It’s a dog’s life. Sunning, sleeping, eating.
And it’s all thanks to Al Capone. Back in the 1920’s, he and his gangster sidekicks used to fly down here from Southern Arizona in little bi-planes, so they could drink and gamble in peace. There was no Prohibition, here in Puerto Penasco. Actually, there wasn’t much of anything. There was the Old Port, of course. And a handful of fishing boats. Al Capone ended up building himself a house, which is now a hotel, Posada La Roca. But then they repealed Prohibition and the gangsters went home, and nothing else happened for decades. In 1941, the population was something less than 200.
Of course, people from Arizona kept coming. They camped out on the beach, and some of them built houses. But there was no infrastructure, no plan. There were barely even any paved roads. And it was Mexico, a foreign country. You needed a visa, you needed special car insurance. And buying land was complicated.
Less than a decade ago, everything changed. Real estate ownership was simplified, and made accessible to non-Mexicans. Most of the paperwork required of visitors was eliminated, although you still need Mexican car insurance. They paved the roads, and built the condos, and people came. In droves. They’re saying Puerto Penasco is the next Cancun. The State of Sonora is about to license its real estate agents, the first state in Mexico to do so. There’s even a Burger King.
You may have noticed that sometimes I call it Puerto Penasco, and sometimes I refer to it as Rocky Point. That’s because Mexicans call it Puerto Penasco, and gringos call it Rocky Point. Except for the people who call it Sandy Beach, which it certainly is.
The sun is shining, the tide is out and we're off to explore the reef!