What's Not To Like About San Carlos

GV Jack

Snorin God
My buddy, Ross, just purchased a small beachfront condo in San Carlos.

This poses a conundrum for me. I can go to RP and pay the rent or go to San Carlos for free.
I have never been to San Carlos and know nothing about it other than the pictures and the
write-ups. It looks quite beautiful.

Ross and I used to split the rent, but I doubt he will want to do that now. If I have to pay
the total, I'll only be able to come down maybe once a year. I think I can get him to come
down for our annual NFL Draft Party.

What a bummer. Oh well, maybe I'll learn to love San Carlos like Rocky Point.
 

Roberto

Guest
Have not been for several years now but my memory is that the big difference between San Carlos and Penasco is that Penasco has a lot more going on. More restaurants, bars, etc. San Carlos is very beautiful and laid back. Lots of retirees there and Canadians. So I think it is not as impacted by the occasional tourist. Guyamas is close by for the action. Tell Ross he is a traitor. Let me know if I can help find you a cheaper place to stay as the local police will miss you.
 

mis2810

Guest
San Carlos is beautiful, but smaller than Rocky Point. The biggest drawback is the driving distance for me. From Phoenix it's almost a full 8 hours. You'd be about 2 hours ahead of the game from GV. If the flights were less expensive - like they used to be to fly from Phoenix to Guaymas (a short drive to San Carlos) I'd go to San Carlos at least once a year. But there's nothing like being at the beach in under a 4 hour drive to RP. That said, I feel your pain.
 

Stuart

Aye carumba!!!
Staff member
When I was rich and famous, I used to bounce back and forth between San Carlos and Rocky Point all the time. mis2810 pointed out something very important for you -- the drive time. The absolute BEST I ever made it going to San Carlos from Tempe was 7 hours (not towing). In fact, we'd generally break it up when towing by driving to Nogales and staying the night, then get up early and cross, driving straight through to San Carlos. If we left by 7:00, we'd be in San Carlos about noon. Your drive time to go to San Carlos from GV is a heck of a lot less, probably not a lot more than the trip to Rocky Point.

I actually prefer San Carlos. It is a community more than a tourist destination. You get some weekend warriors, but not like RP does. Most of the travel to San Carlos is folks going A) fishing or B) diving. Not partying. The local Mexicans seem to make up for that on Sat. nights, though, as they show up in droves in San Carlos and party all night long, at the beach, driving around here and there, and oh, did I mention all night long? :wink:

As far as fishing goes? Night and day. Summer is billfish, dorado and tuna; winter is yellowtail in San Carlos. With a decent boat, you can be fishing Tortuga Island and other prime Baja destinations in a 60 mile run. Rocky Point is 99% bottom fishing.

There are some beautiful, beautiful homes in San Carlos. Some very nice communities. Some very good restaurants. And some very good people. Give it a try. You might find out Ross isn't such a doo-doo head after all!!! :puff:
 
San Carlos/Guyamas is beautiful, starting to get more tropical. I can't wait for the coastal highway to link it to RP for a easy day trip.
As you go further south from RP it only gets better (and I love RP).
You get away from the weekend crowds and start to experience the real Mexico. Guyamas is great, Mazatlan is better and my favorite is Puerto Valarta.
In the near future I plan on staying in San Carlos, Puerto Valarta and La Paz a couple of months a year as well as a few in RP.
 

mis2810

Guest
All I know is that the mosquito's are bigger in San Carlos, yeah greener and very pretty place!!
Oh yeah, boy, I forgot about those mosquitos. At the old Club Med on Playa Algodones, they'd come around in the morning and at night spraying - more like fog bombing - all the hallways around the rooms. The first time it happened I thought there was a fire outside my room and the smoke was coming in under the door!
 

Roberto

Guest
Oh yeah, boy, I forgot about those mosquitos. At the old Club Med on Playa Algodones, they'd come around in the morning and at night spraying - more like fog bombing - all the hallways around the rooms. The first time it happened I thought there was a fire outside my room and the smoke was coming in under the door!
One of the attractive things about Penasco to me is that the pesky vectors are few and far between most of the time and in most of the areas. I live in the Mirador, one block to the sea, and sleep with second level windows and doors wide open all night with no screens at all. Occasionally I will have a pesky visitor but very seldom. I used to have them occasionally at the House on Nuevo Leon that had a huge garden. I found if I sprayed close to the house the problem would go away. Usually one spray bomb would do the trick. Most insects live and die within a few feet.
 
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