Puerto Penasco is a resort town located in Puerto Penasco Municipality in the northwest of the Mexican state of Sonora, 100 kilometers (62 mls) from the border with the U.S. state of Arizona. According to the 2015 census, it has a population of 62,177 inhabitants. It is located on the northern shores of the Sea of Cortez on the small strip of land that joins the Baja California Peninsula with the rest of Mexico. The area is part of the Altar Desert, one of the driest and hottest areas of the larger Sonoran Desert.
Since the late 1990s, there has been wish to develop the area for tourism. It is now one of the most important tourist destinations in northern Mexico. Puerto Penasco is often called "Rocky Point" in English, and has been nicknamed "Arizona’s Beach" as it is the closest beach to cities such as Phoenix, Tucson, and Yuma.
The Mar de Cortés International Airport serves Puerto Penasco. The new highway shortens the drive from California by 160 km (100 mi). Tourism and fishing are the most important economic activities for the city. Development to date includes over one hundred restaurants, forty-two hotels and motels, and fourteen RV facilities. The new "Home Port del Mar de Cortés" (Sea of Cortez) cruise ship terminal is currently under construction between Sandy Beach and Cholla Bay (La Choya), northwest of the central city.
The city of Puerto Penasco (Rocky Point) is found in the northwest of the Mexican state of Sonora, a state that is located directly to the south of the U.S. state of Arizona. It is located on the eastern coast of the Gulf of California approximately 60 miles south of the Arizonan border, only about a four hour drive from Phoenix or Tucson. The city’s maximum elevation is 100 meters (328 feet) above sea level and its minimum is 0 meters (0 feet) above sea level. It is found in the Sonoran Desert, a desert which stretches from the U.S. states of Arizona and California and down to the northern tip of the Mexican state of Sinaloa. Because of this, its climate reaches extreme temperatures during the summer and relatively high temperatures in the winter. The city itself is relatively flat, with the exception of Ballena hill that is found near its port. Further, remnants of ancient volcanoes can be found on the beaches of Puerto Peñasco and several dormant volcano peaks can be seen throughout the entire state.
Puerto Penasco has a desert climate with an average of 10 days of rain per year. The average high temperature is 27.5 °C (81.5 °F), but temperatures as high as 40 °C (104.0 °F) are not uncommon in the summer. The average low temperature is 17.5 °C (63.5 °F). On average, the temperature drops below freezing once a year. Though very rare, it is possible for a tropical storm or hurricane to reach the northern Gulf of California and cause significant damage. Hurricane Kathleen in 1976, Hurricane Nora in 1997, and Hurricane Rosa in 2018 were the last hurricanes to hit Puerto Peñasco.
We time-share vacation in Mexico since 2001, when we with Margy visited Mexico for the first time, using the time-share of our daughter family in Cabo San Lukas. We fall in love with the climate, food and people of Mexico and immediately bought our time-share 1 week vacation first in Villa del Palmar, next time upgraded to Mayan Palace, after that to Grand Mayan Palace. After 75 years of age we received Senior Certificate. We have been in all Good Mexican resorts: Puerto Vallarta, Nuevo Vallarta, Mazatlán, Riviera Maya – Cancun and Acapulco (The Best in General) . Last one - Puerto Penasco we visited with Margy for the first time in July-August 2017 , driving our red Toyota from Seattle to there 6 days, stopping in all interested Places on west coast of Pacific Ocean in 3 states, Washington, Oregon and California till Los Angeles. It was total of 2004 miles (3264 km). Second time we drove with Emo his new Honda from Phoenix, AZ in December, 2018. For the third time we drove with Galin his Honda-Civic in September, 2019, The distance from Arizona is only about 240 miles (390 km) about 8 times shorter than from Washington State. This is our Sea Resort until we are alive…
Every time we visited Puerto Penasco from our Grand Mayan Resort, situated East on the coast, close to the Airport, by our car for only 30 minutes (25 km). Here in this album are some photos taken last two times by me (by different cameras) of the central part of the city.
