Travel Blog | Puerto Penasco, Mexico (Rocky Point)

Kevin and I visited Puerto Penasco (aka Rocky Point) with some friends a couple of weeks ago and had a great time! It was my first time taking a road trip to Rocky Point and I had to admit I felt a little anxious about encountering the Policia on the road. I had even heard horror stories from a few people about being pulled over in Mexico and having to fork out cash to the Policia in order to avoid jail time. I was also worried about drug violence since Puerto Penasco is located in the active drug-smuggling Sonora region. Thank goodness we didn't encounter anything like that during our trip, and the drive to/from Mexico was pretty uneventful. 

We left on a Friday morning and returned Sunday afternoon. The drive from Phoenix to Puerto Penasco was about 3.5 hours. We were waived through when we arrived at border patrol. Apparently they don't check passports/IDs upon entering Mexico, only as you re-enter the U.S. 

We rented a 3bedroom condo at Sonoran Sky and was assigned Room 309 upon check in. Our oceanfront condo is beautiful, with views of the infinity pool, swim-up bar, and beach. It felt like a home away from home. There are vendors on the beach located close to the condo offering jet ski rentals ($40/30 minutes for two people), banana boat rides ($5/person), and other water activities. 

I loved spending time with my boyfriend and friends, and it was nice to take a couples trip! Highlights of the trip for me was doing photo shoots on the beach for our friends, and getting photos taken of me and Kevin by Tina - thanks girl! The downside to the trip was the humidity, which was horrible. We only felt relief in the evenings.

Enjoy some of my favorites from our trip below!

This is where we went to for lunch the Friday and Saturday we were there. The area is geared towards tourists. There are many stalls selling the usual souvenir items, as well as pharmacies selling cheap viagra and other stuff. 

Stand selling fresh fruit and other things.

My handsome boyfriend Kevin, always willing to hold my camera bag, and a good sport about posing when "asked."

Snuck a shot of Dan when he wasn't looking!

One of the many stalls selling souvenir items. Bargaining is encouraged and expected! Be fair, as they are trying to make a living.

Eunice and Tina haggling with this merchant.

Tina with her sombrero, which she haggled from $40 to $25. We later learned that another stall was selling it for $25 - no haggling required. 

Eunice's daughter is soooooo pretty!

Photo of me and Kevin in front of the Sonoran Sky condo. Photos of me and Kevin were taken by our dear friend, Tina Mullaney-Tanviseth. All other photos were taken by me. 

MISCELLANEOUS IPHONE PHOTOS

I was so looking forward to eating authentic Mexican food during our trip, but aside from the street tacos we had one evening, I was greatly disappointed with the bland and unimpressive food we tried. My advice is to eat away from the touristy spots like we did. 

This is the view from our third-floor condo, of the infinity pool (top) and the smaller pool with the swim-up bar (bottom). Wish we were back there chillaxin'.

This shrimp cocktail served by Lucky's Cantina was the first thing I tried when we arrived in Puerto Penasco. I wanted ceviche but the restaurant doesn't offer it - whhhaaaaaaat? The shrimp cocktail tasted bland, even after I added hot sauce to it - 2 out of 5 stars. I should have known the food wasn't good because the restaurant was pretty empty while we were there around 1PM.

Kevin ordered this steak fajita from Lucky's Cantina, which he said was good. I tried a bite and thought it was meh... tasted like they used terriyaki sauce to stir-fry the steak - 2 out of 5 stars. 

This is a photo of us taken before we got on the banana boat ride. I can't believe it was only $5/person for the ride!!! We were supposed to give a thumbs up if wanted to go faster, thumbs down to go slower, and sideways thumb for just a little speed. I have a fear of falling off so kept giving the driver of the boat a sideways thumb, but my friend Tina kept giving a thumbs up to go faster. I almost fell off once and screamed a lot - throat was hoarse for a while. It was very fun, even for non-swimmers like me.

We had better luck with food Friday evening! These street tacos tasted fresh and amazing, and were some of the best tacos I've had to date!  Be sure to try and find this taco stand run by this husband and wife team. Thank you Eunice for driving us around to look for taco stalls!

I was a happy gal after eating these street tacos. All I wanted was some authentic Mexican food and these didn't disappoint. We took some back for the boys and although they loved them, whined about that the tacos were too spicy. *insert eye-rolling emoji here*

For lunch on Saturday, we made sure to find a restaurant with more clientele, and one that serves ceviche! We found one at the touristy area, and the above is what their ceviche looks like. I loved the presentation, but the taste not so much...there wasn't the usual tang from the lime juice and the flavor was just off. We later found out that they use canned sauce because we happened to walk by the kitchen on our way out and saw a lady pouring the canned sauce over the ceviche she was making. *sigh*

Kevin had better luck with this garlic shrimp dish. I had a bite and it was good - shrimp was cooked perfectly. Hard to go wrong with butter, garlic and shrimp, right?

Leaving Mexico and re-entering the U.S. It's a good idea to have your passports and/or birth certificate and ID ready. There's a gas station to the left, after you pass.