It may be Margaritaville to the college set, but it is also a winter escape for snowbirds, a dose of salt and sea air, and bargain shopping. Puerto Penasco, Mexico lies 66 miles below the border at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, 212 miles southwest of either Phoenix or Tucson.
Here you can revive nostalgic memories of those lost weekends or semester breaks, enjoying a cold Dos Equis, watching the parade of bikinis cruising the broad sandy beaches, or plying the streets in search of the perfect taco.
Near the northern tip of the Sea of Cortez, Rocky Point is the closest saltwater beach to Southern Arizona. Choose from several campgrounds with hookups where you can step from your RV right onto the sandy beach.
And who needs to be told about the bargains among the numerous streetside stalls offering Mexican-made goods from leather purses to colorful blankets, and rows of fishmongers line the sea front offering the catch of the day.
You can find Puerto Penasco at the end of Arizona Highway 85 (which becomes Mexico Highway 8).
