The Beaches of Caborca

The city of Heroica Caborca is also part of the larger land area that encompasses the municipality of Caborca. A municipality is a political-geographical unit similar to a county in the U.S., and there are 72 of them in the state of Sonora.

The municipality of Caborca is one of Sonora’s largest, and stretches from the coast of the Sea of Cortez north to the U.S.-Mexico border and west into the Altar desert.

As such, in addition to having an international border, Caborca also has a large segment of coastline along the Sea of Cortez, much of it with beautiful, undeveloped beaches and land reserved as a wildlife estuary.

There are three coastal communities of note in the municipality of Caborca – El Desemboque, Puerto Lobos, and Puerto Libertad.

These beach communities are all very small and not developed for tourism, which adds to their charm. They are very busy during certain times of the year, especially during the springtime Easter holidays of Semana Santa.

And although the communities are currently not developed, investors have purchased beachfront property in all three communities, so at some point they will likely become smaller versions of Rocky Point.

The coastline is about an hour’s drive west of Caborca. At the pueblo of La Igriega, the two-lane state highway 044 connects with the new Sonoran coastal highway, which continues south past Puerto Libertad.

If you continue driving west at the intersection with the coastal highway west of La Igriega, after a few miles on a bumpy two-lane road you will be in Desemboque. If you follow the coastal highway left at its intersection with the state road, you will be driving south toward Puerto Lobos and Puerto Libertad.

The coastal communities are also an easy drive from Rocky Point, where motorists take a right turn (to go westbound) at La Igriega to either drive to Desemboque or continue on the coastal highway.

El Desemboque is a fishing village that is about 60 miles due west of the city of Heroica Caborca. It is a very small, quiet and peaceful town with one motel and a nice beach area that generally isn’t too crowded.

Puerto Lobos is also a small village, but even less developed than El Desemboque. It is located about 15 kilometers south of Desemboque, an easy drive on the new Sonoran coastal highway.

There are no utilities or services in El Desemboque, although there are a number of beach homes there, with their own sources of water and electricity.

The coastal village of Puerto Libertad is also an undeveloped town without services, a peaceful seaside village. In 2010 the Sonoran coastal highway reached Puerto Lobos, so it will undoubtedly grow and become another popular coastal tourist destination.