Casa del Pulpo · Velero C1603 · Encantame Towers

Four hours from Phoenix. A world away.

  • 1 bedroom
  • Sleeps 4
  • Oceanfront
  • 16th floor
  • Lazy river + slides

Our one-bedroom condo sits sixteen floors above Playa Encanto — the quiet beach fifteen minutes east of Rocky Point, where the sand is wide and soft and full of shells. We're Mike and Amber, we drive down from Scottsdale ourselves, and when you book direct you're dealing with us at the owners' price.

Check dates & book direct Read the guest guide

↓ Direct guests skip the platform service fee — usually 12–16% of the total.

Sunset over the Sea of Cortez from the balcony of Casa del Pulpo
Sunset from our balcony over the Sea of Cortez — the actual view, not a stock photo.
Casa del Pulpo · House of the Octopus

We named it after what the tide leaves behind.

Playa Encanto has some of the most dramatic tides on the Sea of Cortez — the water pulls back the better part of a mile and leaves a whole other world in the rocks and pools. Octopus live in it, along with starfish, sand dollars and more shells than you can carry. Watch the balcony for the dolphins that swim past most mornings; in winter you might get a whale.

Walk out an hour before low tide and look for a pile of broken shells outside a den — that's an octopus at home, and that's where the name came from. The guest guide below is full of that kind of thing.

The condo

One bedroom, a full kitchen, and doors that open the whole wall to the sea.

Comfortable for two, easy for four. Velero is the centre tower, and we're on the sixteenth floor — high enough for the long view down the beach, low enough to still hear the water.

Sleeping. A [king] bed in the bedroom with blackout curtains and a ceiling fan. A [queen sleeper sofa] in the living room with real linens in the closet. Four guests maximum — that's the HOA's rule and it counts everyone.

Kitchen. Full SMEG appliance package — stove, oven, dishwasher — plus a full-size fridge and every pot, pan and utensil you'll need. Three coffee machines: a regular drip maker, a Keurig and a Nespresso Vertuo. Bring your own K-cups, Vertuo pods or ground coffee, because that's the one thing guests always forget.

The doors. Two big sliders open the living room and the bedroom onto the balcony, and they're the best thing about the place. One rule comes with them, in the callout below.

The guest pantry. Beach towels, beach chairs and beach gear are already here, so leave yours at home. Sand buckets and tools, boogie boards and pool noodles live in the laundry room, and we keep pickleball paddles and balls for the resort's racquet club.

Close the sliders before you open the front door

Both patio sliders — living room and bedroom — need to be shut before the front door opens. Sixteen floors up with the doors open, you get a vortex of wind straight through the condo that will knock things off shelves and can slam a door hard enough to hurt someone. It's the only real rule we have.

The resort

You could never leave the property and still have a great week.

Encantame Towers is three towers — Velero in the centre, Verano east, Viento west — on 600 metres of beachfront. Four places to eat and drink, four bodies of water, and a racquet club.

Pools. Heated in winter, chilled in summer. Pools and jacuzzis run 9am to 10pm daily; the swim-up bar opens at 11am and goes until dark. Two lazy rivers, waterslides, shallow areas for small kids and sunken fire pits for after sunset.

Level 24. Rooftop sky pools sit on top of the end towers, twenty-four floors up, adults only at 21 and over. The rooftop bar is on Viento, the west tower — pool, hot tub, food and drinks, and the best view on the property. Take a layer; it's windy up there.

Santo Coyote Ocean Cantina. East side of the pool, spectacular ocean views, open for breakfast and dinner. This is the one we tell everyone not to miss. Reservations recommended.

Marea Sports Bar. West side of the pool — the casual hangout, with a pool table, big views over the resort and the beach, and good appetizers, burgers and desserts.

Blue Palm Café. In the front lobby, 8am to 3:30pm, closed Wednesdays. Starbucks coffee plus breakfast and lunch.

Blue Harbor Market. The convenience store at Plaza Encantame just outside the second set of gates, with a new satellite store right next to the front lobby for whatever you forgot.

Also here. Fitness centre and yoga studio, spa treatments, and a racquet club with pickleball courts, a tennis court and a basketball court. The concierge in the main lobby books fishing charters, boat and jet-ski rentals, ATVs, sunset cruises and horseback riding.

Pool rules worth knowing before you pack

No glass containers anywhere in the pool area and no coolers — but personal insulated cups are welcome, so bring the good tumbler. Headphones for any music in the common areas. Children under 12 need an adult with them.

Guest guide

Where we send our own family.

Playa Encanto is quiet, which is the point — but it does mean town is a drive. Everything below is timed from our front door, so you can plan a morning without opening a map. Tap a category to filter.

Getting here

The drive down, in six steps.

Rocky Point is a drive-to beach — roughly 210 miles and four hours from Phoenix, about the same from Tucson, through the Lukeville–Sonoyta crossing. Do these six things and it's an easy trip.

  1. Buy Mexican auto insurance

    Your US or Canadian policy does not cover you in Mexico, and Mexican law requires local liability coverage. Buy it online before you leave, or at the agencies in Ajo and Lukeville right before the border. Most rental car companies don't allow their cars into Mexico at all.

    Do this first · a few days ahead

  2. Bring passports and your vehicle registration

    You need a passport or passport card to re-enter the United States. Carry your original, current vehicle registration — photos and photocopies aren't accepted. Driving someone else's car? You need a notarized letter of permission from the owner.

    Pack these

  3. Get your FMM tourist permit online

    Mexico officially requires an FMM for every foreign visitor. Apply on the INM website before you go and print the confirmation — officials still prefer paper. Enforcement at Sonoyta has been inconsistent, but it takes ten minutes and removes the question entirely. If you skip it, the INM office sits just past the crossing on the right.

    10 minutes online

  4. Drive to Lukeville, then Highway 8 south

    From Phoenix, head south through Gila Bend and Why. Fuel up on the US side. Cross at Lukeville, continue through Sonoyta, and take Mexican Highway 8 straight down to the coast — about an hour of open desert. Drive that stretch in daylight, and watch for speeds posted in kilometres.

    ~4 hours from Phoenix · ~1 hour from the border to us

  5. Know the crossing hours and the rush

    Lukeville is a small port that has generally run 6am to 8pm daily — check current hours and live wait times before you go, because they change. Southbound backs up Friday afternoons; northbound backs up Sunday. Your allowance is 3 litres of alcohol per adult, and declared imported alcohol has been drawing a steep tax, so plan on buying beer and tequila once you're here.

    Check bwt.cbp.gov before you leave

  6. Turn east at the coast, not west

    Most traffic peels off toward Sandy Beach. You keep going east past town toward Playa Encanto. Stop at the Walmart on Josefa Ortiz de Domínguez on the way in — it's new, it's on your side of town, and you'll arrive with groceries already handled. Check in at the front lobby and they'll give you the door code.

    Last 20 minutes

Pack these, specifically

  • Coffee pods — K-cups, Nespresso Vertuo pods or ground coffee. The machines are here; the coffee isn't.
  • An insulated tumbler — no glass and no coolers at the pool, but personal cups are fine.
  • Reef shoes — for the tide pools at Cholla Bay, where the rocks are slick.
  • An inflatable tube — for the lazy river, if you want your own. Loaners near the slides are limited.
  • Cash in small bills — several of our favourite places are cash only.
  • Your own grocery bags — the Walmart doesn't hand them out.
  • Not beach towels. Those are in the guest pantry, along with chairs, sand toys and boogie boards.

Good to know

  • Check in4:00 PM at the front lobby
  • Check out11:00 AM · late by availability
  • Door4-digit code, then the unlock button
  • Sleeps4 maximum, HOA-enforced
  • ParkingFree, on site
  • WifiDetails in your arrival email
  • AnimalsNot permitted
  • Smoking & partiesNeither, anywhere
  • CleaningDon't — that's what the fee covers
  • WaterFiltered spigot right of the kitchen tap
  • MoneyPesos best; dollars widely taken; bank ATMs
  • BorderLukeville, ~1 hour north

House manual

How everything in the condo works.

Written for guests who are already here. Bookmark this page on your phone and you won't need to text us at 9pm about the thermostat.

If something goes wrong

Emergency numbers.

The HOA office helps with emergencies until 5pm, and the guard gate takes over after hours. Numbers below are dialled locally in Puerto Peñasco.

The address to give emergency services

Encantame Towers, Velero tower, unit C1603 — Second Roundabout Road, Playa Arenos, 83550 Puerto Peñasco, Sonora, Mexico.

Questions we get

Guest reviews

[4.9] across [__] stays.

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