Puerto Peñasco, Mexico - 2007

We spent a great 4th of July in Mexico.

Actually, we were there for a whole week. Five of us packed ourselves and our beach gear into a car, arriving in Puerto Peñasco four or so hours later, itching to place our sweaty selves directly into the Sea of Cortez.

We stayed at the Mayan Palace where our friends have a time share. Since it's actually outside of town, it was the perfect place to stay in terms of our goals: peace and quiet on a secluded beach but with all the amenities.

I was actually surprised at how great the beach was. The water was warm, (maybe a little too warm at bath water temperatures) but very clear and full of schools of little fish. We were followed by some tiny tiger-striped fish, which was weird. (I mean they actually followed us around in the water.) The only hazards were jelly fish, but with their bright blue tentacles they were easy to spot and avoid. There were crabs too, but they were pretty shy. We were warned about it being sting ray season but we didn't see any.

The beach is great because everyday it's different. The tide changes, washes new things in and takes other things away. The pelicans, seagulls and sandpipers keep a soul company while seashell hunting, but they are usually the only ones.

We did go into town a few times to buy groceries and beer, or even splurge and have dinner served to us. We had dinner at El Perico Marinero and ended up with enough fish to take home and make into lunch time fish tacos for a the whole week. After our sunset catamaran cruise (see Del Mar charters) had a pretty good pizza at Max's Cafe. (That cruise was 100% awesome, by the way.) One evening we had dinner at The Point, (which you can't miss, because it's the only restaurant literally built over the water). The food was okay, but the sunset was better.

My only complaint about Mayan Palace was the walls were too thin and the beds were hard. I would not recommend horseback riding on Playa Bonita. We had bruises for weeks due to poor saddles. And of course, it is always majorly fucked up to see how disrespectful some tourists can be, but in general, vacationing in Rocky Point is very pleasant. It's affordable, people are nice and it's sort of warm and fuzzy to know that you're putting some juice into the economy to the south of the border.

More things to love about vacationing in Puerto Peñasco:

1. cuban cigars
2. small time snorkeling
3. golfing on the sea with coyotes, rabbits and gophers
4. buying earrings at the port
5. taking pictures of the sunset