Puerto Peñasco Fonatur Marina.. The Gateway to the Sea of Cortez

By Beverly Arrowood On Jul 25th, 2019

For those of you that have visited Puerto Peñasco, you might have taken a sunset cruise or just walked the Marina to take photos of the pleasure boats and Shrimp boats and noticed the Marina de Cortez. For those of you wanting to keep a boat here, this will be perfect for you. I recently sat down with Martin Martinez, Director of the Marina about what his Fonatur office does.  In 2001 project Mar de Cortez was started and in 2006 the building was built to administer the Marina.  In this office building, there is a fully equipped medical office, a place for a Marina store, restaurant and offices.   Fonatur is a federal funded government group that’s job is to attract investors, promote tourism, promote the marina’s in the Nautical Staircase as it is known and coordinate cultural events.

 Rocky Point is one of 8 Marinas operated by Fonatur.  It is for small to medium sized vessels. Guests need to make reservations and they have rates for nightly, weekly or monthly.  They are provided with water, electricity and security for this fee. There is also fuel available for the boats. The Marina is located in the heart of the Old Port, so you can walk to resturants and bars.  There are many people who cruise the Sea of Cortez on a regular basis and many of them bring their boats, catamarans and yachts here for annual maintenance.  On a little side street on the other side of the marina, there is a large storage yard that is packed with boats of all sizes and many of them have for sale signs on the.  These boats are from all over the world and I recently saw one from Racine, Wisconsin.

We have had guests from Vietnam, Panama and all over the world.  We recently had a family that was sailing the Sea of Cortez and we have many retirees that are boaters and live aboard their boat all year long.    These boaters can stay at any of the 8 harbors with prior reservations. You have your choice of San Felipe, Guaymas, LaPaz, Santa Rosalia, San Blas, Mazatlán, Cabo San Lucas or Puerto Peñasco. To traverse the entire  length you will sail for approximately 22 hours.  The boaters contribute  to the economy by shopping for supplies at Sam’s Club, LEY  for their next trip as well as patronizing our local bars and restaurants and other stores.

If you have a boat and are thinking of doing some sailing, the Sea of Cortez is the place to do it.  You will see marine life all year and will find great fishing throughout the entire Sea of Cortez.  You can bring your boat here and launch it and you just register with every port captain.  You will need your registration, proof of insurance, personal ID to get your port permit.

Puerto Peñasco is know being known as “THE GATEWAY TO THE SEA OF CORTEZ”. With the cruise ships starting departures from Puerto Peñasco in December of 2019, you see a great deal of activity in our port. Photos courtesy of Martin Martinez.