Hola from Rocky Point

Tony Botelhl, 24, from Arizona School of House Science and Sarah Landrum, 24, from Seattle University relax at Las Palmas. (Credit: Carlos Chavez/azcentral.com)

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Hola from Puerto Peñasco,

We're down in Mexico, hanging out in Rocky Point for the first week of the Spring Break season.

With a gorgeous second-floor room at Las Palmas Resort on Sandy Beach, I'm waiting for the first round of Arizona State University students to show up down here. And then this weekend, I hope to run into a ton of University of Arizona and Northern Arizona University students, who start vacation next week.

And when I say I hope they get here, I mean it. I just got done chatting with the manager here, America Marquez, (she's supernice and grew up here in Rocky Point, and lives here on the property. She's totally my new neighbor, so I've been grilling her about where to hang out later this week and which restaurant has the best guacamole, but more on that later.), and she said things are s-l-o-w these days.

Last year, spring break tourism was down about 18 to 20 percent, according to the city's convention and visitor's bureau. And this year, it's expected to be even lower. Marquez said most hotels are employing about half the staff they did at this time last year and that many downtown restaurants have trimmed their expenses by cutting staff hours or by closing a few days a week.

So, we're about to head to dinner, and I'm hoping to see some signs that things are a little more rowdy than Marquez makes it seem. That said, if you're looking for a quiet place to hang out for a few days, I've found it.