Travel to Puerto Penasco, Mexico: Where the USA and Mexico Rub Shoulders

Pto. Penasco is on the NE shore of the Gulf of California

Travel is one of the great joys of my life.  I love learning about people and watching the world from a different perspective. My husband and I have been lucky enough to see cultures unlike our own and to learn that our values are not necessarily all that there is. It has become so much of a part of our being we had forgotten the shock of seeing the lifestyle in third world countries. But while seeing the world through the eyes of our friends, I felt a certain degree of surprise again that people surviving in such hard circumstances.

Las Palomas Beach and Golf Resort

Golfing in the Sun

Sandy Beach at Puerto Penasco, Sonora, Mx

This last week our group visited a border town in Mexico very close to Tucson. After a drive through the Tohono Oodam native American reservation and south into Mexico, we arrived at the 5 star Las Palomas Beach Golf Resort on the Gulf of California. The journey was marked by a delay because of a car wreck involving a crime scene that forced a trip on the back roads through the reservation. The drive that would have normally take 5 hours was lengthen by almost 2 hours. We went through the Border Patrol checkpoints along the way and we were allow to enter Mexico after our car was looked over by Mexican authorities. Our passport was not checked when we left the country...just when we reentered the USA. Even at the outset, the short vacation lost all resemblance to our quiet life here in Tucson.

Las Palomas condos all have a view
of the Gulf of California beach.

Puerto Penasco is located only 60 miles south of the border but is it a world away from what we see in a normal day here in the USA. There are lot of expats in the community, huge resorts, golf courses, and in town there was a lively small market district. Because the Mexican way of life involves bargaining hawkers are after you all the time. But most of all there is evidence of poverty. Like almost every community in the USA, there is drug trade and crime.

Their resort business has suffered because citizens of the United States are frightened by news of drug lords and  I think US citizens expect to see gunfights in the streets. We were grateful our friends were willing to come with us.

At the Las Palomas Resort we were treated to a upscale condo experience. Inside the resort the pools were constantly clean and a quick call to the desk would get you all the maid service you could desire. It is a gated resort with security. The food was wonderful and the water filtered/purified. Outside the resort was a different world.

I need you to understand that we didn't see the situation as bad. But dirt streets and shacks that served as home to people let us know that the division between the haves and the have nots was wide indeed.

The Mexican government is building a dock for cruise ships north of the town so I think things will be getting better and better for the citizens. Jobs for those that are willing to work will be more readily available.

The thing that is most difficult for Americans to understand is that a third world culture is very unique. Things we see as awful really are not. It is not bad...it is just different. But it did take some adjustment in attitude because we were so close to the USA.

Roof top view from a small restaurant in Old Town Puerto Penasco
near the Malecon. Resorts in the background.

We golfed, ate wonderful food, walked on the sandy beach and bought fresh shrimp to bring home. All in all a visit to this small fishing community was worth the time...interesting, enlightening and most of all wonderful. In the end we were glad to be home...but then we always are!

Have a wonderful day.

b+

We celebrated my husband 76th birthday at Blue Mar Restaurant (rated best in recent years)

Ultra light planes are available for rent!

The setting was stunning!

Should you believe what the Groupon Coupon promises? Maybe not.

Are you a smart traveler...are there ways that we can avoid these problems or do we just deal with them as their ugly head appears?  My husband and I discussed this yesterday.  We thought that maybe when we travel, especially in Mexico, we need to go back to doing things the way we did when we were younger.  We would not have made reservations that locked us in and would have checked out the room before we signed the registration book. I don't know but it is sounding better to me all the time.  After all the Frugal Traveler with the New York Times does that.  Why don't we?

The Beach at Sunset

We just returned from 4 days in San Carlos, Sonora, Mexico.  The reason we took this little trip was to check out a Groupon Get Away.  My husband purchased the coupon online in January. The coupon was for 4 nights in the "resort" and included wine, a dinner and continental breakfast each day.   It sounded like such a good deal we thought we had better see if the Groupon Coupon could produce what the resort owners promised.

I wrote about the rating a couple of days ago...it was our first day in the resort and I was not a happy camper.  But my husband had the philosophy that we had paid so little so our expectations should not be high.  I, on the other hand, think that a coupon gets us a reduced price not a reduced service.  What do you think?  It took me a while to realize that I could not change anything to make it much better...at least in relationship to the room.  By the time I got all the problems solved it was OK but not wonderful.

I should mention that the restaurant, special entertainment and bar was wonderful.  The place is popular with snowbirds that are staying in surrounding condos.

I didn't mention before that we did not have any hot water but we let it go because we had complained about the other problems already (a room that had not been cleaned).  How big a schmucks do you think we are?  I took two cold showers and had begun to smell bad before we finally talked to a maintenance man.  He simply went to a control panel and turned the water heater on.  We had hot water within 15 minutes!

In the future I will:

1. Read the reviews online, look at google maps, read about the community.
2. See what Fodor's has to say about the motel and the community.  I have used Fodor's when traveling in Mexico before and gotten great results.
3. If we are using a coupon, we will check to see what the daily rate actually is and do some research.
4. Never use a coupon that seems too good to be true.  Never!
5. Complain about everything immediately.  Every motel or resorts should be clean, have hot water, and provide enough towels, hand towels and wash clothes for everyone staying in the room.  

I might add I will also be looking at the list of things to do in the area...I honestly did not have a very good time.  I can only read and walk the streets so much.  The golf course is not good...it is not even satisfactory.  Somehow I need a little more action.  However, if you like to fish or drink you are in luck.  San Carlos is the place for you.

Resort:  Fiesta Real Hotel, San Carlos, Sonora,  Mexico

• FYI:  Gas was $4.15 per gallon on the USA side of the border.  
• Travel down the freeways in Mexico will cost you at several toll stations.  Check out the cost before you leave and maybe get some pesos.  They will take credit cards but you pay a fee to your bank for using those.
• As long as you don't leave the state of Sonora you do not need a visa to visit.  If you travel further south you will need to get the visa at the check point along the freeway. Find out where that is before you leave.

Related articles

• How to be Timeshare Smart! What You Need to Know Before You Visit a Resort (retireinstyleblog.com)
• U.S. consul clarifies travel warning to Mexico (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Dear Mexico, I apologize for the earthquake! It may be my fault! (retireinstyleblog.com)
• San Carlos Bound...But Then What? (controlledjibe.com)