Rocky Point (Puerto Penasco): News Archives

Fire In The High Seas - Chronicle Of A Water Rescue, just posted on De Frente ...

Ten tourists suffered moments of panic and anguish while sport fishing aboard the yacht 'Marina House' - ten miles away from Puerto Penasco's shore. The accident occurred the 28th of April and left two people with minor injuries.

Jose Tavares is the captain of the fishing and tourist boat 'Yora II' and, fortunately, he was at the area at the moment of the incident. When it happened, Tavares went to the rescue of the castaways where by then living moments of terror on the deck - which was in flames. When he arrived, one of them was already in the water of the Sea of Cortes.

Tavares indicated that at 9:45am on that sunny morning he heard a nearby explosion. At the moment he was entertaining a group of American tourists in the art of sport fishing. The captain of the boat asked the tourists to pick up the fishing reels and he headed towards the direction of the detonation. Soon after, he noticed a column of smoke in the sky...

If you are heading down to Rocky Point in June or thinking of going, there are a few Rocky Point events going on that might enhance your time down there.

Since Mr. Goldsmith’s death in 1997, Mr. Marcaccini and his wife, Alix, the daughter of Mr. Goldsmith, have managed the late patriarch’s most prized asset: Cuixmala, a 2,000-acre private estate with several villas on the Pacific that at various times housed Mr. Goldsmith’s three families, mistresses and high-powered visitors including Richard Nixon, Henry Kissinger and Ronald and Nancy Reagan.

These days, though, there’s trouble brewing on Cuixmala, which is nestled inside the 32,473-acre Chamela-Cuixmala Biosphere Reserve, a rolling expanse of federally protected coastal land.

In an effort to expand tourism beyond destinations like Cancún and Puerto Vallarta, Mexican officials recently authorized the development of two resorts in the area. The most controversial project, called Marina Careyes — also referred to as Careyitos — is backed by Roberto Hernández, the powerful Mexican banker and developer who sold his financial services firm to Citigroup six years ago for $12.5 billion...

The result is a pitched battle over land rights between Mr. Goldsmith’s heirs and two of the country’s most powerful families — a clash that sheds light on the fault lines between traditional luxury resort developers who favor golf courses, swimming pools and spas, and a newer breed of conservationist-entrepreneurs who champion eco-resorts where guests hike and canoe for recreation.

Click here for the rest. It is a fascinating read, and a lot of this article hits close to home.

See also: Big Changes For "Tucson's Beach" from KOLD.

Mexican officials say they are prepared to receive the thousands of rock fans who will converge in Puerto Penasco for an annual beach concert today.

The bloodshed that has tainted other parts of northern Sonora in recent days has not compromised public safety at the popular beach destination, municipal judge Karla Cañez said Friday.

"It is completely safe here," she said. "We haven't had any incidents happen like those in Cananea, Arizpe and Hermosillo."

As a precaution, Cañez said the city's police presence would be beefed up during the event by doubling patrols.

As part of this research I've dug up some neat Peñasco-related articles from the Arizona Daily Star, from 1957, 1979, and 1980. Here are the first three, and I'll be getting some more online soon. I've posted them here, and thanks again to the Daily Star for giving me permission to use these :)

I'm still looking for your own personal stories and histories from this era, so feel free to drop me a line if you'd like to share. Send them to info@puerto-penasco.com

Also, here's a whole new batch of stories from De Frente.

Arizona has issued a warning to avoid raw oysters from Puerto Penasco after officials linked 13 cases of hepatitis A, 11 of them in Maricopa County, to consumption of oysters from the Mexican seaside town.

The state Division of Public Health Services said all the cases involved people who were in Puerto Penasco, also known as Rocky Point, and ate oysters from places including street vendors between March 8 and March 25.

The health agency said hepatitis A can take 15 to 50 days to develop. Symptoms include fever, loss of appetite and, possibly, jaundice.

Here's the actual release from Arizona DHS, which notes "Illnesses associated with eating uncooked oysters are not uncommon and have been reported in numerous states, including California, Florida, Texas, Alabama, and Louisiana."

Personally, I got vaccinated against Hep A years ago as part of a batch of shots I got for out-of-country travel, and for $25 (which is roughly what I remember it costing at the time) it's a pretty cheap peace of mind to have.

Population shifts and the arrival of American buyers are putting unprecedented strain on Mexico's infrastructure in other beauty spots like the Yucatan peninsula, where fresh-water supplies are already threatened. Loreto intends to be different. Al its electricity will be supplied by wind turbines and it plans to produce more drinking water than it consumes ...

Local favorite band Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers make another concert stop in Rocky Pont

Editor/founder Gustavo Ybarra emailed to let me know that Discover Sonora has become Discover Editorial Group, with twelve employees in Puerto Peñasco and Hermosillo, printing new magazines (CORTEZ Paradise, Mexico Land & Sea, ValorES Sonora) as well as book projects - some for the Mexican Presidency and the Official Tourism Guide of the State of Sonora.

Congratulaitons to Gustavo and his crew, and keep an eye out for their publications.

The 'King Of The Sea' Bursts Into Flames
Tourist Development Growth Is Being Monitored
Electronic Payments Will Be Made Possible For Tourist Watercraft

And that concludes today's mega-update. Enjoy!

Harvey also announced the buyer for its troubled Mexican property, Laguna del Mar.

Salvago Mexico, a consortium of investors from Spain, is scheduled to buy the would-be resort development on May 15, Harvey said. He said Alliant expects net proceeds of $65 million, "pending satisfaction of the closing conditions."

The sale will mark the end of Alliant's foreign investments, he said.

To a baby boomer, it may just be a summer place or a second home. But to Mexican tourism officials and real estate developers, it's much-needed economic development.

... officials and developers in Sonora, the Mexican state that borders Arizona, expect to see visitation grow by 10 percent by 2009 to 9.6 million people - 70 percent of whom come from Arizona. Today, Sonora has around 5,000 housing units built or under construction primarily for sale to foreign investors. But officials there expect that to grow to 40,000 units in the next 20 years, said Epifanio Paulovich, secretary of tourism in Sonora.

Retirees looking for warm beachfront properties are finding their dollars stretch much further in Mexico, especially compared with similar property along the California coast.

You can catch the whole article here: http://www.azstarnet.com/business/181253.php

(There's also: 'Mexican Businessmen Urging Investment' from hispanicbusiness.com)

And on that note, I'd like to point out that we've got De Frente back up and online after a few months of downtime. We had a few glitches there, but we're back online, bringing you news from Puerto Peñasco and playing catch-up. There's a new batch up right now.

For those of you unfamiliar with De Frente, they're a Spanish-language weekly that covers Puerto Peñasco, Sonoyta, and Caborca. They maintain a Spanish website at defrente.com.mx. Our collaboration, however, means I'll be bringing you English versions of their stories - and carrying them on defrente.puerto-penasco.com.

I can't thank the staff at De Frente enough for helping out, and I'm proud to bring their stories to Puerto-penasco.com readers.