Puerto Peñasco Beach
On the first weekend in September, we went to the beach. We went for the still-warm ocean water on our toes, the sweet mangoes covered in tajin and chamoy, and the lazy river at the hotel pool.
The thing about Arizona is that it’s easy to get frustrated in the fall. Everyone else is starting to drink pumpkin spice things and wear sweaters, and here we are still at 100+ degrees every day with the sun beating down on us.
So we went to the Puerto Peñasco beach and ignored fall altogether.
Puerto Peñasco, aka Rocky Point, is only about a 4 hour drive from our house in Phoenix, and we try to make it over there at least once or twice a year. But despite our enthusiastic renditions of “Calma” almost every day for months (“Vamos pa’ la playa / pa’ curarte el alma”), I was too pregnant to go in the spring, and then too newly postpartum to go in the summer.
Sooo we had a fall beach vacation! And if you’re an AZ local, I highly recommend adopting this tradition! We were only there a couple of days over the weekend, but still felt like we got plenty of Puerto Peñasco beach time and did everything we wanted to do.
WHERE TO EAT AND WHERE TO STAY IN PUERTO PEÑASCO
A few favorites in case I’ve convinced you to take a trip:
- Seafood at Aquí es con Flavio (we usually eat here on our first day, sometimes even as soon as we drive into town!)
- A mango or two (or 18) from any of the vendors on the beach. They normally come with chile y limón, but if you’re Ecuadorian like my husband or half-Ecuadorian like my kids, you can get them without. 🙂 The piña coladas are amazing, too.
- Brunch at Kaffee Haus
- Hotel Las Palomas Beach and Golf Resort. We love staying here, but have also had great luck with the other condos on Sandy Beach!
I hope I’ve inspired you to plan a trip soon! And if you have any more questions about Puerto Peñasco I’d love to answer them— I’ve been coming since I was a little girl (it was also one of the closer beaches to our home in Chihuahua)!