Puerto Peñasco: Rocky Point on the Sea of Cortez

Popular among American tourists from Arizona, Puerto Peñasco overlooks the Sea of Cortez where desert dunes reach down to the beach.

A car remains the most common way to reach and explore the city.

The Cerro Prieto Dunes, the only coastal dunes of the Sea of Cortez, slope directly into the ocean creating a rare landscape in the Sonora desert.

Minutes away, the Old Malecón of Puerto Peñasco, the waterfront of the historic center, animates restaurants of fresh fish and handicraft markets.

Heading along the coast one reaches Sandy Beach, the main beach of the city, popular among American tourists for its proximity to the Arizona border.

As evening falls, boat tours in the Sea of Cortez allow observation of sea lions and, in the winter months, gray whales in migration.

Puerto Peñasco, nicknamed "Rocky Point" by American tourists, lies just over a hundred kilometers from the Arizona border, making it one of Mexico's most convenient coastal destinations for American visitors.

The Sea of Cortez off Puerto Peñasco is home to the vaquita marina, the world's smallest and most endangered cetacean, with only a handful of specimens remaining.