Wondering what time zone you are traveling to in Mexico? While your phone will adjust automatically, it’s good to know the time differences. Luckily, there are four different time zones but the majority of Mexican states fall within a single time zone here.
This makes it easy to manage time while driving in Mexico and traveling between the various states. For the majority of the country, time zones will not change while traveling through large tracts of land. For example, Baja is split into two time zones. That’s a massive area with very few time changes.
Of course, you can set your phone to show the time zone. This helps when you want to call home or make plans for calls in other time zone locations.
Mexican Time Zones for Every State
Pacific Time Zone
Baja North – The time transition for this zone is just north of Guerrero Negro.
Mountain Standard Time
Baja South – Guerrero Negro and everything south. This includes Cabo San Lucas
Sonora
Sinaloa
Nayarit
Central Time Zone
Chihuahua
Durango
Coahuila
Nuevo Leon
Tamaulipas
Zacatecas
Chiapas
Tabasco
Oaxaca
Campeche
San Luis Potosi
Aguascalientes
Guanajuato
Colima
Morelos
Pueblo
Queretaro
Hidalgo
Tlaxcala
Veracruz
Yucatan
Eastern Time Zone
Quintana Roo
Daylight Savings in Mexico
While the time zones are relative to the United States and Canada, there is another layer of confusion. Most Mexican states do not adhere to daylight savings time changes. Your smartphone will automatically track the correct time when connected to cell service or Wifi. For those who keep time using analog watches and other traditional methods, it pays to sync up with local clocks to account for the time zones and lack of daylight savings in Mexico.
Plan Your Trip – Know the Time
As you can see, the vast majority of Mexican states fall within the Central Time Zone. Pacific Time is limited to Baja North and you will find a handful of western states in the Mountain Time Zone. The only state in Eastern time is Quintana Roo.
If you plan on flying, pay special attention to the time changes as they will impact your departure times. When driving in Mexico, it’s also important to know the time changes. You generally want to limit driving to daylight hours. If the time is changing, avoid pushing the limits and know when sunset is coming. It’s just safer to avoid navigating in the dark.
