I have heard of Rocky Point so many times from friends and colleagues.  They said it’s really a beautiful place to visit. Well, beautiful is an understatement. It is really very BEAUTIFUL! I’m so happy I went with my family a few weeks ago.

The trip is not too bad. It only took us about 2 ½ hours to get to the border and another hour to get to our destination.  Passing the border going to Mexico is no problem at all. We just slowed and pass through the police and federal patrol, no questions asked. We saw the long line going back to the US from Mexico on the other lane. Boy I said to myself, we will have to wait in a long pile of cars going back to Arizona then. But it wasn’t really my concern at that time. I just wanted to get to Puerto Penasco or Rocky Point as quickly as possible.

But the highway speed limit is only 20 km/hr. Are you serious? That’s about 12 miles/hr. Well, as we leave the first town of Solaita, the speed limit went higher and higher until we were at 90 km/hr. I thought it was going to take us forever. Of course, the last thing we want to get is a speeding ticket in Mexico! So we drove defensively and followed the speed limit until we had few cars tailgated us, then we started speeding-up.

The roads and the houses reminded me of the Philippines.  There were a lot of people walking in the street.  I saw sidewalk vendors and makeshift cafeterias along the road. Oh, and the “askals”  (stray dogs in the street) caught my kids attention. My eldest mused, “Dogs are like cats in Mexico. They didn’t need to be walked with leashes.” I replied, “It’s exactly the same in the Philippines.” My son said, “cool”. At  that time, I took some photos of the “askals”  and pictured the Philippines in my mind. All of a sudden,  I missed my homeland.

When we get to the town, it was dark already. We couldn’t find our hotel. We saw the big billboards of Sonoran Sky Resort all over the place because it’s the newest condotel  in the area  but it really did not give us the direction to get to the resort.  Our cell phones had no signals and we were not sure if it was safe to ask the people in the market (which we initially taught was a red district area).

We decided to go to one resort and asked a security guard for directions. Fortunately, the guard knew where we’re supposed to go. After a couple  more wrong turns, we finally reached our destination.

Tired and stressed from an hour of searching for our condotel, I decided to just call it a day and slept.

The next day, I was awakened by my excited kids jumping on our bed.  I was too tired when we arrived that I didn’t even have the chance to appreciate our room.  Furnished with luxury furniture, our 2 bedroom  1,000 ft room is equipped with stainless steel appliances, granite counter tops,  air conditioning, TVs, VCRs, Stereo, bottled water, and a laundry room. The unit has an oceanfront balcony. A few walks and whollah! I’m right in front of the breath-taking white sand beach of the Sea of Cortez.

There are four separate pools and two Jacuzzis. An infinite or negative edge pool which gives an effect that the pool is continuous with the beach from a distance is the main attraction besides the beach itself.  There is a slide pool, swim-up bar, and a kid’s pool as well.

The beach is serene and didn’t have a lot of waves making it really conducive to swimming. The water is tepid. Not cold. Along the shores are people lying on the sand to get their tan from the Mexican sun. There are also vendors of sarongs and necklaces made up of sea shells and pearls, henna tattooists, and Mexican hats who walk many miles every day to earn a living. Some of them are minors. The scenery again reminded me of the Philippines, particularly Boracay beach.

I didn’t care so much about the food in the restaurant. It was a good thing we went to the market on our third day. The food is better there. The restaurants in the market are similar to what we also have in the Philippines. We bought seafood and they cooked them fresh. The margaritas are awesome.

 I didn’t worry about drinking water. The stores have bottled water and they accept US dollars. Contrary to what I thought, Mexican merchandise is not inexpensive at Rocky Point. I have to haggle to get a good price on stuff. For example, an embroidered souvenir shirt usually costs 15 to 20 dollars. I was able to get eight shirts for eight dollars each. Not bad. It is worth mentioning that the price of the merchandise in the market is the same with what the vendors are selling in the beach.

People are cheerful and friendly, both locals and foreigners. The latter are mostly from Arizona. One couple I met, Mr. & Mrs. Hay, is from Gilbert. They told me that they owned two units at Rocky point. I asked them how often they visit and they said every month.  “We would love to come here more often. People don’t realize that it’s too close to Arizona. Few hours’ drive and you are in Rocky Point. The beach is gorgeous.”

The locals in the beach speak good English. I met a few who only knew Spanish. It is still good to learn some basics of the Spanish lingo like the following words:

Ola- Hello                                                     No Mas- No more

Como esta- How are you?                         Dinero-  money

Bien- Good                                                   Lo siento- sorry

Nombre- Name                                         Quanto- How much                                                           

Gracias- Thank you                                 Aqui- Here

Denada- You’re welcome                        Alto- Stop                                                  

Bienvenido- Welcome                            Adios- Goodbye

No Habla Espanol- Can’t speak Spanish

We were lucky that we went back to Arizona on a Monday. Otherwise, the wait at the border if you went home on a Sunday will be at least an hour. The border officials can be intimidating. The officer asked us why we went to Mexico and initially asked us for our passports which we didn’t bring with us. We gave him our permanent resident cards and driver’s licenses. After verifying our resident status, we were allowed to pass. The officer didn’t even ask for the kids’ birth certificates. But we had it handy just in case. For a list of needed documents, please visit the Department of Homeland Security or go directly to http://www.dhs.gov/xtrvlsec/crossingborders/index.shtm

Prepare for another stop for immigration check. There is another checkpoint in Ajo, Arizona.

Rocky Point is really a great place to relax and unwind. Just make sure that you don’t visit during spring break if you have small children. The natives said that it does get wild during that season in Puerto Penasco.  And the next time we visit, I will make sure we have roaming on our cell phones, plenty of dollar bills for gratuity, and leave Arizona early. Know these before you go!