Puerto Penasco

[Froglady]

I am heading down to Phoenix,Az next week and a friend suggested going to Puerto Penasco. Any info on this area's? Dive shops, diving conditions, places to stay, etc?

 

[AmyJ]

Nope... but I'd love to hear what you find out. We own at Mayan Palace and they just built a place there, so it's on the list of considerations for future. Keep us posted please!

 

[diversteve]

I am heading down to Phoenix,Az next week and a friend suggested going to Puerto Penasco. Any info on this area's? Dive shops, diving conditions, places to stay, etc?

It's really shallow and sandy there so the diving's not the best. Most areas will only be at most 40' deep. And the viz sometimes is marginal. Good beach though. Two possible sites are Pelican Point, towards Cholla Bay or the trip out to Bird Island, good diving there with the sea lions if the conditions are right. I've heard it's a slow boat ride out there.

We discussed this at a recent AZScuba club meeting and most people agreed it's pretty marginal, but a close place to get wet in relatively warmer water.

Here's a link on what to expect at Rocky Point(what we locals call Puerto Penasco):

http://www.dtmag.com/dive-usa/RockyPointPuertof.html

Can't help much with accommodations but there are some hotels/motels in town, it's a big Spring Break destination for the southwest.

Google Rocky Point Diving for a lot more info.

From Phoenix, most of the dive ops run trips to San Carlos, the diving is better. But it's farther from Phoenix. One of our local dive stores has a facility there: http://elmar.com/Mexico/mexico.html so contact them if interested.

 

[Froglady]

Thanks for the links they were informative. I passed it on. We will call and check on the details.

 

[Dive-aholic]

If you drive a couple more hours you can go to San Carlos which has much better diving than Puerto Penasco.

Diving is hit or mis at P.P. We haven't dived there, but we have driven down to check it out and conditions weren't that good. We stopped at a dive op there. The person we talked to (American) didn't seem too thrilled about local diving. They didn't have boats going out that day because of the conditions. They also didn't have much in scuba stuff there. Most of their products were beach oriented - beach balls, kiddie toys, etc.

You'll have to drive a different route to San Carlos, and a little longer, but it's definitely worth it when compared to P.P. There are a few dive ops there that take boats out almost every day. If conditions are good, San Pedro Island is worth the trip. If you want details on driving into Mexico and diving in San Carlos, PM me and I'll give you further info.

 

[Chocoholic]

We own Mayan Palace and they built near Puerto Penasco so we thinking about going there. I have been trying to figure out how to get there..... We fly into Phoenix from Alaska then rent a car BUT none of the rental car companies will allow you to go into Mexico, insurance I guess. Does anyone know of a little company that flies to Puerto Penasco??? Orbitz and Expedia don't have a clue that this place exists (or Rocky Point). Or any other way to get there? Thanks, Chocoholic

 

[Dive-aholic]

Puerto Penasco doesn't have a major airport. I'm not even sure if they have a small one there, but they probably do. Your best bet is to call around to some of the local car rental places - try http://www.yellowpages.com

You can also try a bus or shuttle. Here's are a couple of links to shuttles that go down there:

http://www.mexi-tours.com/van.html

http://www.buffalobustours.com/penasco.html

Good luck!

 

[gregpsych]

I am heading down to Phoenix,Az next week and a friend suggested going to Puerto Penasco. Any info on this area's? Dive shops, diving conditions, places to stay, etc?

I've been there twice. There is one dive shop: http://www.sun-n-fun-divers.com/index.htm They can arrange dives for you. The dive to Bird Island was OK in that there are tons of sealions. I have done a couple of shore dives also. Vis is ususally about 25 feet. Most fish tend to be small from over-fishing. I have heard that San Carlos is better. There is a Dive Shop in Tucson that arranges dives to San Carlos including camping trips : http://www.sun-n-fun-divers.com/index.htm. I have heard the diving is better there. Puerto Penasco is 4 hours from Phoenix with only about an hour of the drive in Mexico. San Carlos is about 4 hours from Tucson with 3 hours of the drive in Mexico.

Have fun

Greg

 

[Dive-aholic]

I've been there twice. There is one dive shop: http://www.sun-n-fun-divers.com/index.htm They can arrange dives for you. The dive to Bird Island was OK in that there are tons of sealions. I have done a couple of shore dives also. Vis is ususally about 25 feet. Most fish tend to be small from over-fishing. I have heard that San Carlos is better. There is a Dive Shop in Tucson that arranges dives to San Carlos including camping trips : http://www.sun-n-fun-divers.com/index.htm. I have heard the diving is better there. Puerto Penasco is 4 hours from Phoenix with only about an hour of the drive in Mexico. San Carlos is about 4 hours from Tucson with 3 hours of the drive in Mexico.

Have fun

Greg

Greg, where did you shore dive from in Puerto Penasco? When we went down there, the waves were a little too high for safe shore entry, but we drove around looking for future sights and didn't see anything that looked decent anyway.

 

[gregpsych]

Greg, where did you shore dive from in Puerto Penasco? When we went down there, the waves were a little too high for safe shore entry, but we drove around looking for future sights and didn't see anything that looked decent anyway.

You can park at the Hotel Vina del Mar and dive there. A few other places the dive shop can tell you about. Be sure and check with the dive shop regarding the tide--you don't want to end up in Baja ! the dive from Hotel Vina del Mar is the same as paying the "local" dive boat. Be sure and go to bird island.

Greg