Puerto Penasco to El Golfo road now open.

Well there's another way to get to the hotels of Puerto Penasco, especially if you're coming from California. The new highway, SON 003, is now open connecting El Golfo de Santa Clara with Rocky Point.

According to an article on Rocky Point Weekly, it's 90 kilometers (56 miles) from Puerto Penasco to El Golfo, and provides scenic vistas of both the Sea of Cortez and the Gran Desierto de Altar. So now you can cross the border in Yuma and buy a condo in Puerto Penasco the same day.

I have mixed feelings about this road, which is part of a grander project to complete a coastal highway to Guaymas. On one hand, it's going to bring in more travelers from California to help boost the tourist economy of Rocky Point and other locations along the mainland coast.

On the other hand, it's going to bring in more travelers from California.

Not that there's anything wrong with travelers from California. Some of my best friends are Californians who have traveled. But I do fear for the inevitable changes that go along with increased accessibility.

After all, those who know Rocky Point have watched expensive condos and homes explode from the sands and replace quaint beachfront RV parks and open camping areas. Dirt roads are now paved and, maybe it's just me, but prices seem higher.

Then there's the sprawling desert north of the new highway, part of the El Pinacate/Gran Desierto de Altar Biosphere Preserve, one of the last great wilderness areas in Mexico. It's illegal to go off-road in the preserve, but this vast area is hard to patrol. How many yahoos are now going to be tempted to drive their ATVs into the huge dune fields?

And what about the miles and miles of undeveloped beach, one of the greatest attractions for me in this area? We will probably see more condos, gated housing communities, restaurants and bars filling up the sea view.

Of course, SON 003 also means that more Arizonans may go to El Golfo, forever changing that small community.

We'll see what happens. In the meantime, I think Julie and I need to pop down there and check it out. Simply for research purposes, of course.

From MEX 008, the typical way to Rocky Point, the turnoff to SON 003 is at the Laguna Del Mar exit a few miles north of Puerto Penasco.