Things to do in Northwest Mexico
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Reserva de la Biosfera El Pinacate y Gran Desierto de Altar
North and northwest of Puerto Peñasco extends the massive, 7145-sq-km Reserva de la Biosfera El Pinacate y Gran Desierto de Altar. The reserve comprises the 5000-sq-km Gran Desierto de Altar, with dunes up to 200m high; and the Sierra El Pinacate area with majestic volcanic mountains, nine giant extinct craters, 400-plus ash cones, and petrified lava flows. It’s a surreal and astonishing landscape with an extreme climate. You can access the dunes area at the new, solar-powered visitors center, about 8km west of Km 73 on Hwy 8 (some 25km from Puerto Peñasco).
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El Aventurero
Enjoy the canyon country on horseback with this Mexican-American joint enterprise, from two-hour jaunts near Creel (M$150 per person) to two-week treks far, wide and deep (M$21,000 to M$26,000). Tuition is available for beginners. Its stables are on the southeast edge of town.
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The Hangout/Soggy Peso Bar
This bar right on the sands at the north end of San Carlos’ most beautiful beach is worth the M$100 taxi fare from town. It’s simple: one of the best margaritas in Mexico, on the beach, as the sun goes down. Majestic!
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Trips
Most of Creel's hotels offer tours of the surrounding area, with trips to canyons, rivers, hot springs, waterfalls and other places. Trips range from a seven-hour tour to the bottom of the Barranca de Urique to an eight-hour excursion to Mennonite settlements in Cuauhtémoc, and overnight excursions to Batopilas, a wonderful canyon village, which descends from an altitude of 2338m at Creel to 495m, via a winding dirt road.
This is also prime riding country, and many of Creel's nearby attractions can be enjoyed from horseback; or you can rent a bicycle or scooter and venture out on your own. The whole area is a mountain bike playground and, depending on your skill and fitn…
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CEDO
CEDO, about 3km along Las Conchas, is a wonderful place to learn about the fascinating desert-meets-sea eco-system of Rocky Point. Dedicated to the conservation of the upper Gulf of California and surrounding Sonoran desert, CEDO offers free tours with a natural-history talk in English at 2pm Tuesday and 4pm Saturday, and its ‘Earthship’ visitor center has a good store. CEDO also runs a fascinating program of nature tours, some in collaboration with local cooperatives. These range from tidepool explorations, wetland bird walks and kayaking on nearby Morúa estuary to excursions to Isla San Jorge or El Pinacate Biosphere Reserve. Prices range from M$195/130 to around M$900/…
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Centro Ecológico de Sonora
This park-like zoo and botanical garden is 7km south of central Hermosillo. It features an excellent array of plants and wildlife from Sonora’s mountains, deserts and prairies, from jaguar and puma to bighorn sheep and the endangered, antelope-like Sonoran pronghorn (berrendo) which, when it gets going, is the fastest-moving land animal in North America. The center takes about 1½ hours to walk around at a nonpronghorn pace. To get there, take the southbound Línea 11 bus from the west side of Jardín Juárez out into the southern suburbs. Get off when the bus turns north off Xolotl on to Templo de Tláloc, then walk 600m south on Templo de Tláloc.
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Parroquia de la Purísima Concepción
Álamos’ parish church is the tallest building in town. It was built between 1786 and 1804 and despite having only one tower, bears a resemblance to the slightly earlier ‘White Dove of the Desert’ mission church in Tucson, Arizona. The altar rail, lamps, censers and candelabra were fashioned from silver, but were all ordered to be melted down in 1866 by General Ángel Martínez after he booted French troops out of Álamos. Seven or so subterranean passageways between the church and Álamos mansions – probably escape routes for rich families in times of attack – were blocked off in the 1950s.
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Aguas Termales Rekowata
The Aguas Termales Rekowata are on San Ignacio ejido land but approached from the Divisadero road 7km south of Creel. It’s 11km southeast, unpaved, from the highway to the parking lot, then 3km down a cobblestone road to the warm and sometimes crowded bathing pools into which the springs are channeled, near the bottom of the Barranca de Tarárecua. Vans (M$70 one way) carry people up and down from the parking lot on busier days; otherwise it’s a beautiful walk down and a sweaty one back up.
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3Amigos
The Río Fuerte winds through subtropical countryside outside town and you can explore it with 3Amigos, a branch of an established Creel-based, active-tourism firm. River floats (M$300) and kayak trips (M$400 to M$600), with English-speaking guides, include a walk to the 2000-year-old petroglyphs at Cerro de la Máscara; 3Amigos also rents bikes, offers a free self-guided town walking-tour map, and can fix almost anything else you need in the Copper Canyon area.
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Sun n’ Fun
You can arrange things through an agency like Sun n’ Fun, where Isla San Jorge trips cost around M$1500 for divers and M$1100 for snorkelers or sightseers, and fishing charters up to seven hours run between M$650 and M$1300 per person. Sea-fishing, snorkeling, diving, kayaking and sunset cruises are all popular. Swimming with the sea lions at Isla San Jorge (Bird Island) is an outstanding trip and the water temperature stays above 21°C from May to October.
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3 Amigos
The 3 Amigos built its reputation on helping you ‘be your own guide in the Copper Canyon’ through its rentals of mountain bikes (per four hours/day M$90/150), scooters (per hour/day including fuel M$100/550) and trucks (double-cab Nissan pickup; per 24 hours M$1300), with free maps, travel information and in some cases lunch. This is a great option for independent souls. It also offers self-guided truck tour packages, guided trips and scenic flights.
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Mercado Municipal
Like most Mexican towns, Guaymas supports a Mercado Municipal, which has stalls where you can sit down to eat cheaply. Popular morning stalls include El Rinconito for machaca (rehydrated, spiced beef) and El Vaporcito for tacos al vapor (steamed beef) and birria (spicy meat stew). Both are in the southwest corner. It's a block south of Av Serdán, on Av Rodríguez between Calles 19 and 20, and opens around 06:00.
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Delfinario Sonora
Weekend visits to the new Delfinario Sonora include sea-lion and dolphin shows and, for extra charges, a close-up sea-lion experience (M$150) or swimming with dolphins (M$400 to M$1000). During the week it’s reserved for dolphin-therapy sessions for people with neurological or psychological difficulties. The dolphinarium is on a secondary coastal road between Guaymas and San Carlos: a taxi from San Carlos costs M$200.
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Solipaso
Run by a long-resident US couple, Solipaso offers a unique day-long river float trip (per person M$1430, four to 12 people; November to March) on the remote, wildlife-rich Río Mayo northwest of Álamos. You visit ancient petroglyphs, a historic stone aqueduct and a tiny Mayo village with a 16th-century church. It also offers birding trips with owner David Mackay or local guides.
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Plaza Zaragoza
Not to be confused with the grittier Jardín Juárez, this plaza is shaded by beautiful orange trees, drawing government workers on lunch breaks and creating a peaceful place to hang.
At night, the plaza comes alive with vendors hawking Sonoran tamales and tasty variations of corn swarm in. A city of over half a million suddenly feels like a small town.
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Casa del Mar
The Casa del Mar is a visitors center for the 900-island Área de Protección de Flora y Fauna Islas del Golfo de California. It has very informative displays in Spanish and English, and issues permits for visiting the islands (M$40 per person per island per day). It’s two blocks off Avenida Mar de Cortez near the northwest end of Kino Nuevo.
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Siete de Copas/La Tequilera
This bar complex features Siete de Copas, a large, somewhat rowdy modern cantina (imagine a contemporary version of the one in Robert Rodriguez' From Dusk Till Dawn); and La Tequilera, a two-story bar with dueling live music on the open-air roof upstairs and indoors in the bar down below. Both attract the city's young and hip.
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Museo Casa de las Artesanías del Estado de Chihuahua
The Museo Casa de las Artesanías del Estado de Chihuahua, across the rail tracks from the plaza, is a great spot to delve deeper into Rarámuri culture. It has excellent exhibits with text in English on local history and Rarámuri culture and crafts, with gorgeous woven baskets, traditional clothing, photos and more.
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Cerro de la Campana
This 'Hill of the Bell' is the most prominent landmark in the area and an easy point of reference night or day. It's named for the legend that striking certain rocks on the hill creates a bell sound. The panoramic view from the top is worth the drive up - though it's a shame about the numerous telecommunication towers.
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El Panteón
Álamos’ deliciously ancient cemetery is a fascinating jumble of above-ground tombs, elaborate headstones made of pastel-hued crosses and angel statues, and tall palm trees. It began receiving the dead of wealthy families in 1751, when the practice of burying them inside the church was abolished.
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Parque Sinaloa
Parque Sinaloa occupies part of the former estate of Benjamin Johnston, the American who founded the sugar mill around which Los Mochis grew up in the early 20th century. Have a wander to see the international trees and plants Johnston installed, and the scant remains of his Casa Grande.
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Museo Costumbrista de Sonora
This well-done museum of Sonoran customs has extensive exhibits (all in Spanish) on the history and traditions of the people of Sonora. Special attention is paid to the influence of mining on Álamos, and the fleeting prosperity it created. There’s also a shop selling some Mayo crafts.
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Asadero Don Chuy
More-ish carne asada tacos are served under a wooden roof supported by wooden posts adorned with a few sets of antlers. A mere eight condiment bowls are set on your table and you can pop a couple of norteña (country) tunes on the juke box while you decide how to garnish your tacos.
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La Palapa del Pescador
Whole fried fish, stuffed lobster and other seafood delights are calling at this seaside joint with a palapa-covered patio and a juke box with a mind of its own. It’s also popular for a few cervezas (beers) at night. It’s about 2.5km from the southeast end of the Kino Nuevo strip.
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Antojitos Mexicanos
An unassuming, spotlessly clean, all-yellow little place that serves up satisfying and tasty home-style breakfasts, and lunch and dinner favorites like chiles rellenos (stuffed chilies with cheese or meat) and bisteck ranchero (steak with tomato, chili and onion sauce).
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