Bus Through Mexico, Nogales to Mazatlan

The Cross Border Bus can be convenient.

     You stay on the same bus and only get off briefly to pass your bags through an X ray check or through a custom check were you press a button for the random search.
     They are looking mostly for taxable items that you failed to declare or that exceed the allowable limit.  You present your passport, secure you visa, and then board the same bus for the remainder of the trip.
      Caution:Don't transport fruits, meat, plants, and, (obvious) drugs.  http://softseattravel.com/Backpacking-Venezuela-Rio-Caribe.html 
     Drug sniffing doges are in use at border crossing check stations and at check stations within the US border and within Mexico.
     Caution:Watch your luggage at the border check station.- stick with your bags and follow them through the xray and check stations.  Keep essentials in your day pack or on your person, your passport, visa ATM/ credit cards, camera, laptop and money.

     Tufesa Bus:
     Tufesa Bus Line runs luxury first class buses in the US and Mexico and they make the cross border trip.  They run from Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, NV, and 16 California cities to Guadalajara, Mexico with stops in major cities along the way.   They do not, however, make sufficient allowance for the securing of a visa at the border (Nogales).  Their passengers are mostly Mexican with Mexican passports and they do not need a visa.
(visas are not required of foreign visitors for  short stays or stays in the vicinity of the border)
     The Tufesa bus for Guadalajara stops at a Nogales, MX terminal for a half hour but the terminal is about a mile away from the actual border where you get your visa / Tourist Card.
     If your stay in Mexico will be longer than 72 hours and you will go south beyond the border State of Sonora or beyond Baja  you should get the 180 day visa, often called a Tourist Card.

      Two Workarounds to getting a visa at the border:     One way around this short duration stop at the border is to apply for a visa at a Mexican consulate well before you reach the border.  Large cities   in the US will have such consulates. The consulate in Tucson AZ does not issue a visa.  Another way around this would be to buy a bus ticket to the border only,  (Nogales in AZ)   Leave the bus and take all of your luggage with you.  Get your visa at the border crossing. (6 month visa 260 Pesos)  Take a $7 USD cab to the Tufesa station, buy a ticket and re-board the same bus if it hasn't left.
       This is the safest way to both secure your luggage and save your ticket price, although it hardly makes for a convenient cross border trip.
        I took a chance and left my checked luggage on board the bus at the border crossing check station and told the driver I needed a visa.  He said he would wait.  Lucky for me there was no line and I received the visa quickly and then went to the adjacent bank to pay.  Again no line. I then returned to get the visa stamped.  Any line and I would not have had time to do this.
I made it back to the bus, now waiting for me with an impatient driver, and we continued on to the Tufesa station for the haf hour stop. (serviceing the bus)
     There are many buses leaving Nogales and going south down the coast or inland to Chihuahua.  Tufesa is not the only one.    
     Bus lines that run to Mazatlan or Culiacan  from the Nogales Station next to the new Tufesa station.  Other lines include TBC,  Tap, Elite,  and Omnibus.  They all  run luxury buses south.  If you do miss the Tufesa bus you will have options.  
see      Other bus options and Mexico City terminals  http://www.softseattravel.com/Mexico-Bus-Travel-North-Chihuahenses-Omnibus.html

     The Tufesa bus left Tucson at 11: am and was scheduled to arrive in Mazatlan at 430 am, a 17 hour trip.
At the border, several US agents boarded and checked out several of the Mexican passenger, thouroughly.  Otherwise the trip was uneventful and a good stretch of sleep followed after sunset.

     Arriving at Mazatlan at 4:30 am was not good planning since I had to wait until 7: am for restaurants to open.  I had planned to take a Primera Plus bus  (Flecha Amarilla) to Guadalajara but their first bus out was 7:am.  I instead made plans to visit Mazatlan for the day and perhaps overnight.
See Mazatlan
http://www.softseattravel.com/Mazatlan-Sinaloa-Mexico-Pacific-Coast-Beach-Resort.html
    
 Next: Touring Mazatlan