I'm sure everything is fine now.

motoadve wrote:Then thought about crossing to Baja peninsula and fly along the California coast then Oregon and then thru a valley over I 90 to Seattle.
How safe is Baja peninsula? California coast? foggy?

Baja is safe. The coast that far south in California isn't foggy.

motoadve wrote:Would like to spend as little amount of time in Mexico as possible, so another route considering is fly toTapachula, then Pto Vallarta and enter the USA thru Laredo.
Then fly from laredo to the valley on the east side of California.

Going that far west and then coming back east to clear at Laredo doesn't make much sense to me. If you're trying to stay over lower terrain then just keep going north from PV. There are no northern states that are super safe, so whether you fly over Sinaloa or Coahuila probably doesn't make much difference. Either way you're gonna be fine.

Another option would be to head to someplace like Huatulco, then a quick hop over some mountains directly north toward Veracruz and up the gulf coast to either McAllen or Laredo. You would have fairly limited exposure to mountains and it would satisfy the goal of being in Mexico as short as possible. I have personal experience in Huatulco and Tampico and would happily recommend either of them from an aviation standpoint, but Tampico is a total dump once you get outside the airport. So that's something to think about if you're weathered in for a couple days.

If you aren't worried about flying in the mountains then you could go to Huatulco and head directly north to my neck of the woods near Querétaro, Celaya and Leon. Then continue north to Saltillo and finally Laredo. The Celaya/Saltillo/Laredo route is one I've flown a dozen times. There is only one or two spots where you don't have good options in an engine out scenario. I've flown the Huatulco to Celaya route some and there will be more time over inhospitable (though beautiful) terrain. This Huatulco/Celaya route is one of my favorite flights anywhere in the world. About half is along the pacific coast with the mountains tumbling into the sea and half is over verdant mountain forests. Great views...

Whether you go up the pacific or gulf coasts, there will be more moisture stacked up until the weather hits the mountains. March is still the dry season in the center of the country, but you will be flying over harsher terrain. So neither approach is perfect. For me, I prefer the mountains and the dryer air over the oceans and having to worry about being weathered out.

What's the reason that you want to spend as little time in Mexico as possible?

Keep the water on the left. Stop when its raining a lot.

Sorry couldn't resist that one.

Reason to spend as little time in Mexico is hassle and safety.
A friend of mine flew his Maule from Alaska to Costa Rica last year , and got problems when in Mexico with non existing charges at Veracruz, it took a long time for him to solve the problem.
Also very expensive airport fees at some airports.

I have been to Baja and have many good mexican friends, but knowing latin America when authorities want to makes problems that dont exist, just to make you pay them money is no fun.

From the border north, the weather will be stinko in March. I fly north out of Arizona a lot and my favorite route to Portland or Seattle, especially in stinko weather, is up the central valley in CA. When I fly to Idaho, I go across NV, but the area is sparsely populated and airports are relatively far between. Going to the coastal cities up the central valley, the terrain is low and more flat plus there are airports every 5 minutes. Easy to hop north between rain storms and plenty of options for overnight when you get socked in.

Wayne

I was looking into that as a possible option.
Its one of my favorites so far.
If I enter the USA thru Laredo , I need to fly over quite a bit of high sesert over New Mexico to get to the central valley of California, correct?

motoadve wrote:Reason to spend as little time in Mexico is hassle and safety.
A friend of mine flew his Maule from Alaska to Costa Rica last year , and got problems when in Mexico with non existing charges at Veracruz, it took a long time for him to solve the problem.
Also very expensive airport fees at some airports.

I have been to Baja and have many good mexican friends, but knowing latin America when authorities want to makes problems that dont exist, just to make you pay them money is no fun.

Yeah, I was afraid that was going to be your answer. I'll just share in response that I've lived and flown in Mexico extensively for the past four years and have never gotten shaken down even once. So hopefully your friends experience in Veracruz was an anomaly, or maybe that behavior is on the decline. Maybe I just look like a serial killer and they don't want to rub me the wrong way. Who knows...

I have personally flown through almost all of the airports (I think there might have been one that I haven't) I mentioned in my initial response without any problems.

The US state department website is a good resource for safety information. It tends to be on the paranoid side, so if they say that an area has no warnings you can rest easy.

If you decide that you don't want to try and do the entire country in one day, drop me a note and I can share my experiences or information about places that you might overnight. Even in the north, the airports are the safest places in the country so I wouldn't be worried about leaving my plane overnight. Leaving the airport and finding someplace to stay might have some risk in some northern cities, so probably just fuel stops in that neighborhood.

Is March a good time to fly thru the Center?
Tapachula , Guadalajara, Chihuahua then the USA.

I will need a good stop between Tapachula and Guadalajara to sleep and refuel,

Where do you recommend?

Then fly the following day all the way to Chihuaua, and stay there overnight.(Have good friends there).

motoadve wrote:Is March a good time to fly thru the Center?
Tapachula , Guadalajara, Chihuahua then the USA.

I will need a good stop between Tapachula and Guadalajara to sleep and refuel,

Where do you recommend?

Then fly the following day all the way to Chihuaua, and stay there overnight.(Have good friends there).

Yeah, March is fine. That's still in the heart of the dry season and mid-country skies should be very stable.

Zihuatanejo is about halfway between those. I was just there for the first time a few weeks ago. I have a friend there with a small hotel if you need somewhere to stay. It's not on the beach, but it's in a quiet neighborhood, recently constructed and if you just need somewhere to lay your head would be a good option. That would be a coastal route.

If you want to be mid-country I guess I'd probably recommend Morelia. It's in a beautiful area and the necessary offices are reasonably well organized and the people nice.

If you're planning to stop in Guadalajara then another option there is nearby Ajijic. Little grass strip flying club there that I've heard good things about but haven't flown into. Guadalajara is a neat city though, so you won't go wrong flying into there either and they will definitely have more services available.

I delivered a few Ag planes to Central America from Cali. I flew to Mc Allen Texas then flew the east coast of Mexico ( along the coast) to RON in Veracruz, then on down to my destination. Weather is always iffy around the mountains in southern Mexico, but the scenery is stunningly beautiful. I had no problems at all in Mexico, even with a unintended stop south of Veracruz in Palenque, I wished I stayed longer, there's a national forest with Mayan Ruins, then I Stopped in San Perdro sula Honduras and it's nice there too. Fun trips! They are friendly people down there and made a few friends.

if you come from Laredo, just follow I10 over to Palm springs and then cut north thru Victorville and then to the central Valley. Easy peasy. Going up the central Valley, I usually stay on the east side. Only hard part will be getting from redding to Eugene. I have been stuck in medford more than once. Once past Eugene, it's flat and low all the way to Seattle.

Wayne

If you come through New Mexico then feel free to stop by. I'd like to pick your brain about flying in Costa Rica since I might head down there this fall.

Were in New Mexico are you based at?

The shortest way through Mexico is Tapachula, Veracruz, and then either Brownsville or McAllen. (McAllen is nicer). If you have lots of range you can skip the Veracruz stop. I have never been hassled in Veracruz, but you lose about an hour.
From McAllen you can go to Santa FE, then Carson City NV, then on up to Seatlle. That avoids most of the high stuff

motoadve wrote:Were in New Mexico are you based at?

KGUP