Life Through Lynsey's Lens
A blog about travel, photography, and all the life in between
Life Through Lynsey's Lens
A blog about travel, photography, and all the life in between
A blog about travel, photography, and all the life in between
A blog about travel, photography, and all the life in between
Sun, Sea, Sand, and Tequila
Soaking up the sunshine south of the border in Puerto Peñasco, Mexico.
With our first shot done and things starting to look a bit better in the pandemic department, Steven and I decided that we were long overdue for a trip and decided to hit the road for a weekend on the beach. Arizona may not have any oceanfront property of its own, but “Arizona’s Beach” is just a quick drive south of the border in the seaside resort town of Puerto Peñasco, Mexico. It was a really great trip, and although there were plenty of COVID precautions in place (which we did take seriously, being only half-vaccinated), things are definitely starting to feel a bit more “normal”.
Travel in the Age of COVID
While there are rumors going around that you can’t go to Mexico due to the border being closed for COVID, this isn’t quite true. The state of Sonora considers tourism to Puerto Peñasco to be essential to its economy, and thus allowed under the “essential-travel only” rule. We did get COVID tests two days ahead of time and brought our results along, though nobody asked for them, and also brought our vaccine cards just in case. Mask mandates in Mexico were being enforced pretty strictly: we didn’t have to wear them at the beach or pool, but the resort had a guard posted as you leave the pool area making sure that people put them back on. In fact, Mexico even has a requirement that you have to wear masks in the car if there are two or more people, despite being family or living together. They also took our temperature before we entered the restaurant and, although it was pretty busy, the tables seemed to be spaced out more than normal; plus the breakfast buffet was closed.
I’m definitely not out there traveling around pretending that this pandemic is over, so we made sure to follow precautions and guidelines and felt pretty safe about it most of the time (the Malecon being the exception, which I’ll explain later).
Getting to Rocky Point
The drive from Tucson to Puerto Peñasco (also called “Rocky Point” in English) is quick, painless, and very scenic. Just jump on I-19 to state highway 86 out to Why, Arizona (it’s out in the middle of nowhere—you won’t wonder why they decided to call it that) and then take 85 south straight through Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. We didn’t have time to stop this time, but Organ Pipe is a beautiful park and one I’d definitely recommend working into your road trip itinerary. The border checkpoint at Lukeville was extremely easy; no lines, no searches, we basically just rolled right into Mexico.
Keep in mind that if you’re going to drive your car into Mexico you will need to have two things: your passport (see the U.S. Customs and Border Protection website) and Mexican car insurance, which is easily purchased online or even in person at the border crossing. We just got ours online through Geico, and it was pretty cheap.
Your U.S. Driver’s License is accepted in Mexico so you don’t need to get an International Driving Permit, and although you usually need to get a vehicle permit to drive into Mexico, Puerto Peñasco is located within the “No Hassle Zone” where this requirement is waived. Rocky Point 360 has a helpful page with everything you need to know to get there.
Although Rocky Point is very touristy and caters to Americans well, you do have to remember that you are in another country. Bring lots of bottled water because you shouldn’t drink from the tap.
Surprisingly, one thing you DON’T seem to need to visit Rocky Point is Mexican pesos. You should bring cash though, but we found that prices were generally listed in USD and it seemed like that was actually preferred. In fact, we wanted to get some pesos to have on hand, but all of the ATMs we could find only dispensed U.S. dollars! There were some places that had prices listed in pesos, and, while they were definitely happy to take USD, the exchange rate they gave wasn’t the most favorable. So expect to pay a bit of a premium if you want to use dollars everywhere you go.
With any international travel it’s always a good idea to check the U.S. Department of State’s advisory website (here’s their page on Mexico) for the latest information about security, and you should also register your trip with the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP). This program lets the U.S. government know where you (its citizens) are, and if something were to happen in the country you’re visiting (natural disaster, terrorist attack, etc.) it makes getting help a lot easier. I always make sure to register my trips.
After crossing the border and entering into Mexico, you’ll drive through the small border town of Sonoyta. The speed limit through town is 40 km/h (that’s about 25 mph) or even less, and there are speed traps all over—you don’t want to start your trip with a visit to the Sonoyta Police Station for speeding, so take it slow. We noticed quite a few people blowing past us over the speed limit. Maybe they don’t know that the speed limit signs are in km/h? Either way, I’d rather they get the ticket than me, so I was happy to let them pass. After getting through Sonoyta it’s about an hour-long quiet, scenic drive through the uninhabited Sonoran Desert on Mexican Highway 8. There aren’t any services between Sonoyta and Rocky Point, so make sure you have plenty of gas (although you’re better off filling up in Ajo or Why on the U.S. side of the border, as gas in Mexico is quite a bit more expensive).
Entering into the city limits of Puerto Peñasco was a bit underwhelming, in my opinion. The edges of town are somewhat run down, and as you approach the Sandy Beach area (where most of the resorts are) you’ll notice a lot of large, half-constructed condo buildings that aren’t exactly the prettiest to look at. But I promise that this is really a case of “don’t judge a book by its cover”.
Where to Stay
We rented a condo at the Sonoran Sea Resort through Expedia/Vrbo, and when we got there the guard at the gate was expecting us and let us right in. Check-in was a breeze. We parked the car in the gated, well-lit parking lot (no security concerns whatsoever) and headed up to our room on the 7th floor. The condo was a beautiful one-bedroom apartment, and really pretty inexpensive for what it was. It even had a full kitchen and in-unit laundry—I could see spending a lot more than three days there easily! The condo also had a nice restaurant right on site where we ended up eating all of our meals. (As much as I wanted to try some less-touristy food options, the convenience was too good to pass up!)
There are a lot of nice condos and resorts along Sandy Beach, as well as in Puerto Peñasco proper both on the coast and in town, so you have plenty of options for a place to stay. We opted for the condo to be a little bit farther away from the traffic of the downtown area and have access to the beach and restaurants by foot. I also wanted a place with a gated parking lot, which you’re more likely to find in the larger resorts and condo buildings.
Things To Do
Spend the Day Poolside
The primary objective of this trip was relaxation, not photography, so after starting the day with some tequila sunrises and chilaquiles (a tasty Mexican breakfast dish) we headed down to the pool where we spent the whole day alternating between swimming, laying in the hot tub, reading in the beach chairs, oh, and doing two-for-one tequila shots at the swim-up bar! This was my first swim-up bar experience and I would definitely recommend it for your next beach vacation. Any resort where you don’t even have to stop swimming to get drinks and tacos is pretty great, if I do say so myself. Once the sun started to go down we closed out our bar tab and I headed up to the room to grab my camera—I can’t pass up a quintessential sunset beach shot, can I?
Visit El Malecón
On our second day in Rocky Point we slept late, had breakfast, hung out on the balcony for a bit, and then headed out to see El Malecón, the market square area of Puerto Peñasco. Driving around midday was kind of crazy, as the streets were crammed with tourists (I definitely saw more U.S. plates than Mexican ones) trying to find their way around, and dune buggies darting in and out of traffic. Parking was tough, but we eventually found a lot on the edge of the market (it was $5 to park) and headed down the street on foot.
The Malecón is a long stretch of vendors and restaurants along the coast. You can get all sorts of things there from fresh fish to souvenirs to prescription drugs to food and drinks, and every vendor is in your face eager to make a sale—I never really know what to do in situations like that other than politely say no thanks and keep walking. Unfortunately we weren’t there at a meal time so we didn’t try any of the restaurants, but I’m sure there are some great ones there. I did get to drink a fresh piña colada right out of the pineapple it was made from. It was tasty.
We didn’t stay long—it was loud and pretty crowded (I was definitely glad to at least be partially vaccinated, as we were shoulder-to-shouler with people pushing past us on the narrow sidewalk). I’d probably go back and spend more time there in the future, after the pandemic is over and maybe not during Spring Break.
Enjoy the Sunset
After making our way back to the car we headed out to La Choya, the beach at the far western tip of Puerto Peñasco, to get some sunset shots. We did eventually find some parking and make our way down to the beach, but it wasn’t easy to navigate—fortunately, it was also much less crowded, so probably worth the extra hassle. I decided to just grab my camera rather than carrying my whole bag down to the shore (we weren’t really sure how far we had to go or what it would be like when we got down there), and we were treated to a gorgeous sunset over the ocean… after my battery died. D’oh.
Take a Trip to Isla San Jorge
On Sunday morning we were up bright and early to get packed up and head out to the marina for a tour out to Isla San Jorge, or better known to tourists as “Bird Island”. One of my goals for the trip, in addition to pretty sunsets and margaritas, was to see Blue-footed boobies, which are really only found along the coast of Mexico and the Galapagos Islands. They’re a big bucket list item for birders, and luckily there are plenty of tour companies available to take you out to see them: we went with Eco Fun Boat Tours. The tour was great, and definitely didn’t just cater to birders—most of the others in the group were families and non-photographers that probably couldn’t care less about the birds we were headed out to see. As soon as we boarded the boat we were offered margaritas (it was an open bar for the whole tour) and settled in at the very front of the boat where I could get the best view of the birds hanging out in the Sea of Cortez. We saw cormorants, pelicans, gulls, even loons (quite a different climate from their usual habitat in northern Minnesota!) on our way out to the island. The water was very calm and the hour-and-a-half ride out was very smooth.
We arrived at the island to find hundreds of different birds all flying around and perched on the rocks, as well as a ton of sea lions. The tour company provided a lunch of burritos (I had carne asada with salsa verde, it was very good!) and gave us a couple hours to hang out and swim or kayak if we wanted to. I stayed on the boat to get my bird pictures (plus the water was COLD) while Steven jumped into the water to swim with the sea lions. I also forgot to put on sunscreen, which I found out about six hours later. I’m still peeling and have gone through over half a bottle of aloe…
Once everyone had their fill of the island and was back on board the ship we headed for the mainland. The ride back was fairly uneventful, other than two encounters with dolphins! They swam right up and played with the boat, jumping and doing barrel rolls in the water. I had trouble getting any good pictures since they were hanging so close to the boat, but the GoPro came in handy to capture some video.
Saying Adios
We pretty much drove straight home after the tour, and it took us about an hour and a half to get back Stateside. The border was easy—we showed the officer our passports, he asked how long we had been in Mexico, and then he sent us on our way. No lines and no searches or anything, although I’m sure they reserve the right to do so. One thing to keep in mind is that the border crossing at Lukeville DOES have hours of operation (at the time of writing they are 6 am to 8 pm every day), and if you aren’t through when they close at 8 pm you’ll be spending another night in Mexico (or Ajo—the same applies on the way down). So be sure to plan for that.
I hope you enjoyed reading about my trip to Puerto Peñasco, and I hope it has some helpful information for anybody considering a visit! While you may have concerns about traveling to Mexico, whether because of the language barrier, security, etc., you really don’t need to worry. Rocky Point is safe, and it’s a very touristy town so you can easily get away with speaking English and using U.S. dollars. (Although, in my opinion, that’s less fun than fully immersing yourself in a country’s culture by speaking their language and using their currency!) Everybody there is very friendly and hospitable, and they take really good care of tourists—after all, it’s a huge part of the town’s economy. We never felt unsafe or uneasy in the few days we spent there. All in all, I’d definitely recommend it for any Arizonans looking for an easy beach getaway.