Sonora Bay

The rooms are in two groups, one near the tennis and horse stables (A-D), and the other spread along the beach toward the sailing and scuba (S,T,V,Y,Z). Depending on your interests, you might prefer one over the other. The beds are in alcoves and can not be pushed together, like most other villages.

Note: This village is open from March or April through October, only.

Trivia note: The beach scenes in the movie Catch-22 were shot on what is now this village's beach. Also, on the hillside behind the village you can see the dirt runway made for the movie.

Sonora Bay map

Some Sonora Bay pictures

Proximity.
This is an especially nice village for West coasters. Relatively quick and easy to get to. Most people will make flight connections through Phoenix. I met one person that lived in Phoenix, who drove down several times a month for long weekends.

Cons:
Weather.
This village is located fairly far north and has the same weather conditions as most deserts. Hot as hell during the summer and very cold during the winter. Club Med really screwed up when they first opened this village by trying to keep it running during the winter. Back then, everything was open air and there was no relief from the strong cold winter winds. The common areas now have glass doors that can be shut and this may be the only 'beach' village you'll see that has a fireplace. Thankfully the village is now only operated during the warmer times of the year. Lets clarify that. During the summer it is HOT - VERY VERY HOT! The Club catalog has a temperature chart topping at 95 during the Summer peak, do NOT believe it. Expect temps well above 100; like maybe 115 or 120. I would suggest the milder times of the year - May, early June, late September, or October.

Desert.
Depending on your attitude this can go under the heading of 'pro' or 'con'. This village IS in the desert. It has the look and feel of Phoenix; without all the people. If you don't like deserts, you will not like it here. Personally I lean in the other direction. The area has a stark beauty that I find very appealing.

SCUBA diving.
This is a Dedicated Dive Center. Club Med is really pushing it on this one, about all it means is a 2 tank dive per day. The water temp can be anything from freezing to almost too hot; depending on the time of the year that you are there. Wetsuits are available free of charge. There just are not any good dive sites locally and the vis can be pretty bad. There was only one local spot that I can say I really, really enjoyed. The diving off Seal Island is very nice and there is a good chance of seeing dolphin and/or whale on the trip over. The down side of going to the island is it burns up most of a day; which is why they don't do it everyday. Diving with the playful seals is great fun; just watch out for the big males. The Diaz wreck is a worthwhile semi-local dive also. There is no dock for the dive boats to tie up to, so transfers are by skiffs, boarded on the beach. If the ocean is rough, the boarding may be done in the lagoon. A night dive is done on Wednesday. A computer is not needed at any of the dive sites.