tmotsinger
Eating Newbie Gringo Taco
Thought I'd roust this "ghost forum" with a quick update on Coastal Highway construction and other info from a Christmas Eve drive we did yesterday from San Carlos to Penasco, along the coastal route. Terrific trip, and much faster at 5:40 than I'd expected (the "normal" route through Hermosillo, Santa Ana, and Caborca is actually slower now at 6:30 or so).
Drive times:
San Carlos - Kino Bay 2:00
Kino Bay - Puerto Libertad 1:30
Puerto Libertad - Penasco 2:10
Road Conditions:
San Carlos - Kino Bay: Highway 15 (toll road) north 40 km to the Pemex/Oxxo at Mex 61 on the left, signed to Kino Bay. Road condition ranged from "not bad" to "quite poor". Paved, but in some places you wish it weren't so the dirt and sand could just smooth themselves out. Lots of potholes, so a car would have to go much slower. I'm lucky to have a truck with oversize tires and computerized Air Ride suspension, so the holes were really just a little chatter at 60 mph. Go left (west) when you hit the Kino-Hermosillo Highway and through Miguel Aleman to the Coastal Highway. Pemex-up in Miguel Aleman. 170 km; 2:00.
Kino Bay - Puerto Libertad: Go right (north) at the Coastal Highway, even with Calle 36 south. It's well-signed. This road will be the "new" coastal highway soon, but for now, it's a bumpy 2-laner without shoulders...yet way smoother than the first leg. One cursory military checkpoint close to the end. Absolutely gorgeous drive through the wild Sonoran Desert, capped with a breathtaking view of the Sea of Cortez as you drop into Libertad. Drop down to the beach for a beer or picnic under the palapas right before town, and check out the shipwreck. Only one Pemex here, and not another for 100 km, so if it's out of fuel, I REALLY hope you gassed up down south. Limited dining in this little industrial village, so we just grabbed some stuff at the grocery/hardware store on the main, divided drag. 169 km; 1:30.
Puerto Libertad - Puerto Penasco: This is where you get to enjoy the new Coastal Highway in all its deliciousness. Great surface, great signing, and a spectacular routing that keeps you up in the Sonoran Desert, but with punctuated views down to the sea. Oddly, the turnoffs to the beach towns aren't signed, so we missed Puerto Lobos. Didn't see another car for the first 48 miles north of Libertad. All paved now, except 2-3 miles of graded dirt detour near Santo Tomas. Then it's back to the regular, bumpier surface on into Penasco. One cursory military checkpoint. 220 km; 2:10
Other Notes:
Google and Apple Maps are good for maps and distances for the first two legs, but they WAY overestimate the drive times. They don't give you a routing for Puerto Libertad - Penasco, telling you the equivalent of "Imbecile, you can't get there from here."
The app "CityMaps2Go" gives you an offline map of Sonora that recognizes most of the new Coastal Highway north of Libertad, and it's good for little place names along the way. But it's otherwise not very detailed.
So Kino Bay is now less than 4 hours away from Penasco. Libertad and all the "eastern" beach towns between Penasco and there can be explored in little more than a morning. And even the Seri Villages like El Desemboque del Seri--normally reached from Kino Bay--are now reachable by day trip from Penasco. As the Coastal Highway construction continues east of Penasco and south from Libertad, things will just get better!
The beach on the south side of Libertad. The shipwreck is just left of my daughter.
Drive times:
San Carlos - Kino Bay 2:00
Kino Bay - Puerto Libertad 1:30
Puerto Libertad - Penasco 2:10
Road Conditions:
San Carlos - Kino Bay: Highway 15 (toll road) north 40 km to the Pemex/Oxxo at Mex 61 on the left, signed to Kino Bay. Road condition ranged from "not bad" to "quite poor". Paved, but in some places you wish it weren't so the dirt and sand could just smooth themselves out. Lots of potholes, so a car would have to go much slower. I'm lucky to have a truck with oversize tires and computerized Air Ride suspension, so the holes were really just a little chatter at 60 mph. Go left (west) when you hit the Kino-Hermosillo Highway and through Miguel Aleman to the Coastal Highway. Pemex-up in Miguel Aleman. 170 km; 2:00.
Kino Bay - Puerto Libertad: Go right (north) at the Coastal Highway, even with Calle 36 south. It's well-signed. This road will be the "new" coastal highway soon, but for now, it's a bumpy 2-laner without shoulders...yet way smoother than the first leg. One cursory military checkpoint close to the end. Absolutely gorgeous drive through the wild Sonoran Desert, capped with a breathtaking view of the Sea of Cortez as you drop into Libertad. Drop down to the beach for a beer or picnic under the palapas right before town, and check out the shipwreck. Only one Pemex here, and not another for 100 km, so if it's out of fuel, I REALLY hope you gassed up down south. Limited dining in this little industrial village, so we just grabbed some stuff at the grocery/hardware store on the main, divided drag. 169 km; 1:30.
Puerto Libertad - Puerto Penasco: This is where you get to enjoy the new Coastal Highway in all its deliciousness. Great surface, great signing, and a spectacular routing that keeps you up in the Sonoran Desert, but with punctuated views down to the sea. Oddly, the turnoffs to the beach towns aren't signed, so we missed Puerto Lobos. Didn't see another car for the first 48 miles north of Libertad. All paved now, except 2-3 miles of graded dirt detour near Santo Tomas. Then it's back to the regular, bumpier surface on into Penasco. One cursory military checkpoint. 220 km; 2:10
Other Notes:
Google and Apple Maps are good for maps and distances for the first two legs, but they WAY overestimate the drive times. They don't give you a routing for Puerto Libertad - Penasco, telling you the equivalent of "Imbecile, you can't get there from here."
The app "CityMaps2Go" gives you an offline map of Sonora that recognizes most of the new Coastal Highway north of Libertad, and it's good for little place names along the way. But it's otherwise not very detailed.
So Kino Bay is now less than 4 hours away from Penasco. Libertad and all the "eastern" beach towns between Penasco and there can be explored in little more than a morning. And even the Seri Villages like El Desemboque del Seri--normally reached from Kino Bay--are now reachable by day trip from Penasco. As the Coastal Highway construction continues east of Penasco and south from Libertad, things will just get better!
The beach on the south side of Libertad. The shipwreck is just left of my daughter.
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