Arizona's Ocean Playground

by
July 28th, 2009

Phoenix may have a lot to offer snowbirds, but if you’re pining for the ocean, Mexico and the Gulf of California are tantalizingly close—seventy miles south of Arizona. Despite warnings regarding violence in Mexican border cities, my wife and I decided to chance a visit to Puerto Penasco, aka Rocky Point. We took a pass on driving there ourselves due to U.S. car rental surcharges and Mexican car insurance; however, no visa is required for the special border zone areas. Two shuttle companies can pick you up in large vans anywhere in the Phoenix area.

After a lunch in Phoenix, Lynelle Jarvinen of Head Out shuttle service picked us up and whisked us south, giving us a wonderful running commentary with stops for food and pictures in the Organ Pipe Cactus National Park. Never having been through a desert, we found the landscape and huge saguaro cacti amazing and actaully quite crowded with vegetation. The highway is driven by RVers, Arizona Park Rangers, the Border Patrol, and Arizona State Police. On the short Mexican stretch are the Green Angels, mechanics in green half-ton trucks ready to assist drivers with emergencies. After a leisurely five-hour drive, we watched the sunset over the Sea of Cortez.

The city, population 35,000, is primarily a fishing port. It has fish markets and seasonal catches of jumbo shrimp, scallops, and various fish. The azure Sea of Cortez and the Sonoran desert provide long, wide beaches and endless landscapes for tearing around on ATV rentals. The beaches, Miramar Beach and Sandy Beach, are separated by Whale Hill (the rocks of Rocky Point) and the old port marina. A four dollar cab ride took us to either one.

The old port area as the best place to be. There are a few B&Bs here, but the Vina del Mar, a 110 room motel, is a better choice. Nothing fancy, but it has a good restaurant, clean pool, and ocean views. We booked it online through Rocky Point Rentals and overpaid, as demand was high in anticipation of Arizona spring-breakers who never did show, scared off by the U.S. government’s warnings. The locals were not impressed.

The pride of the town is its Malecon: a combination esplanade and plaza, a popular gathering place. Having it outside our hotel was a bonus as we spent most of our time here enjoying its sweeping ocean view and talking to locals, many who speak English. On weekend evenings, the Malecon heats up with friendly, good-natured crowds, plentiful Coronas, and bands strutting their stuff. Tubas combined with Mexican music might seem bizarre, but somehow it worked.

The cantinas prepare good food, reasonably priced with large helpings. The expected cockroaches never appeared—anywhere. Perhaps they’d been frightened off by the ubiquitous time share hawkers.

We were surprised how cool the ocean was, not warming up until mid-April for water activities. Still, there was fishing and golf. We walked miles across town and along the beaches, and at no time felt unsafe. Before heading back to Phoenix we crammed shrimp and scallops into a cooler (you’re allowed to bring back 50 pounds) and feasted on them back in Scottsdale.