We always saw a bunch of our friends heading to Mexico to enjoy a weekend. They’d post up some cool photos of them out and about at a beautiful beach landscape or at a restaurant. Our way of getting away was always going to San Diego or heading to Las Vegas but we never really thought about hitting up Mexico. We had passports but didn’t know Mexico would be appealing. But everyone heading back from Rocky Point always seemed to have had a great experience. So, finally…we decided to go!

Off to Rocky Point

We asked more experienced Rocky Point explorers for advice on things like Mexican insurance and driving down. Amy was more than happy to supply us with advice and even beach access and resorts. We planned to leave on Wednesday but it was put off a day so we grabbed our passports, packed, and headed out for Thursday and head back on Saturday. We set a goal of spending no more than $300 and tested to see if we could do it. We found a little spot extremely close to the beach called Hotel Baja for $60/night and with Drea’s Orbitz discount, knocked it down to $112 for both nights. Score! It had a great view of the beach from our 3rd floor.

Mission: Stay under $300

Now, note…Zod & Drea are all about saving a buck and hanging with the locals and spending as much time away from Americans as possible to experience a country for what it is. It’s harder to do in Puerto Peñasco since it’s a tourist town but considering it was during the week right before Memorial Day, we figured we’d have a better shot. Now, Hotel Baja didn’t have the best bed or wifi worth a damn, but the accommodations were great for what it was worth. Plus, we didn’t plan to stay in the room for much of the trip.

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Traveling around for both days, we were able to hit Manny’s, a restaurant by the ocean for a quick bite and walk on the rockier side of the beach. Down the beach near the resorts, you’ll see the sandier beaches where they’ve all posted up. You’ll also find where the tan-ready Americans are hanging out ready for the weekend. Thankfully, we didn’t see many of them around. Most were locals or other Mexicans seeking vacation time at the water. We saw a few Arizona license plates which made sense since the drive was only about 4.5 hours on a normal day…with zero traffic!

Playa Bonita

The beach to head to was the public beach called Playa Hermosa aka Playa Bonita. You can take a road that pretty much ends on a hill on a very sandy road or park close near another sandy road but away from the sand buggies. Considering we weren’t in a buggy, we chose the street and walked to the beach. Sure enough, there was the beach and many vendors while walking down to it. The water is extremely blue and the day was absolutely perfect!

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The Attack of the Vendors!

Now, warning: There are vendors who will ask you every 40 seconds if you want everything from ice pops, food, hammocks, sunglasses, keychains, and everything you can desire. That’s the only downside as it’s impossible to relax on the beach without being bothered by someone. I don’t know if the resorts have banned people from soliciting but on that beach, it was constant. They were friendly and we were able to even strike up a couple of conversations. But even they didn’t ruin the experience since the ocean and surrounding areas were so beautiful.

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Also be aware of the time of day because the tide rises pretty quickly and if you’re not paying attention or happened to fall asleep on the beach, the water will catch up to you. We had to move twice. But that was not a problem. We caught our sun, enjoyed the music on the beach and headed to the port area for some delicious food! The food is in pesos but they convert it to American dollars and they take both. The prices are right. For both days, food, drinks (neither of us drink alcohol), and even gas to leave, we were under our $300 budget by about $20 for two people for two days in Mexico. That’s not bad at all!

Expect us to have another trip and we hope to have friends come with us so we can all just make it a giant party! There may wind up being three of us by that time happens considering we’re expecting in August. But it should happen soon enough! Have you been to Rocky Point? Let us know about your experience!