A quick trip to Puerto Penasco, MEX over Thanksgiving

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

alia176

SILVER Star
Joined
Aug 21, 2003
Threads
841
Messages
16,450
Location
Tijeras, NM
Jessica, me and the two dogs went for a road trip over the holiday weekend to MEX. The primary purpose was to do a bit of recon, get to know the area and of course eat seafood until we can't stand it anymore. I'm proud to say that all items were accomplished!

The locals were extremely nice to talk to as was very helpful. I wanted to practice my Spanish and they wanted to practice their English so it was all good. We went to El Golfo via the beach which was uber cool. Beach driving for hours and hours w/o running into folks is definitely worth the effort. We met up with LancruiserPhil who was kind enough to show us around.

I tell you what, my windshield has NEVER been this clean :) Just about everywhere we parked, the windshield was clean for few pesos. Old Port is a bit touristy and offers the usual chaos. We also checked out La Choya (also spelled La Cholla), El Golfo and all around the outskirts of Rocky Point. Basically, we went from a meal to meal. Jessica's intentions were to sample all the different Margaritas in the various hole in the walls.

Rocky Point will probably end up being like the usual tourist places with lots of high rise buildings and the like. But, for now it's a bastion of decency, tranquility and somewhat unAmericanized. Driving around was a piece of cake, street signs everywhere and not to mention speed bumps (aka "boobs"). Them folks take their speed bumps rather seriously it seems. If you hit one of these "boob" at speed, you're not gonna like the consequences.

Border crossing was fast both ways but we did arrive at the crossing at 7am on Sunday. Phil said that it was up to 45 min wait at 8am, according to his buddy. Driving from the border crossing to Rocky Point was akin to driving on the Autobahn - balls to the walls. I set the cruise on the 4Runner at 85mph and I was getting passed by Arizonians constantly :lol:. We crossed at the tiny town of Lukeville, AZ.

Total time from Abq to the ocean is easy ten hours. You could just use a car for this road trip and then rent UTVs for cheap when you're there. The UTVs can be driven on the streets and the sand dune wheeling is huge. Lots of restaurant and shops had UTVs parked out front.

Here come the pics.
beach.webp
dolphin sign.webp
eating food1.webp
skull pick.webp
sunset.webp
 
Last edited:
Of course, Phil and I managed to get stuck while trying to cross some water. But, we did find the remains of a whale that Phil saw back in March in the state of decomposition. One was the skull, where Riley was sitting next to. Also found few vertebrates on the beach.

The extraction required the use of a full size chevy and a jeep. Phil and I were lamenting the fact that all of our awesome recovery gear was in our 80's which were back at home! So, instead of watching the dolphins, we used the time to extract ourselves.

giant shrimp statue.webp
Phil stuck1.webp
stuck2.webp
stuck3.webp
 
Last edited:
Random pics of La Choya (aka Cholla). Any guess as to why the garages are so tall?


IMG_2223.webp
IMG_2286.webp
IMG_2287.webp
IMG_2289.webp
IMG_2293.webp
 
The garages are that tall because that's where the gringos keep the boats.
 
Lisa's cousin has a place on Cholla Bay just a few blocks up from JJ's Cantina. I like it down there, shame it's not a few hours closer.
Thanks for the pictures!!!
 
growing up in Tucson, Rocky Point was a simple trip. I knew at least 4 people with places down there. it is literally only a couple hours drive. never been there myself though. looks fun!
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom