MAYAN PALACE RESORT AND PUERTO PENASCO

Late in October a  group of 15 of us from Mesa drove to the Mayan Palace resort at Puerto Penasco Mexico, better known as Rocky Point to us gringos.  It is a 5 hour drive from the Mesa area. When driving into Mexico,  getting Mexican automobile  liability insurance for the period of the visit  is a good idea.

Next to the original buildings of the Mayan Palace resort is a new 5 story building, part of which is developed as a companion upscale resort, Mayan Grand. One of its amenities is the Lazy River, a circular canal –  shaped swimming pool where pumps keep the water circulating so that guests on large inner tubes can float around the circle. It is open only to guests at Mayan Grand and those who have listened to a timeshare pitch there.

 

 

Mike and Barbara Williams in Lazy River.

 

 

Puerto Penasco  was a sleepy fishing village on the Gulf of California which became a popular resort area. The beaches are quite wide, particularly at low tide. Above in the distance is Bird Island where tour boats take gringos for bird watching and snorkeling.

 

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Left to right, Laura,  Arla, Barbara behind post, Mike and Jo at a palapa on the beach. I had fun flying a traditional  kite there.

 

 

Here we are gathering our strength after downtown shopping  on a warm afternoon.

 

 

Above and below are views of the main souvenir shopping area taken from a second story balcony.

 

 

Next was dinner at the Point restaurant  built on pilings in the  downtown area.

Left to right around the table – Tom and Elsie Holz, Arla Olson, Barbara and Mike Williams, Jeff Clyde and Jo Strong.

 

 

Five of us rode in our Prius one afternoon to town (20 miles) to shop and have dinner. Above far left is the main old shopping street extending toward the port  with the seafood markets at the far end.

 

 

These shrimp for sale are over 3” long.  

 

 

Here we are at dinner at the Lighthouse restaurant on a high bluff near downtown.. Here are Arla Olson Jeff Clyde, Jo and me.  The restaurant specializes in sea  food, and three of us had shrimp prepared in various ways with spices.

 

Back at the resort, we had some beautiful sunsets.