Scuba diving in Puerto Penasco, Mexico

One spring I drove down to Puerto Penasco (also known as Rocky Point) with my scuba diving class from Northern Arizona University. We went in order to become scuba certified, so this was our final "class. " The drive from Flagstaff, Arizona took a good six to seven hours. We were also warned about the drug wars in nearby areas and were advised by the university and the state of Arizona not to cross the border in to Mexico, but honestly, there couldn't have been a better time to go and visit.

In my car, two other people from my class rode with me across the border. Most of our class drove to the nearest border town on the Mexico side of the border so that we could all meet up for lunch and then head in to our campsite (yes, we camped on the beach! ). We stopped at a hole in the wall taco stand on wheels, but it was actually really good!

It was at that time that I realized I hadn't packed any handsoap and this being Mexico and a campsite, I was pretty sure there wouldn't be any available for me to use. Good thing I thought of it then, so I bought some from the store.

Our whole class camped at a place right by the water. It had been awhile since I slept in a tent, so it was a fun experience. There were hotels nearby, but why not sleep on the beach in Mexico?! Luckily there were clean bathroom facilities though you had to pay for the showers. After spending all day in the salty ocean water, it was important to me to have a shower afterward.

Most of the trip was spent scuba diving. Unfortnately there isn't much to see in the waters outside Puerto Penasco, but it didn't matter too much to us. We were there to show our instructor that we could scuba dive and to get our certification. There weren't many fish or interesting sea plants to view. Our first day of diving had horrible weather, so we actually quit early. The waves were rough and visibility under water was pretty bad. The rest of the days were pretty good to excellent. The temperature was warm but not too hot considering it was Mexico.

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In the evenings we went to a pretty good bar nearby, and on our last day we were able to visit the fish market. Since people were afraid to go to Puerto Penasco due to the drug wars, there was hardly anyone around. This also meant that we were harrassed by the tourist souvenir shopkeepers much more often than usual. We ate yummy seafood and just browsed the shops. It's always fun going somewhere new!

Luckily we all passed our certification tests and are now certified scuba divers! So, all in all I don't recommend Puerto Penasco as a great place to go scuba diving. But if you're just there to learn the ropes of scuba diving and want to play in the water, then it's an excellent place to go, especially if you're used to land-locked Arizona.