Puerto Penasco was once a quiet little fishing village but now it has become a young American weekend party haven……………..

As we drove into Puerto Penasco we couldn’t believe all the sand and the funny road signs….road runners…….turtles crossing…..racing rabbits.  From the last town on the road into Penasco is a stretch of 30 miles of sand – it’s an amazing view that reaches forward with little bushes to hold it down. Every so often you will see an individual house with some horses and cacti in the yard.

We searched the streets for a hotel with a vacancy.  It was mid week so we had plenty to choose from.  We pulled up to a small hotel with a pool in front and entered the “hotel office”.  The angry woman behind the counter, that we seemed to be interrupting, stood up to show us a room that we kindly passed on and got in the car to continue the search.  We hoped to find something bigger than an 8 x 8 room with a cramped shower stall in the tiny bathroom.   The town is made up of clusters of restaurants and small businesses with homes and a ton of sand between them.   In all my travels I have never seen so much sand. We found a hotel called Playa Inn. It had a nice lobby, friendly staff, great rooms, and the only catch – it costs $75 US.  After the last few days we are ready to indulge.  We signed the registry, roll our bags to the room and grab a bite to eat.  After a few nights sleep and a few great meals we were ready to check out our new town. Playa Inn was by a section of town that had new development, older homes, new strip malls and a beach that was a combination of sand, sea shells, and old black lava that appeared to be rocks because the sea had smoothed them over.  We were told the lava came from the Pinacate Volcanic Field in the Sonora desert.  Not far from Playa Inn were RV parks and beautiful mansions.  In Mexico there is always contrast. It is what we love so much about it.

The streets are very wide and most are sand except the few main streets which have been paved.  There are about 35000 people – at least that is what the population sign says when you drive into town.  It was a sleepy little fishing town at one time but is now a thriving tourist town.  The fishing is still going on but the non-stop condo building, great restaurants, loud bars and open air shops you give you the feeling there is more at work here.  On Thursday nights the streets are buzzing with vehicles and many American tourists.  By Friday night the town has been over taken by Americans ready to spend money and party.  The legal drinking age in Mexico is 18 years old compared to the American neighbours age being 21 years old.  Guess where the college and university kids come to play?  Here they party all night – sleep all day – lay on the beach – rent ATV’s – eat in great restaurants and then do it all over again then next night.

We moved to Calle 13 and stayed in a hotel called Senorial Hotel; right in the heart of the action.  We struck up a deal with the owner and we stayed another 2 weeks.  Calle 13 is a street made up of bars, hotels and restaurants and was very busy on the weekends.

The Old Port – pictured above – is also close by and we started to visit there every evening for the spectacular sun sets.  When the sun goes down you can see Mount Filipe over on the other side of the Sea of Cortez.  On Sunday nights the locals gather in the Old Port and drive up and down visiting and socializing.  They play loud music and bring their families out to see each other.  A pub at the Old Port called – Agave – has their Happy Hour at 4:00 and serves great Margaritas as the sun sets. We found a table and called it our own.  Its nice when you have been into an establishment a few times and they get to know you.

We mostly drank only at Happy Hour at any of the bars and we also went to the local grocery store – Super Ley. We bought groceries and took them back to our room and cooked for ourselves.  We had chicken breasts for $3. per kg and and pineapple, advacados, onions, tomatoes, and pastery treats, all for very little.  We would always leave the Super Ley with 3 or 4 bags of groceries and be amazed it only cost us $10-15. And that depended on if we had some Tequila or Kahlua.  Tequila will run you from $5. – 80 and Kahlua was about $10.  Most of our meals were $2.00 each and we found one great place that served you a whole grilled chicken, coleslaw and flour wraps for $10. – we devoured a couple of those!!

The town is growing and most of the land is still for sale.  You can purchase land and build, or buy a condo, trailer, rustic cement home or even an 1/8 ownership of a home on a championship golf course.  All in all Puerto Penasco is a great place for a two week vacation or a weekend getaway.