Recognized as Puerto Peñasco, or Rocky Point, it’s a city located in the Northeast part of the Sonoran state distinguishing itself by the proximity to the ocean and closeness to the US border. You can go for a swim in the warm waters of the Sea of Cortes, and the best part is it’s only 60 miles from the United States border. In terms of cartography, it’s said that its location is at 31 degrees 19’ north latitude and in the meridian at an altitude of 7 meters above sea level.
The municipality says that it has a surface area of 9774.45km2, which is 5.3% of the entire state.
Municipality of Puerto Peñasco
As head of the municipality, Rocky Point has 27 communities that extend all the way through it’s territory, and also being home to it’s population of 57,342 inhabitants, the majority of which live in the city.
Even though the majority of the territory is flat, It is important to point out the mountain range of Sonoyta’s neighboring Municipality. Rocky Point is also made up of the recognized Altar desert and the volcanic area of El Pinacate.
Rocky Point is recognized as one of the youngest cities of the state of Sonora. It was formed in 1928, officially, but certain towns were already recognized because of the activity of the local mine and the miners who worked there. In the search for precious metals, an American official came and denominate the area as “Rocky Point” (around the early 1940s). It was declared a commissariat city and it was the main area of economic activity of the surrounding fishing region thanks to the marine life of the coasts of the Gulf of California. It is also important to mention that a large part of the development for the region can be attributed to the construction of the train that connected Baja California with Sonora and the rest of the country, until 1950 when Rocky Point converted to a municipality.
One of the legends that exists about the popular port, is the story that Rocky Point served as a place of refuge for American gangster Al Capone, in the 20s.
The Port (The City)
The oldest part of Rocky Point was inhabited by the first residents who at that time only referred to it as Rocky Point, this was around the year 1922 when residents from Arizona came to distribute the fish they caught. Rocky Point started to become founded around Whale Hill, what is known today as Puerto Viejo (Old Port)
Since it’s founding Rocky Point has been a popular place for vacationers from Arizona, Nevada, California and recently the neighboring states of Chihuahua and Baja California.
The population of the port in the year 1937 was relative to the era of fishing and it didn’t even have 100 people, but when they constructed the train the population began to grow rapidly and in 1965 there was approximately 5000 people.
As it was mentioned before Puerto Peñasco, or Rocky Point as the people from the United States call it, has become a home for thousands of families who come more than 1 time a year to enjoy the beautiful beaches and the ocean.
With the money from tourism the Port grew in the services that it offered in order to tend to the needs of the many people who were visiting. The first hotels, such as RV parks, were of crucial importance to the growth of Rocky Point from the mid 20’s all the way through the 80’s.
Rocky Point has continued to grow in areas where there are activities and attractions for the tourists. There are different beaches that are now recognized and provide for great places to go on vacation. Some of the beaches in Rocky Point are: Las Conchas, El Mirador, Playa Hermosa, Playa Encanto, La Cholla, with the most popular of them all being Sandy Beach. In the early 1990s, many development projects were started with a direct focus on tourism and real estate. The area that is now recognized as Sandy Beach had several developments constructed, one after the other, and these are now part of the several things that are offered to tourists.
Some of the most important developments that sustain the majority of the tourism in Rocky Point are: Playa Bonita Resort, Princesa de Peñasco, Las Palomas Beac