By Joseph Sanchez
President, Rocky Point Home Builders

Puerto Peñasco made significant history last month as the first-ever cruise liner “officially,” set sail from Puerto Peñasco and cruised the Sea of Cortez in an historic event for the city, its citizens and all the tourists who witnessed this major milestone that will transform this once sleepy, little fishing village into a major player on the world tourism stage.

January 9, 2020 marked the long-awaited and historic day when Cruise and Maritime Voyages, the company responsible for Puerto Peñasco’s long-awaited maiden voyage, launched the new cruise service using its ship the Astoria officially cruising the Gulf of California with its 277 cabins and capacity for 500 passengers.

The Astoria sailed into port the early morning of January 8th at approximately 7:25 AM as most people were just beginning to rise and get their morning coffee. To everybody’s delight the Astoria slowly sailed across the dawn’s horizon and moved into port docking just in front of the Malecón about a half mile from shore.

Social media sites soon exploded with the breaking news of the event with photos and news of the ship docked in front of the Malecón. It was a proud moment for the city, its leaders and all the citizens who have worked tirelessly to bring a cruise ship to port along with the economic benefits that will transform the city to fruition. For those of us who have seen this city grow over the years a sense of nostalgia took hold but at the same time extraordinary sense of happiness and pride much like when a child leaves the house to go out on their own but is moving on to bigger and better things!

The cruise, known as the “Treasures of the Sea of Cortez”, has three cruises in total scheduled with the first that left on January 9th, the second on January 20th and the final cruise on January 31st. Each cruise will embark on an 11-day voyage and discover destinations along the way to include Guaymas, Santa Rosalita, Loreto, La Paz, Cabo San Luca, Mazatlán and Topolobampo.

It can’t be said enough that this is huge milestone for our little fishing village nestled on the shores of the Sea of Cortez. Generations of families from the U.S. have made Puerto Peñasco their vacation destination for decades while others have invested in real estate, condos or bought tracts of land with the hopes of a decent return in the future. Many have diligently waited, invested more, survived the crash of 2008, held on as long as possible only to see the dream become reality as we just entered the new year and decade marking this historic event.

For those who want to invest but haven’t yet, just know that there are no shortages of investment opportunities available in the real estate market here in Puerto Peñasco. This is a great time to buy an existing home, purchase land to construct and sell homes for a profit. Or another option is to buy land, build a home and rent it to the millions of tourists who visit here each year. Your investment will not only pay for itself but give you a return on your money.

Now that the cruise service has arrived, prices are expected to rise each quarter as scores of new people come and discover Puerto Peñasco for the first-time pushing up demand. Given all that is going on in Puerto Peñasco now is the time to strike while the “iron is hot,” as they say.

AUTHOR NOTE: Special thanks to RE/MAX Legacy Rocky Point and YiYi Tours RP who provided photos of the ship Astoria. Search RE/MAX properties online at www.RealEstateRockyPoint.net. Search for YiYi Tours online by going to https://www.facebook.com/yiyitoursrp/ on Facebook.

About the author: Joseph Sanchez is president of Rocky Point Home Builders a design/build contractor specializing in custom home design, construction and engineered renovations. He resides here in Puerto Peñasco with his wife and two children and is originally from Chicago. For more information email him at sales@rockypointhomebuilders.com

CAPTIONS:

MAP PHOTO: Each cruise will embark on an 11-day voyage and discover destinations along the way to include Guaymas, Santa Rosalita, Loreto, La Paz, Cabo San Luca, Mazatlán and Topolobampo.

SHIP 1 Photo: The Astoria sailed into port the early morning of January 8th at approximately 7:25 AM as most people were just beginning to rise and get their morning coffee. (Photo courtesy of RE/MAX Legacy Rocky Point)

SHIP 3 Photo: Cruise and Maritime Voyages, the company responsible for Puerto Peñasco’ s long-awaited maiden voyage, launched the new cruise service using its ship the Astoria officially cruising the Gulf of California with its 277 cabins and capacity for 500 passengers. (Photo courtesy of YiYi Tour RP)