Edificio histórico en la Colonia Cacho, Tijuana

Tijuana Neighbourhood Guide

Colonia Cacho

Tijuana, Baja California

Tijuana's Medical and Professional District

Cacho and the adjoining Madero area sit on the slopes above the centre, a settled residential district with a mix of older homes and medical practices. Residents here tend to consolidate several online orders and collect them together.

  • Medical District
  • Established Residential
  • Professional Services
  • Central Access

Photo: domingo arriaga nabo… via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Border Intelligence Center

Official CBP Wait Times • Updated Automatically Throughout the Day

  • San Ysidro 110 min SENTRI 15 min Heavy delay
  • Otay Mesa 140 min SENTRI 20 min Heavy delay
  • Tecate 90 min Current wait Heavy delay
  • Pedestrian 30 min at San Ysidro Moderate delay
  • USD / MXN 17.0260 Exchange rate
  • Best crossing Tecate 90 min
  • Updated 12:30 am Official CBP feed

Detailed Border Wait Times (CBP)

Port of Entry General Sentri Pedestrian
San Ysidro 110 min 15 min 30 min
Otay Mesa 140 min 20 min 40 min
Tecate 90 min 5 min

Estimated Total Travel Time

From
Colonia Cacho, Tijuana
Drive
5 minutes
Border wait
110 min
Total estimate
115 min

Drive time is an estimate; the border wait is live and changes through the day. Check again before you travel.

Plan Your Trip (opens Google Maps in a new tab)

Mexico Customs Official government resource

Returning to Mexico with purchases? Check Mexico's current traveller allowance (franquicia), declaration requirements and customs guidance before you cross.

Check Mexico Personal Allowance (Franquicia) — opens official Mexican customs traveller allowance (franquicia) information on the ANAM government website in a new tab

U.S. Border Wait Times Official government resource

Check live northbound passenger vehicle and pedestrian wait times at San Ysidro and Otay Mesa before you leave Tijuana.

Official CBP Wait Times — opens official U.S. Customs and Border Protection border wait times in a new tab

Trusted Traveler Programs Official government resource

SENTRI and Global Entry members use dedicated lanes at San Ysidro and Otay Mesa. Apply or renew through the official DHS portal.

SENTRI / Trusted Traveler — opens the official U.S. Department of Homeland Security Trusted Traveler Programs site in a new tab

Electronic I-94 Official government resource

Travellers entering the United States can obtain or review their electronic I-94 arrival record before crossing.

Electronic I-94 (U.S. Arrivals) — opens the official U.S. Customs and Border Protection I-94 service in a new tab

Vehicle Permits Official government resource

Driving beyond the Baja California free zone requires a temporary vehicle import permit, issued by Banjercito.

Banjercito Vehicle Permits — opens the official Banjercito temporary vehicle import permit site in a new tab

Medical FastLane Official government resource

Patients attending medical appointments across the border may use the Cruce Agil / Medical FastLane northbound lane.

Tijuana Medical FastLane / Cruce Agil — opens the official Tijuana SEDETI Medical FastLane information page in a new tab

Find your neighborhood Encuentra tu colonia

Start typing and go straight to your colonia — accents optional.

Browse all Tijuana neighborhoods

Colonia Cacho Quick Facts

  • Drive to San Ysidro 5 minutes
  • Major Shopping Plaza Río Tijuana
  • Business District Boulevard Agua Caliente
  • Hospitals Hospital Ángeles Tijuana, Cacho dental and medical district
  • Parks & Recreation Parque Teniente Guerrero

Welcome to Colonia Cacho, Tijuana

San Ysidro P.O. Box N Ship
380 E. San Ysidro Blvd., Ste. B, San Ysidro, CA 92173
Open today 9:00 am – 7:00 pm +1-619-213-6259
Distance
3.1 miles
Typical drive
5 minutes
Closest crossing
San Ysidro

Cacho is where much of Tijuana's private healthcare is concentrated. San Ysidro P.O. Box N Ship gives practices and residents here a U.S. address for the instruments, supplies and orders that will not ship across the border.

Map

About Colonia Cacho, Tijuana

Cacho occupies the slopes rising south-west of Tijuana's historic centre, and is best known for medicine. The colonia and adjoining Madero hold one of the densest concentrations of private clinics, dental surgeries, laboratories and specialist practices in the city, drawing patients from both sides of the border.

Its housing is older and more substantial than the colonias built during Tijuana's later expansion — mid-century single-family homes on a grid that steps up the hillside, many now converted to consulting rooms. The resident population skews professional and long-established.

That professional character drives an unusual pattern of parcel traffic. Clinics order instruments, implants, dental materials and laboratory consumables from U.S. distributors weekly, and most of those distributors ship only to U.S. addresses. Practices here treat a San Ysidro box as a standing part of their supply chain rather than an occasional convenience.

Residents use it more conventionally, for consumer goods and electronics unavailable locally or priced substantially higher.

  • Dense private medical and dental district
  • Mid-century established housing
  • Hospital Ángeles Tijuana nearby
  • Direct routes to Agua Caliente
  • Professional resident population
  • Short predictable drive to the crossing

Explore all Tijuana neighbourhoods

Neighbourhood insights

What makes Colonia Cacho, Tijuana distinctive?

Cacho holds one of the densest concentrations of private clinics and dental practices in northern Mexico, which gives it a supply chain rather than just a shopping habit.

Why do people here use a U.S. mailbox?

U.S. medical and dental distributors ship domestically only. A San Ysidro address turns a blocked order into a routine weekly delivery, without customs handling on each shipment.

Who uses the service most from this area?

Dental and medical practices ordering instruments and consumables, laboratories receiving reagents, and professional households ordering electronics and consumer goods.

Nearby landmarks

Cacho's landmarks are clinical and civic rather than commercial — the district works, rather than attracts visitors.

Shopping

  • Plaza Río Tijuana

    The region's largest shopping centre, a short drive east.

    Residents compare local stock against U.S. retailers and order what is unavailable to a border address.

    Approximately 8 minutes by car

Government Services

  • Palacio Municipal de Tijuana

    Municipal offices in the adjoining centre.

    Practices registering or renewing permits often need a U.S. address for supplier accounts.

    Approximately 7 minutes by car · 20 minutes on foot

Healthcare

  • Hospital Ángeles Tijuana

    A major private hospital serving the region, on the colonia's eastern edge.

    Specialists here order equipment and consumables from U.S. distributors and collect consolidated shipments at the border.

    Approximately 4 minutes by car · 12 minutes on foot

  • Cacho dental and medical district

    A dense concentration of private clinics, surgeries and laboratories.

    The single largest source of parcel volume in the colonia; most suppliers ship only to U.S. addresses.

    Approximately 2 minutes by car · 5 minutes on foot

  • Laboratorios clinical cluster

    Diagnostic laboratories serving the surrounding practices.

    Reagents and calibration supplies are ordered from U.S. vendors and collected at the border.

    Approximately 3 minutes by car · 7 minutes on foot

Education

  • Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, Tijuana campus

    A UABC campus within reach of the colonia.

    Students and faculty order textbooks and equipment from U.S. retailers.

    Approximately 10 minutes by car

Parks & Recreation

  • Parque Teniente Guerrero

    The historic centre's main square, downhill to the north-east.

    The nearest substantial green space.

    Approximately 6 minutes by car · 16 minutes on foot

Business Districts

  • Boulevard Agua Caliente

    The main commercial artery along the colonia's southern boundary.

    Businesses along it order fixtures and equipment through a U.S. address.

    Approximately 3 minutes by car · 8 minutes on foot

Border crossing

The nearest crossing for Colonia Cacho, Tijuana is San Ysidro. Wait times vary considerably by hour and by day, and both pedestrian and vehicle lanes are worth checking before you travel — the pedestrian lane is often much faster when you are collecting a parcel rather than moving goods by car.

Bring the documents the crossing requires of you. A mailbox adds no further requirement of its own: collecting mail is an ordinary errand on the U.S. side.

Driving directions

Down to the centre, then to the San Ysidro crossing.

Parking
Free parking directly outside the store. Cacho has generally available street parking outside clinic hours.
Public transport
SITT routes along Boulevard Agua Caliente and Avenida Cuauhtémoc connect the colonia to the centre and the crossing.

Open in Google Maps (opens in a new tab)

Travel times

Distance
about 3.1 miles
Estimated driving time
5 minutes
Plus border wait
Varies at San Ysidro, often by hours. Check current wait times before travelling.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can my clinic use this address for supplier deliveries?

Yes. Many Cacho practices do exactly that — U.S. dental and medical distributors ship domestically only, and a San Ysidro address makes those orders possible.

Can I receive Amazon packages?

Yes. A San Ysidro street address is treated as a normal U.S. delivery address.

Do you handle temperature-sensitive or fragile items?

Contact the store before shipping anything requiring special handling so it can be received properly.

Do you accept UPS, USPS, FedEx and DHL?

All four, plus most regional carriers.

Can several staff collect on one account?

Yes, once each is named on the mailbox agreement.

Why customers from Colonia Cacho, Tijuana choose us

  • A real U.S. mailing address

    A street address rather than a PO Box number, so retailers and carriers that refuse PO Boxes will still deliver.

  • Secure package receiving

    Parcels are signed for, logged and held securely until you collect them.

  • Border convenience

    Positioned for the San Ysidro crossing, so collecting a parcel is an errand rather than an expedition.

  • Mail forwarding

    Have mail and parcels sent onward when collecting in person is not practical.

  • Digital mailbox

    See what has arrived without making the trip, and decide what to do with it.

  • Bilingual support

    Staff who work in English and Spanish, every day, for customers on both sides of the border.

  • Business services

    Notary, printing and a registered address businesses can use for supplier deliveries.

Why customers trust us

4.8 from 110 Google reviews

We Also Serve

Get a U.S. address for Colonia Cacho, Tijuana

San Ysidro P.O. Box N Ship gives you a real street address minutes from the border, with package receiving from every major carrier and bilingual support.

Questions? Contact the store