Otay Mesa border wait times

How long the line is to enter the United States at Otay Mesa, from Tijuana, Baja California into San Diego, California, by car and on foot, as U.S. Customs and Border Protection posts it, and the hours it’s usually shortest. In Mexico it’s called Garita de Otay.

En español →

Cars, standard lanes: 60 min
Cars, SENTRI: Closed
Cars, Ready Lane: 25 min
Walking, standard lanes: No wait
Posted by CBP: Oct 30, 3:00 AM PDT

Copied Oct 30, 2026, 7:48 AM Michigan time. With JavaScript on, the waits above refresh from CBP when the page opens.

Open 24 hours. Up to 13 car lanes. Up to 12 pedestrian lanes. CBP port number 250601.

CBP’s notice: Entrance to Ready Lanes is on the far left as you approach the border. Go to www.getyouhome.gov for more information Go to www.GetYouHome.gov for more information.

Best and worst times to cross

By car (standard lanes), usually quickest on Wednesday at 9 PM (8 min on average); usually slowest on Monday at 1 PM (205 min on average).

On foot, usually quickest on Monday at 2 AM (no wait); usually slowest on Monday at 8 AM (64 min).

Every lane Now and usually

Lane	Now	Open	Usual	Readings, 30 days
Cars, standard lanes	60 min	1	76 min	427
Cars, SENTRI	Closed	—	19 min	341
Cars, Ready Lane	25 min	2	72 min	426
Walking, standard lanes	No wait	3	14 min	422

“Usual” is the average over the last 30 days; where it says CBP, it’s CBP’s own published average for October, from the year before, because there aren’t enough readings here yet. SENTRI is CBP’s trusted-traveler lane; the Ready Lane is for travelers carrying an RFID-enabled document (a passport card, a border crossing card, an enhanced driver’s license). First reading on record: Sep 13, 2026.

By car: usual wait by day and hour Cars, standard lanes, last 30 days, minutes

Hour	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun
12 AM	96	80	13	35	35	·	90
1 AM	50	60	14	26	35	30	80
2 AM	60	55	21	33	42	36	75
3 AM	42	48	47	55	68	3	50
4 AM	52	75	70	80	90	60	70
5 AM	100	·	60	60	90	80	50
6 AM	75	82	79	89	95	75	50
7 AM	60	100	85	100	90	75	68
8 AM	104	92	77	93	79	62	70
9 AM	37	115	80	74	62	88	82
10 AM	110	123	75	79	90	78	103
11 AM	123	75	68	71	52	95	122
12 PM	188	60	71	83	65	87	132
1 PM	205	90	70	83	64	100	90
2 PM	151	80	63	88	90	100	145
3 PM	·	95	63	75	68	105	210
4 PM	140	86	62	87	72	112	143
5 PM	175	68	50	75	42	112	210
6 PM	135	48	44	70	58	135	173
7 PM	135	38	38	58	52	130	155
8 PM	80	22	30	52	70	150	133
9 PM	90	18	8	60	68	130	117
10 PM	65	31	16	45	63	128	80
11 PM	78	23	26	35	·	100	115

Under 10 min
10–29 min
30–59 min
60–89 min
90 min or more

A dot is an hour with no readings: the lane was closed or CBP posted no wait. A closed lane counts as unknown, not as zero, so it never makes a crossing look faster than it is. Average over the last 30 days: 76 min, from 427 readings.

On foot: usual wait by day and hour Walking, standard lanes, last 30 days, minutes

Hour	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun
12 AM	4	0	0	0	0	·	0
1 AM	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
2 AM	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3 AM	12	8	5	5	0	0	0
4 AM	22	35	12	15	3	0	5
5 AM	40	·	28	20	60	0	8
6 AM	42	50	30	32	18	2	7
7 AM	52	10	32	35	33	15	7
8 AM	64	22	20	8	10	5	10
9 AM	10	22	44	16	8	13	10
10 AM	27	17	18	11	5	10	23
11 AM	70	25	22	14	25	15	18
12 PM	55	10	26	15	5	18	22
1 PM	45	5	17	12	8	10	10
2 PM	31	12	27	20	10	12	20
3 PM	·	10	10	9	12	10	30
4 PM	10	10	9	10	14	8	18
5 PM	20	10	5	5	12	15	60
6 PM	15	8	10	15	18	38	47
7 PM	8	8	11	5	8	28	38
8 PM	10	5	7	5	8	45	32
9 PM	8	5	2	5	8	30	10
10 PM	5	1	1	0	3	8	10
11 PM	0	0	0	0	·	0	0

Under 10 min
10–29 min
30–59 min
60–89 min
90 min or more

Nearby crossings right now If this one is backed up

Crossing	By car	On foot	Posted
Calexico East	Closed	Closed	—
Calexico West	30 min	5 min	Oct 30, 4:00 AM PDT
Cross Border Express (CBX)	—	No wait	Oct 30, 5:00 AM PDT
San Ysidro	30 min	5 min	Oct 30, 4:00 AM PDT
San Ysidro PedWest	—	Pending	—
Tecate	Pending	Pending	—
Andrade	Pending	Pending	—

By car and on foot: each crossing’s main lane, nearly always the standard lanes.

By car, by hour of day All days, last 30 days

Hour	Average	Bar
12 AM	56 min
1 AM	36 min
2 AM	40 min
3 AM	47 min
4 AM	72 min
5 AM	69 min
6 AM	79 min
7 AM	82 min
8 AM	85 min
9 AM	75 min
10 AM	94 min
11 AM	84 min
12 PM	91 min
1 PM	94 min
2 PM	108 min
3 PM	88 min
4 PM	95 min
5 PM	92 min
6 PM	87 min
7 PM	78 min
8 PM	68 min
9 PM	73 min
10 PM	58 min
11 PM	53 min

The last 7 days Cars, standard lanes · Fri, Oct 23 to Fri, Oct 30

280 min0

Gaps are hours the lane was closed or posted nothing.

Common questions Otay Mesa

How long is the wait at Otay Mesa right now?

At CBP’s last reading (Oct 30, 3:00 AM PDT), the line by car (standard lanes) was 60 min, and on foot there was no wait. The box at the top refreshes from CBP when you open this page.

What’s the best time to cross?

Over the last 30 days, the car line has usually been shortest on Wednesday at 9 PM and longest on Monday at 1 PM. On foot it’s usually shortest on Monday at 2 AM. The heat map above shows every hour.

How much time does SENTRI save?

Over the last 30 days the SENTRI line averaged 19 min, against 76 min in the standard lanes and 72 min in the Ready Lane.

When is it open?

24 hours a day.

For trucks, the commercial lane waits have a board of their own.

About these numbers

Copied Oct 30, 2026, 7:48 AM Michigan time

Officers at each port of entry post every lane’s wait about once an hour to CBP’s Border Wait Times system. A small Cloudflare Worker reads it every half hour and keeps each reading once; the last-30-days averages come from that record. The averages from the year before are CBP’s own.

Times are the crossing’s local time. A closed lane or a pending reading counts as unknown, never as zero. The board has every crossing right now and how it all works, and the data is a CSV download. Esta página en español.

Source: U.S. Customs and Border Protection; readings from September 13 to October 20, 2026 as saved by gptcbp/border-crossing-data. The numbers are public; any mistakes in presenting them are mine.