Arizona’s and Sonora’s governments have secured funding to reignite construction on Rocky Point’s long-stalled cruise terminal. But if they build it, will Arizonans really come?
By Lauren Loftus | Phoenix Magazine
Think about the drive from Phoenix to Puerto Peñasco, Mexico – commonly called Rocky Point by gringo tongues, or “Arizona’s beach” by those disappointed that the 1853 Gadsden Purchase didn’t skew far enough south. Three hours of boring brown highway to the small border crossing in Lukeville, where you must present a passport, and close to another hour of beige desert until you hit the bright blue Sea of Cortez. Sure, you’d make the drive for a weekend of fresh shrimp tacos and cheap cerveza, but would you do it to board a big boat of endless buffets on the open water?
The governments of Arizona and Sonora, Mexico, certainly think you will. They secured $13 million in early December 2017 from the Mexican federal government to complete the first phase of the long-delayed Rocky Point deep-water port. After nearly two years on hold, construction is expected to get back underway this year with a tentative end date of 2020.
