How did you find Puerto Penasco

C

CheddarBob

Guest
This our story. My wife and I purchased our winter getaway in Phoenix in 2014. While doing renovations our tile installer Jesus asked us if we heard of Rocky Point/Puerto Penasco which we hadn’t he went on to tell us all about PP. He did mention you should visit and that his brother was a manager at one of the Sonoran complexes. With all that Jesus had to say all my wife heard was good shopping, beautiful beaches and ocean. About a year later (2015) my daughter and her fiancé came down for a visit we booked at the sun for 2 nights. Well after spending those 2 nights that’s all my wife could talk about for the next 3 years. Fast forward to 2018 I personally was getting bored in Phoenix it was just to busy for me coming from a small town. I calmly said to my wife I was not going back to Phoenix it’s time to sell you can imagine how that went over seeing that we see 5 months of snow a year.Getting some much deserved heat from my wife over wanting to sell. I had this idea to start quietly looking at property values in Puerto Penasco. Once I had did my research I calmly said to my wife ”hey what would you think if we sold Phoenix and moved to Puerto Penasco“ my wife’s head spun around so fast I thought it was going to detach “really she said” I said yes really. Then I showed her some properties I had been researching all I can remember was how wide open her eyes were, this was her dream to be by the ocean. Within 2 weeks of telling my wife I was wanting to sell Phoenix she booked flights and booked the Sonoran Sun for 2 days we were going home shopping in another country. We looked at a few and went back home. Week later I found a home online we both liked and sent our realtor to go look and video for us. Made an offer we went back an forth but we stuck to our original offer, after a week they accepted. Now we had to fly down again to do our due diligence. All turned out well except I now own 2 vacation properties we hadn’t sold Phoenix this happened so quick my wife had my head spinning. Quickly found a realtor in Phoenix I let my wife pick which was a complete nightmare. I will condense this portion sold the house twice kept one deposit fired my realtor hired another one sold the house. Drove 2500 miles rented a 24 foot enclosed trailer. Loaded the trailer and set the GPS for our new vacation home. Paid our taxes at the border which was a breeze. So in April 2018 during what we found was Semana Santa we pulled into Puerto Penasco. Hired some local guys to unload the trailer. We started creating our new home 2800 miles away. Best decision my wife and I made couldn’t ask for a better place to enjoy Mexican culture and hospitality. FYI we will be there for Puerto Penasco through thick and thin for years to come.
 
mexicoruss

mexicoruss

Lovin it in RP!
Naomi and I vacationed here with some friends in 1984. We stayed in our tents at the end of Las Conchas for a few nights then rented a room down at La Viña del mar hotel. We fell in love with this place. We started our family and worked as young people like so many others do in the States. We visited as often as we could while living in Cottonwood AZ. I believe it was 2001 when we were walking down Rodeo drive I noticed a brochure on the dash of some guys truck, the brochure was in English so I went into the store to find out who's it was. That's when I met Memo. We told him we were interested in buying something but we couldn't afford on the beach so what did he know about...he sent a young girl with (Abby is still our friend) us to show us the house that her mom and dad were selling. It was a mess of a house! It was not really livable, Naomi and I looked at each other and said "it's perfect". With Memo as my associate we opened Peñasco Recreation Co. Sa de Cv. We took title to the house some 6 months later. Working on it as a family on almost every weekend together was challenging but fun. Fast forward to 2006. We sold our business in the States and in 2007 moved here permanently. The little shack we bought is now a pretty nice compound that has my studio and Naomi's sewing area complete with industrial machines. She hand makes clothes for a lot of the local American women here and has a studio across the street for her store and her new SeaShell Museum which opened about 2 1/2 years ago and has already had over 1600 people from 9 countries sign her guest book. Like Cheddar above says "we will be here for Puerto Peñasco through thick and thin for years to come" because it has been a part of our life together for all these years! Together we operate several small businesses here and one of our favorites is the Mermaids Market which starts its 9th season this October. We are all in.
 
S

Southbeacher

Guest
In ’95 we were sitting at night on a patio of our (frequent) rental in Las Conchas, sipping adult beverages and looking at the stars, when someone noticed faint light(s) miles eastward. We wondered how there would be a beach community so far off grid – did they have propane appliances? Kerosene lamps? The next day we did some exploring, travelling east on the Caborca road. Some miles out, we took a right onto a remote, sandy road, went up on the dunes. Jaws dropped. Beautiful, pristine beach with a few sparsely placed (new) homes. Called the number listed on the sign, and – after as much investigation as possible at the time – took what we knew was nevertheless a risk, and signed up! We added in some (then unique to that area) amenities like a generator, AC and solar, and voila – by 1997 we were sipping adult beverages on our own patio. Now, in 2020, we’re still waiting to tire of it, with no evidence of that happening yet. . . .
 
dirtsurfer

dirtsurfer

Guest
I came down to Cholla Bay in 77 to fish with Spotts Willis. I immediately fell for everything Mexico. A few years later Spotts decided to sell his place on the water called ”The Boars Nest”. I was so excited to own a place on the water in pre-development Cholla I could barely stand it. After about 15 years we had a bunch of kids, bought a beach front lot in Playa Miramar and ended up building a shack at the very end of the development. We had about 10 years of incredible freedom & fun with miles of untouched beach & dunes & ocean to play on & in. My kids all remember having Easter egg hunts on the beach and now are adults who regularly come to Mexico. I love all of Mexico and have spent many days exploring the back roads of Baja and especially love the Yucatan area.
 
Kenny

Kenny

Guest
My old man heard about Rocky Point, Sandy Beach and Chollo Bay from a group he worked with at Hughes. I later learned and experienced first hand why that group from Hughes was known as the wild boy's. When my Uncle Teddy came home from Korea he had bought a Woody and at some point, my Mom, Dad, Aunt, and uncle teddy thought the only thing to with it was to hitch up the 16Ft boat to it, strap on Jerry cans for both gas and water and then head on out for Nachos at Cholla bay. That was 55, and us kids were told "next time". The following year we moved to Phoenix from Torrance and so it must have been in 57 before I made it down. There is still a footprint in Cholla Bay from the "wild boy's", that group from Hughes that rocked Sandy Beach back in the '50s and 60's because they kept coming back. Some of them stayed, and some purchased and came as often as they could to work on their place, and then retired there later. Of course, some just came to fish and have fun. Real old-time Cholla folks know about the migration of people who worked for Hughes that migrated to Cholla Bay.
 
M

MIRAMAR

Guest
We came down in 1981, first camping on Sandy Beach for Memorial Day, then staying at one of the first houses in Las Conchas (on the beach right across from the guard house. I think there were about 3 houses there at the time- at least close to where we stayed). We came off and on for the next 8 years, then started going to Kino Bay with a group of friends and their families. In 1998, we came back to Penasco, thought how nice it was that unlike Kino or San Carlos, we didn't need a Visa, and could drive in 3.5 hours from Tucson, so we looked for a lot we could afford. We had to go all the way out to Miramar, but we started building in 1999, and have loved seeing our kids, now in their 30s, coming down for Spring Breaks and holidays with their friends and families and creating such great memories. We haven't looked back: Internet bubble, Y2K, 9-11, Sars, Mers, Drug wars, Financial Crisis, and now Coronavirus, we'll keep weathering through this. We just took a walk, saw some friends with their dogs who are hunkering down here. We love the people, the beach and the town of Penasco!
 
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K

kahunito

Guest
Way Back in 2012... Drew a circle on a map and looked for somewhere we could go that didnt freeze had water and palm trees. When i say map i mean old paper map. First stop Lake Havasu then San Diego then San Felipe for 10 days. Really liked San Felipe but too quiet for the wife. We wondered what that little dot on the map called Puerto Penasco was like. With google earth looked like there was some resorts and hotels there so we headed over. Drove into town with no plans and ended up renting a place at the Sun for a week. Thats all it took, been coming down at least 3 times a year, ended up buying on Sandy Beach, making lifelong friends and plan on spending more and more time on the Rock. Rocky point has it all great people, great beaches great water great town and probably more restaurants per capita than anywhere! And thank you all on the forum Ive been enjoying it and picking up a lot of useful info for a few years now.
 
Hobie Vern

Hobie Vern

Guest
Moved to Tucson, from PA, in 84. Heard about RP in 85 or 86. Told people wasn't interested in going "That far" into Mexico. Kicking myself in the ass for that mistake. When my cousin, from Phoenix, started working with me in 95 he told me him and his buddies have been there several times. Finally in 98 the wife and I decided to give it a shot, with my cousin and his buddy as guides. We had just purchased a new Pathfinder and I told my wife, if we're going we're taking the bug! Just rebuilt the engine but by no means was the car in that good of shape. Loaded up our stuff in my cousin's pickup, Me, the wife and kids in the bug. The kids were 15 & 8. Had a great time, except for getting sunburnt, shades on the beach had not really been a thing back then. Convinced my parents to go the following year, they loved it, even though my Mother was very skeptical about it. We used to stay at the Best Western/ Playa Inn. Then we got a motorhome and started staying at PDO. Sold the motorhome and bought a used 5th wheel and made arrangements to store @ PDO. That was 2010, best decision we ever made. Almost bought property @ Laguna Shores, thankfully we talked to a real estate agent in Tucson that specializes in Mexican property, her last words to us were. " If it was my money I wouldn't do it!" We usually go down 5 to 6 times a year. Sometimes for 2 weeks. Oh and by the way we have a 2017 Tacoma we have no problems taking to RP!
 
Hobie Vern

Hobie Vern

Guest
In addition, I had been to Nogales a couple of times in the mid 80's. I have no desire to visit Nogales anymore, Rocky Point for me. Have been to San Carlos and Kino. Don't like dealing with the visa stuff.
 
joester

joester

2 salty dawgs
We have friends who frequent RP, and we finally were convinced to come down for Thanksgiving, 2005 I think. Without knowing where they stayed, we booked a space for our RV at PDO. Day before we left, find out that they stay at the Mirador - right next door! One group had an upstairs room streetside, with a kitchen. Another couple rented one of the TT they had set up in middle of Mirador lot, and one other group was in beachfront unit #1 - farthest to west. Had a ball, I remember it was warm and swimmable that year. We got the double nickle tour - Manny's, JJ's, Rodeo Drive, second estuary, the Malecon - we've been going for Thanksgiving every year since. Pretty much invited ourselves to Val & Chucks soiree on Thanksgiving, from this forum back then, and its been an annual thing since :cool: We've met some great folks on the Mirador beach and PDO and always look forward to visiting with them. Sometimes we also come down in spring, or fall, but always for Thanksgiving for a week. I wish I was there on the beach at PDO right now :):)
 
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