Sandy Beach

Sandy Beach is the long beach that opens north-west of downtown Puerto Peñasco, on the far side from the old port. It starts at Playa Hermosa, where Calle 13 dead-ends by the Peñasco del Sol hotel, and runs for about 8 km of pale sand to Pelican Hill and Cholla Bay. The water is gentle and shallow, easy for swimming, paddleboarding and kayaking, and the wide sand makes for long walks along the shore.

This is Rocky Point's newer resort zone, built up from around 2000. Condo towers, spas, bars and resorts now line the shore: Sonoran Sun, Sonoran Sea, Princesa de Peñasco, Bella Sirena and Las Palomas, whose 18-hole, par-72 course is laid out links-style. The dunes carry on behind the buildings, and Calle 13 has ATV and RZR rentals on almost every block, but quads are not allowed on the city's beaches. The roads past the condos towards Cholla Bay count as city streets, and normal traffic law applies.

In 2018 and again in 2019 Sandy Beach was awarded the Clean Beach certificate and flag under Mexico's beach sustainability standard, after clean-up drives along the Playa Bonita stretch. There is a full-service RV park, Sandy Beach-Playa Bonita, and within city limits dry camping is allowed only here, next to The Reef. Dogs are welcome on a leash. Stingrays bury themselves in the shallows, so shuffle your feet as you wade in, and jellyfish usually turn up from June to August. Boats leave from the area for Isla San Jorge, known as Bird Island.