With over 6,000 miles of coastline across four distinct oceans and seas, Mexico has more coastal variety than any country in Latin America. The blue Pacific, emerald Gulf of Mexico, azure Gulf of California and turquoise Caribbean afford scenic settings, climates and inland attractions to keep prospective retirees on an endless journey of discovery. This week we focus on three diverse locations touching two of these great bodies of water — Arizona’s beach getaway of Puerto Peñasco, venerable and quintessentially Sinaloan Mazatlán and newcomer the Riviera Nayarit (admittedly more of a collection of smaller towns than a singular destination).
From the desert north to the tropical south, these three west coast locations each call to distinct cohorts seeking a Mexico living future. Puerto Peñasco (also known as Rocky Point) carries a colorful history of bootlegging by 1920’s gangsters. It slumbered along until the 1980’s when it was discovered by sea seeking Arizonans, who found a Gulf of California beach just 60 miles from the U.
S.-Mexico border. Its population nearly doubled in the decade between 2000 and 2010 and today stands at 63,000.
The tempo is driven by weekenders from Arizona and snowbirds hailing from Colorado, California, New Mexico and even some Canadians. It’s mostly beachfront high rise condo living with some gated single-home communities dominated by foreign buyers. There’s a border-beach vibe and not much of Sonoran culture (head further south t.