Visit Puerto Penasco

Puerto Peñasco is located on the Sea of Cortez in Sonora, Mexico. It is a scenic drive from Phoenix or Tucson, Arizona and offers lots of activities for the entire family, groups, visitors and tourists from parasailing to swimming with the sea lions. 

Rocky Point has hundreds of restaurants for your dining pleasure from street taco stands to five-star elegant dining and accommodations ranging from beach camping to beachfront condominiums to luxurious resorts.

Puerto Peñasco is a small city of approximately 60,000 population in the northern state of Sonora, Mexico. Located on the shore of the Gulf of California (also known as the Sea of Cortés), the town is known for its fishing and tourism industries. Puerto Peñasco, alternatively known among many of its English-speaking visitors as "Rocky Point," is a popular destination for tourists, particularly those that reside in the U.S. state of Arizona, for whom it is the nearest beach resort. It is also a popular Spring Break destination with students from Arizona, New Mexico, and California. Puerto Peñasco is located in the 'free zone' where tourists are not required to obtain immigration papers in order to visit (however, U.S. border agents advise that as of January 2008 a passport will be required to re-enter the United States). Puerto Peñasco has two main beach areas. To the west of the Old Port area, there is a wide, flat area known as Sandy Beach. This is the home to several large hotel/resorts, and more are under construction. East of town, there is a long coast with several areas known in parts as La Mirador, Playa del Oro and then Las Conchas, an area of beachfront and near-beach condos, homes and timeshares. The area features wide variations between high and low tides. With the shallowly sloping sea bed, this can lead to dramatic changes in the waterline twice a day. At the eastern beaches, this reveals a rocky reef with abundant sea life. The Old Port has a variety of shopping and dining, from roadside taco stands to restaurant-style dining, from an Italian bistro to rooftop seafood. There are stalls with souvenirs and traditional items -- many of which you can haggle for -- as well as artist shops.  The closest commercial airports are several hours away by car, in Hermosillo, Guaymas-San Carlos, Sonora, Phoenix, Arizona, or Mexicali, Baja California. Current tourist development plans call for the local airport to be expanded and an international airport opened in 2008. A major highway is currently underway that will connect Puerto Penasco with San Luis Rio Colorado and Yuma, Arizona, offering a faster route from Tijuana/San Diego and Los Angeles. There is a statue of Benito Juárez in a plaza near the beaches. Puerto Peñasco's fishing zone lies in the Gulf of California. Puerto Peñasco is also slated for upcoming marina and other boat-related developments as part of the country's 'Escalera Nautica' efforts, which call for a chain of 'tourist-class' marinas sprinkled up and down the Baja coast in an effort to promote nautical tourism.  

Gulf of California    The Gulf of California (also known as the Sea of Cortez, Sea of Cortés (named for Spanish Conquistador Hernán Cortés) or Vermilion Sea; locally known in the Spanish language as Mar de Cortés or Mar Bermejo or Golfo de California) is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean that separates the Baja California Peninsula from the Mexican mainland. It is bordered by the states of Baja California, Baja California Sur, Sonora, and Sinaloa with a coastline of approximately 4,000 km (2,500 mi). Rivers which flow into the Gulf of California include the Colorado, Fuerte, Mayo, Sinaloa, Sonora, and the Yaqui. The gulf's surface area is about 160,000 km2 (62,000 sq mi). Depths range from fording at the estuary near Yuma, Arizona, to in excess of 3,000 meters (9,800 ft) in the deepest parts.   The Gulf is thought to be one of the most diverse seas on the planet, and is home to more than 5,000 species of micro-invertebrates.  Home to over a million people, Baja California is the second-longest peninsula in the world, after the Malay Peninsula in Southeast Asia.  Parts of the Gulf of California are a UNESCO World Heritage Site.