Mexico RV Travel: Kino Bay

Great Mexico RV stay in Kino Bay

Our time spent in Kino Bay (Bahia Kino) was great! Continuing our Mexico RV trip, we continued south on Route 15 through Hermosillo. We didn't spend any time in Hermosillo itself, but it is big city with an airport and a wide variety of places to shop, etc. Our time there was limited to a trip to the Wal-Mart Supercenter to stock up on groceries.

We were lucky to find the road from Hermosillo to Kino Bay in decent shape. It was in the process of being widened and re-paved. When we got to the park, we learned from fellow RVers that they had to navigate a rough and harrowing dirt detour due to the construction. The work is being done in sections, so we hit it at the right time. It looks like it will soon be finished, so that future travelers should have an even easier approach into town.

Kino Bay consists of Kino Viejo and Kino Nuevo. The older part of town is where the bulk of the Mexicans live and the fishing boat launch. New Kino Bay has public beach access amidst nice privately owned beachfront homes, a few condos and hotels - but nothing high-rise (yet?). At the end of the Mar de Cortez Road that parallels the beach is a big planned housing development going in and plans for a new marina.

We stayed at Islandia Marina RV Park in Kino Viejo. It overlooks the beach and is near (but not too near) the fishing boat launch. The park is planted with lots of palm trees and a few palapas overlook the water, giving the place a tropical and laid-back feel. You can walk or bike into town to eat or shop in a number of little markets.

The Mexican family running the place is friendly and accommodating. They have WiFi in the office, sometimes accessible from some sites. There is also a phone you can use. The water pressure is non-existent, so plan to fill your tank and run your water pump.

As we had been warned might be the case in many parts of Mexico, the voltage runs high in this park. In our case, that meant that our coach's built-in surge protector would automatically shut off access to shore power as a safety measure. Others in the park, including a year-round resident, told us not to worry - that despite the high voltage, there was seldom low voltage or surges. So we occasionally would bypass the surge protector when we needed to use power. The rest of the time, we turned it back on. We had plenty of sunshine for the solar panels to charge the batteries, and plenty of sea breezes that made air conditioning unnecessary.

Our site overlooked the ocean, palms and palapas.

Our site overlooked the beach. The pelicans here are fascinating, diving for fish almost all day. Seagulls, cormorants and other shore birds keep things interesting. There are plenty of shells to be found on the long beach and estuary.

We liked Kino Bay itself - it has a comfortable feel and more of a sense of Mexico than the other places we have been. The old town is relatively clean with a combination of paved and packed dirt roads. It seems organized and growing with good restaurants, taco stands and little stores. There is a big town square with a playground and several schools and churches. There are plenty of shacks, as well as more substantial homes. We hope this place can retain its charm as development progresses.

Another thing we uncovered here was that it takes a long time for the mail. We went to mail Mother's Day cards and were told it would take 15 days, because the mail is only picked up in Kino Bay once a week and then routed to Mexico City (a new route we were told - it used to be faster). We learned that an American in town drove mail up to Nogales regularly and so we sent our cards along that way. In the future, we will remember to check about mailing timeframes if we anticipate sending any time-bound mail.

And about receiving mail, we didn't. All told, we were in Mexico for almost two months, and decided to wait to have our mail forwarded when we got back to the States.

Some good restaurants in town for fish or shrimp dishes are The Marlin in Kino Viejo, the Puerta Azul at the Islandia RV Park itself, and Jorge's in Kino Nuevo.

For the more adventurous seeking the typical outdoor, taco-stand experience, try El Muelle for fish tacos and Taqueria Luz Argelia for baked potatoes filled with carne asada (or try their tacos or camelitos). Both are in Kino Viejo.

The bottom line on Kino Bay is a thumbs up for a relaxing and comfortable stay, good beach and a regular Mexican town. From Kino Bay, we headed to San Carlos.