Spring Break Reports?

Heard lots of happy Spring Breakers on the Rocky Point Ramblings show this Saturday, and was wondering if some of you on the forum have similar stories and/or photos from this week you'd like to share. We need to let everyone know how misleading all those warnings and news reports were. And it wouldn't hurt to rub in how amazing the weather is right now. ;)

Who wants to hear all the "good" stories....all the newsmedia back here want to hear is how many spring breakers were killed by the cartel!! :stir::rofl:

rockyptjoe said:

Who wants to hear all the "good" stories....all the newsmedia back here want to hear is how many spring breakers were killed by the cartel!! :stir::rofl:

You're such a #fail...

I just saw a picture of the Boo Bar and it looked pretty packed for a Wednesday night!!!!!!!!!!!! Also, had some friends down last weekend and they said there were actually people out and about, college people, you know, those ELITISTS

Mexico Joe...you missed the smileys???????

Saw the same pic form the Boo Bar....super busy

Saw some posts on FB from someone I know that was at Playa Bonita (hotel)....a couple women with kids...they had a great time....looked like they survived too! (well maybe except for the sunburn!!)...they were originally worried about driving down (the actual trip between the border and Penasco)...I had suggested they contact Eduardo to see if his van would be coming down at the same time....but they hooked up with some other vehicles at the border.....

These are from our beach walk yesterday afternoon, pretty good crowd and lots going on!

I brought 4 people down last weeked for some fun in the sun. All were worried about drugs and gangs basically all the stuff the new media tells you about Mexico. They were a little worried when we got to Sonoyta but we made it thru ok. The main comment on the way down was WOW looks just like driving thru Az. By the time we got to R.P. everyone was relaxed. After a few beers at Sharkbite then over to the BooBar they were relaxed. Then for the big scare was going over to El Heffe dogs in the neigbhorhood after 9pm. We were eating with locals and having a great time. Everyone took a vote over Tequilla samples over at Tequilla Factory and we all stayed an extra day. Last night it was confirmed that 1 couple we took down is going back mid April and bringing 2 more couples. The other couple is making reservations to bring the whole family down in May. Just trying to change media bias 1 couple at a time. But as everyone knows good news travels slower than bad...

We had a great time from 3/9 to 3/13. Five of us in trailer on Sandy Beach. None of us were killed by Cartel either. Maybe going down again for Mem. Day.

We have two couples coming down this weekend - one has been here before (they ended up staying longer then scheduled - couldn't get off the beach) and the other couple has never been down. I reminded them of the Topes, stop signs in the middle of the street, along with dogs, kids and people stopping to chat. Added in about speed traps in Gila Bend, Ajo and Sonoyta and told them to watch for the Organ Pipe cacti which are much better on the Sonoyta side of the border and Pinacate. Also told them that the Red Cross is collecting for their annual fund raising and that they didn't have to contribute, despite of what some people say, claiming they are 'made' to contribute - some people can get very weird ideas!, but that it would be a very good thing to do. They will. And I told them about the Green Angels. They are looking forward to the drive and hoping for wildflowers.

Just got off the phone with Mike from Headout Shuttle and he is bringing 65+ people today, more on Friday and 80 people on Sunday he said over the next few weeks he is fully booked and will move hundreds of people to and from Rocky Point.

The Sonorans are 95% booked as of right now.

Jim said:

The Sonorans are 95% booked as of right now.

Jim, for context can you tell us about how many rooms the Sonorans encompass? We will assume 4 people to a room and we can use the info in other areas!

Russ

I'm also curious as to whether the 95% applies to all units or just those in the rental pool?

There are almost 800 condos and probably about 70% of them are in the rental pool. Many of the non-rentals are occupied as well. And, I can guarantee that there are more than 4 per room on average. Pretty much non-stop check-ins this afternoon.

Russ, here's what I have for hotels/condos. You can see the number of rooms, and hopefully it's somewhat accurate.

Rocky Point Convention and Visitors Bureau. | Hotel and Motel List

I don't know about the others, but the numbers for the Sonorans are WAY off.

Glad I was down last week. And I will attest they will put way more than the max allowed by rental contract into the condos. We have seen 5 adults in a 1 bedroom condo.

AZ ROB said:

Glad I was down last week. And I will attest they will put way more than the max allowed by rental contract into the condos. We have seen 5 adults in a 1 bedroom condo.

Wasn't that discussed over Semana Santa?

When you've had too much tequila...who needs a mattress to sleep?:rofl:

No firecrackers thrown at me lately. Does anybody remember any old western's where the cowboy's would ride up to a sodbuster's farm or ranch, and pull they're pistol's and start shooting at the sodbusters feet and tell him to start dancing, well that happened to me in Rocky point a few years ago. I was walking near the Friendly Dolphin, when a truck load of kids drove by and started throwing firecrackers at me, they were laughing they're asses off seeing me jump around. Pretty funny. This spring break I think I will keep a couple M-80's in my pocket just in case.

Jim said:

There are almost 800 condos and probably about 70% of them are in the rental pool. Many of the non-rentals are occupied as well. And, I can guarantee that there are more than 4 per room on average. Pretty much non-stop check-ins this afternoon.

Well, its so good to hear that a good number of people don't give a *&!@ what the media had to say. This will only make things better as the positive reports continue to come in.

Playa Encanto is biZZY too.

I have been going back and forth since last Friday, bringing U of A kids non stop, can wait for Monday so I'll be able to dip my toes in the water, if weather permits, by the second week of February I already sold more seats than the whole Spring Break last year, the only bad thing, in a sense, is that the universities had different dates! still a lot more people all together than last year and today it was a line of cars all the way from Tucson to RP!! the word is going around that the violence is not here!!

Yesterday took our friend into the Old Port. One guy doesn't like shopping and wasn't really interested in going - he ended up loving it. Other couple we couldn't convince to leave so ended up leaving them and coming back for them later. By 11am there were a lot of people enjoying the Old Port - and buying things. In the afternoon we went for a beach walk. Lots of people having a great time. Football games, people in the water, 3 guys in diving equipment, all the toys busy, horseback riders, kids playing in the water, weather was wonderful. Did watch them trying to get one truck out of the sand - not sure how it ended but a lot of people helping out.

Penasco showed off beautifully. They will be back.

It is busy - we went down on Thursday and there was a line going in - seemed busy in town - left today because of the worries of a border line tomorrow and the winds began kicking up anyway - tons of traffic heading down to RP today - should be another busy week. Las Conchas beaches seemed much busier than usual - good sign.

We were down in RP all this past week, and drove back up to Phx on Friday the 16th, and the traffic going the other way was pretty heavy... The St Patty's weekend looked to be a real party in the making.

Restaurant crowds were really impressive while we were there, and even the number of boats in the water was a welcome site. I had someone come up alongside me while fishing on Wed who mentioned that it was the first time he'd ever taken his boat out of RP. He was asking for some pointers for catching anything bigger than triggers, so I said "get a sonar, and go buy Wally's Super Grouper book at Phoenix Fishing Supply"

In the past few days I have been to, Sonoran Grill-Packed, Casa Capitan-Packed, Ramons-Very Busy, and Rosy's-Packed. I was going to attempt to head to the Malecon tonight but the line was about 10 cars before the road to Casa Capitan so we drove down the middle lane and went there. Unfortunately, the wind picked up so much that we left the concert right after arriving. The sand was just blowing too much. I'm not sure yet if the Allstars will/did play. Changos was standing room only. The races seemed to be pretty much blown out this afternoon too. You just can't control the weather.

rockyptjoe said:

Wasn't that discussed over Semana Santa?

When you've had too much tequila...who needs a mattress to sleep?:rofl:

You need the mattress for smushing.:veg::gradea:

Jim said:

In the past few days I have been to, Sonoran Grill-Packed, Casa Capitan-Packed, Ramons-Very Busy, and Rosy's-Packed. I was going to attempt to head to the Malecon tonight but the line was about 10 cars before the road to Casa Capitan so we drove down the middle lane and went there. Unfortunately, the wind picked up so much that we left the concert right after arriving. The sand was just blowing too much. I'm not sure yet if the Allstars will/did play. Changos was standing room only. The races seemed to be pretty much blown out this afternoon too. You just can't control the weather.

Rocky Point needs more vegetation to keep the sand down. Especially on the Sandy Beach road. The median and both sides of the roadway should be lined with that mangrove type looking plant that's good for ground cover. I know it's not going to help much when it's 35 mph winds but it would look nice and serve a purpose.

Thanks for all the updates! It's funny that every year those "Rocky Point is not safe" stories come out, and yet there are NEVER any stories that follow spring break about teens that had bad experiences. Don't you think they'd want to justify it by a bunch of "WE TOLD YOU SO!" stories? When they run the warnings, they never even bother trying to get interviews with people that may have had the rare bad experience in the past (including drunk college kids who will inevitably get thrown in jail for fighting, destroying property, etc.), probably because those who have been in trouble down there knew THEY were in the wrong and the consequences in the US would have been much worse.

Something to consider for those of you working on next year's tourism promos. "Where are the 'Mexico WAS not safe to travel' stories AFTER spring break?" Something of that nature...

De Frente - Periodismo en serio » Espera Peñasco y Sonora más de 18 mil Spring Breakers The article say's about 18,000 were expected to visit Sonora, during spring break. 15,000 to Penasco and the rest to Guaymas and San Carlos. Also say's 1,500,000.00 dollars expected to be spent by spring breakers. Thats only 83.00 dollars per person. How is that possible? There is alot people in Sonora all trying to get a piece of only one and a half million dollars. That seems ridiculous.

Where is this $83-per-peson, all-inclusive, three-day vacation in Mexico you speak of?!? ;) Sounds like a bargain! (Or someone had their numbers a little messed up.)

GringoZona said:

Where is this $83-per-peson, all-inclusive, three-day vacation in Mexico you speak of?!? ;) Sounds like a bargain! (Or someone had their numbers a little messed up.)

Thats just so little money, it seems impossible. Unless the springbreakers were cram packed into rooms. I guess anything is possible, I see people sometimes at the gas pumps putting 4 or 5 dollars in they're tanks, so I guess things are tight all over.

Just read the article, I guess it said at the end the avg. normal tourist is $60 per DAY, the average spring breaker is $80 to $120 per day, not per trip. Or my translator thing read it wrong. That seems to make more sense, even if the math doesn't add up between the two estimates. Also, consider that usually (or just sometimes, these days?) the male pays for most of the trip, i.e. drinks at bars. Hot girls never have to pay for cr@p.

GringoZona said:

Just read the article, I guess it said at the end the avg. normal tourist is $60 per DAY, the average spring breaker is $80 to $120 per day, not per trip. Or my translator thing read it wrong. That seems to make more sense, even if the math doesn't add up between the two estimates. Also, consider that usually (or just sometimes, these days?) the male pays for most of the trip, i.e. drinks at bars. Hot girls never have to pay for cr@p.

That, is what it say's at the bottom, but at the top, it says 1,500,000.00 for the spring break period. The reporter is messed up.

Does anyone know if the Thunderway Racing Big Truck event is going on Sat Mar 24? Day time or evening??

I took 400 dollars for a 4 day stay. After gas, food, rum, and a charitable contribution, I brought 180 dollars home. I don't have to pay for lodging and I stay out of the bars, for the most part. I guess I am lucky.....i also didn't have any repairs this weekend.........

Chari...take the yearly "rent" you pay at PDO, and divide it by the number of nights you spend down there....I'm sure it comes to at least $50-60 per night.....

Not sure if this link was posted.....but it's GREAT news

Convention and Visitors Bureau presents Spring Break reports | Rocky Point 360