Making Tracks to the Sand – 6 Beautiful Baja Beaches to Visit This Summer
Sure, you can soak up the sun on one of Baja’s beautiful beaches any time of year, but since summer is traditionally the season when this sort of activity is celebrated – and when families in inland areas decamp to their preferred coastal resorts en masse – we’re taking the opportunity to extol some of the most glorious stretches of finely powdered sand on the planet.
Photo credit: Medano Beach Cabo.
Southern California residents and those within weekend road trip distance of popular Baja California destinations know that the only thing better than ice cold cervezas and fresh fish tacos is pairing them with a surf, paddle or kiteboard and a beach less traveled. But let’s be honest: to find the peninsula’s most legendary seashores, you’ll have to head further south.
Baja California Sur – home to nearly 1400 miles of coastline, the most by far of any Mexican state – is packed with beaches of all shapes and sizes, from hidden coves and secret sandy inlets to miles long coastal stretches bounded by large luxury resorts. The only thing they all seem to have in common is magnificent views, made even more spectacular by the occasional glimpses of leaping mobulas and dolphins (and seasonally, breaching whales).
Both La Paz and Los Cabos are famous for their beaches, so much so that each regularly posts multiple entries on polls of the best beaches in Mexico. But the shoreline attractions don’t stop when the roads transition from pavement to graded dirt.
Here are six of the classics to visit this and every summer:
Playa Balandra, La Paz
Playa Balandra, La Paz Photo credit: Michael Kull.
Playa Balandra is regularly rated as one of the most beautiful beaches in Mexico…so there’s no secret to let out. It’s spectacular. The white sands here are amazing, and the water is a turquoise shade more commonly associated with Cancun and Quintana Roo. As if that weren’t enough, the shallow water lagoon allows seeming endless wading, and the entire area is bounded by lovely rust colored hills. Balandra also has its own monument, a mushroom shaped rock known as El Hongo. which serves as the iconic image for La Paz in much the same way El Arco does for Los Cabos. For a real treat, drive out at night. Because Balandra is more than a dozen miles (21km) northeast of La Paz, there is no light pollution, and the stargazing is absolutely mindblowing, particulary so given the gorgeous surroundings.
Playa El Tecolote, La Paz
Photo credit: Visit Baja Sur.
Playa El Tecolote (The Owl) is a few miles past Balandra (25 km) and in some ways is even more beautiful, thanks to the magnificent views of uninhabited offshore island Espiritu Santo, once home to a pearl cultivation operation and now a sanctuary for endemic species like unique breeds of black jackrabbit and antelope squirrel. Like Balandra, El Tecolote too boasts white sands and turquoise waters, plus the abundant vendors and food and drink options that Balandra lacks. Palapa Azul, a beachfront bar with adjacent restaurant set inside a hollowed out boat, is a congenial spot for Coronas and local specialties like chocolate clams and marlin en escabeche.
Honeymoon Cove, Isla Danzante
Photo credit: Visit Baja Sur.
The Loreto Bay National Marine Park is UNESCO world heritage site known for seasonal blue whale visits and some of the world’s best kayaking. The beaches are likewise spectacular, particularly the white sand hideaway in Honeymoon Cove on Isla Danzante. Danzante is one of five offshore islands in the marine park, and is located some 20 miles southeast of Loreto, first capital of the Californias and site of the first Jesuit mission on the Baja California peninsula. Nowadays, the name Danzante is more commonly associated with the spectacular new Rees Jones golf course, Danzante Bay, which is one peninsular mainland but features scenic views of the island from cliffside greens.
Cabo Pulmo, East Cape
Photo credit: Cabo Pulmo Beach Resort.
The Los Cabos municipality’s picturesque East Cape stretches some 70 miles, from the outskirts of San Jose del Cabo to Los Barriles and the Bay of Palms. Known for pristine beaches and off-the-grid communities, the East Cape is now seeing newer developments from brands like Four Seasons, but retains many of its traditional charms. Case in point is Cabo Pulmo, a rustic seaside paradise with eco bungalows and some of the best snorkeling and diving in the Western Hemisphere. The offshore marine park and sanctuary has been such an overwhelming success – it now boasts the highest concentration of marine life in the Sea of Cortez – that it overshadows the beautiful beach. The beach is a stunner, though, as are East Cape surf meccas like Shipwrecks and Nine Palms.
Lover’s Beach, Cabo San Lucas
Photo credit: High Tide Sea Expeditions.
The southernmost beach in Baja may be its most iconic. Set near the tip of the half-mile Land’s End headland that marks the terminus of the nearly 800-mile long Baja California peninsula, Playa del Amor – or Lover’s Beach – is magnificently beautiful, and the fact that it can only be reached by water-based transportation like kayak or panga (waters taxi) only adds to its allure. When film star Greta Garbo came by yacht to Cabo San Lucas in the 1920s, the beach had been appropriated for business purposes by a mysterious lady named Doña Chepa. Nowadays, this golden sand mecca sees a steady stream of activity during daylight hours, thanks to its rocky sentinels, gorgeous vistas, and the superb snorkeling just off its graduated underwater shelf. Lover’s Beach is the romantic picnicking spot non pareil, with thick soft sand, and uninterrupted views of the coastline from Medano Beach to Punta Ballena. Walk between the rocks and you have moved from Lover’s Beach to her alter ego, Divorce Beach.
Medano Beach, Cabo San Lucas
Photo credit: Medano Beach Cabo.
Imagine a two-mile stretch of glorious golden sand, bounded on one side by glittering blue waters and the half-mile Land’s End headland, and on the other by a dizzying succession of luxurious resorts and beachfront restaurants and cantinas. Now imagine this beach packed with bikini and board shorts clad sunbathers, its placid offshore waters a welter of activity – swimming, sailing, flyboarding, parasailing – the tabletops of its crowded cantinas ballasted with buckets of ice-cold cervezas as mustachioed men wearing sombreros pull tequila bottles from their holsters and shot glasses from their crisscrossed bandoliers. That’s Medano, the biggest and busiest beach in Cabo San Lucas, but also one of its most beautiful. Beachgoers will find plenty to do here, from building sand castles to renting kayaks, wave runners or stand up paddle boards. Romance too is in the Médano air, with barefoot fine dining at moonlit tables in the sand. The Office on The Beach throws the best weekly party, a Thursday evening Fiesta Mexicana featuring fireworks, mariachis, folkloric dancing, and piñatas and candy for the kids.
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