Local News

A beach within reach
BY BLAKE SCHMIDT, Sun Staff Writer
Published on: August 19, 2005

A highway is being built to link the tourist getaways of El Golfo de Santa Clara and Rocky Point on Sonora’s coast of the Sea of Cortez.

The two-phase construction project will eventually make the the Sea of Cortez coast much more accessible to Yumans, according to Sonora tourism officials.

The first phase of the project, which is under way, will connect the Sonora towns of El Golfo and Puerto Peñasco, or Rocky Point, with an 83-mile highway along the coast. It is expected to be completed by the end of 2006, according to Fernando Lam, special projects coordinator for the secretary of urban and ecological infrastructure in Sonora.

The second phase of the project will expand the existing two-lane highway that connects San Luis Rio Colorado, Son., with El Golfo, though Lam said exactly how it will be expanded is yet to be determined.

Rafael Gonzalez, Rocky Point tourism director, said the highway will bring many benefits to the Golfo de Santa Clara and Puerto Peñasco, but will also attract visitors, namely Californians.

The highway, known in Mexico as "La Costera," will tap into a large potential of tourism for Sonora and Arizona, as the region attracts money from Orange County, Calif., and San Diego, Gonzalez said.

Gary Lee, owner of Princess Travel in Yuma, said the highway will definitely increase the ease of getting to what, for Yumans, is the closest beach around. The drive would take about two hours from Yuma.

He said he knows several people in Yuma who are investing in El Golfo after hearing news of the new highway.

"Once this highway opens up, I would like to go down there to El Golfo and Puerto Peñasco," he said. "And maybe I’ll look into buying some land down there."

Alexis Watts, reservations manager at Synergy Tours out of Scottsdale, books tours down to Puerto Peñasco for Yumans.

"I think (the highway) is really going to increase traffic a lot, and will namely increase the demand for higher-end property areas along that coast," he said.

Watts said that the drive to Puerto Peñasco for Yumans will be the same distance as a drive to Phoenix.

"Plus, (the Sea of Cortez) is warm, while the Pacific Ocean is cold. That gulf stays at 75 degrees through the fall and into the winter," he said, "so people will come."

The highway is being built with Sonora state and federal funds, according to Lam.

Blake Schmidt can be reached
at bschmidt@yumasun.com or 539-6852.



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