Getting here
Rocky Point is a drive-to beach — roughly 210 miles and four hours from Phoenix, about the same from Tucson, through the Lukeville–Sonoyta crossing. Do these six things and it's an easy trip. (Wondering about safety? We wrote the honest answer.)
Your US or Canadian policy does not cover you in Mexico, and Mexican law requires local liability coverage. Buy it online before you leave, or at the agencies in Ajo and Lukeville right before the border. Most rental car companies don't allow their cars into Mexico at all.
Do this first · a few days aheadYou need a passport or passport card to re-enter the United States. Carry your original, current vehicle registration — photos and photocopies aren't accepted. Driving someone else's car? You need a notarized letter of permission from the owner.
Pack theseMexico officially requires an FMM for every foreign visitor. Apply on the INM website before you go and print the confirmation — officials still prefer paper. Enforcement at Sonoyta has been inconsistent, but it takes ten minutes and removes the question entirely. If you skip it, the INM office sits just past the crossing on the right.
10 minutes onlineFrom Phoenix, head south through Gila Bend and Why. Fuel up on the US side. Cross at Lukeville, continue through Sonoyta, and take Mexican Highway 8 straight down to the coast — about an hour of open desert. Drive that stretch in daylight, and watch for speeds posted in kilometers.
~4 hours from Phoenix · ~1 hour from the border to usLukeville is a small port that has generally run 6am to 8pm daily — check current hours and live wait times before you go, because they change. Southbound backs up Friday afternoons; northbound backs up Sunday. And leave the case of beer at home — see the packing list.
Check bwt.cbp.gov before you leaveMost traffic peels off toward Sandy Beach. You keep going east past town toward Playa Encanto. Stop at the Walmart on Josefa Ortiz de Domínguez on the way in — it's new, it's on your side of town, and you'll arrive with groceries already handled. At the guarded gate off the highway (and the second one at the resort entrance), tell security you're checking into Velero C1603. Check-in is 4pm at the front lobby — they'll give you the door code — and parking is free in the lobby lot or the underground garage.
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