U.S. Consulate 'strongly advises' against travel to Rocky Point, Sonora

U.S. consular officials are "strongly" advising Americans against travel to Rocky Point, a popular beach destination in Sonora, while the Lukeville-Sonoyta port of entry from Arizona is closed. 

The new guidance, issued on Wednesday, emphasizes visitors should only travel in Sonora during daylight and adds that “U.S. citizens traveling to or from Puerto Peñasco, are strongly advised not to use alternate routes through Sonora.”

Since the only non-alternative route — through the Lukeville port of entry directly to Highway 8 — cannot be accessed from Arizona during the port closure, the bottom line is that Arizonans are being urged not to drive to Rocky Point at all. 

The new notice reminds travelers that U.S. government staff are only allowed to reach Rocky Point through the now-shuttered Lukeville port.

“Due to the continued closure of the Lukeville-Sonoyta U.S. Port of Entry, the U.S. Consulate General reminds U.S. citizens that U.S. government employees may not travel to Puerto Peñasco (Rocky Point) using any other route until the Lukeville Port of Entry reopens,” the Dec. 20 notice reads. “U.S. citizens are reminded that Sonora is 'Level 3 — Reconsider Travel' due to crime and kidnapping in the Department of State’s Mexico Travel Advisory.”

The updated messaging, published late Wednesday, comes a day after the Arizona Daily Star reported that three U.S. residents were fired on while traveling through northwest Sonora last weekend, killing one of them. The group, riding in a truck with Oregon plates, was heading east on Highway 2, between Altar and Santa Ana, at 2 a.m. Saturday.

The shooting occurred on the same highway that Rocky Point-bound tourists would end up on, going in the opposite direction, if they took one of the alternate routes suggested by Rocky Point tourism officials and by U.S. Customs and Border Protection in announcing the temporary but indefinite Lukeville closure.

Beach tourists who crossed into Mexico through the Nogales port of entry would head south on Highway 15 to Santa Ana, and from there take Highway 2 west toward Altar before reaching Rocky Point.

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The other alternative route is through the San Luis port of entry, either going east to Sonoyta to reach Highway 8, leading to Rocky Point, or taking the Coastal Highway to Rocky Point.

The segment of Highway 2 where last week’s overnight shooting occurred cuts through a part of Sonora currently experiencing high levels of violence, as criminal groups fight over smuggling routes in the region.

Another potential pitfall for travelers is Google Maps: Tourists have reported that since the Lukeville closure, the map application is suggesting routes to Rocky Point that are unsafe or impossible.

One recent search on the application, from Tucson to Puerto Peñasco, Sonora, shows a primary route through the Sásabe port of entry, crossing into the Mexican border town of Sásabe, Sonora. 

This area is facing high levels of gun violence that recently prompted a mass exodus of nearly all the Mexican town’s 2,500 residents. The road going south from Sásabe is surveilled by criminal groups, who have detained and violently interrogated Mexican travelers trying to flee the town, former residents have told the Star.

Another Google Maps misfire displays an alternate route crossing the border on Tohono O’odham Nation land, near Papago Farms. This is not a designated U.S. port of entry where tourists can legally cross into Mexico.