Mexico is a prime beach destination with spectacular pre-Hispanic ruins, vibrant culture, and several wilderness attractions. The country has some beautiful beaches on the Pacific side, especially for surfers, but the calmer beaches on the Atlantic side facing the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico are a perfect destination for some relaxation in the sun. While the competition in this category is intense, a few stand out for their beauty and tourist amenities.
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With more than 5,000 miles of coastline spanning the Caribbean, the Gulf of Mexico, the Gulf of California, and the Pacific Ocean, Mexico has some of the best-hidden beaches in the region. Although the better-known beaches of Acapulco and Cancun are the most popular tourist destinations, it is easy to slip away from the crowd and find the perfect secret beach, where you can spend the afternoon in a hammock, or bob around in the turquoise-blue ocean with a freshly opened coconut.
Riviera Maya
X'cacel beach, on the Mayan Riviera coast, is one of the best-kept secret beaches on the Yucatan peninsula. This protected area is home to a turtle protection program between Puerto Aventuras and Tulum. In spring and summer, baby turtles hatch and return to the ocean. There are no restaurants or bars here, so bring your picnic and plenty of water. The local caretaker will get you fresh coconut if you ask nicely. There is plenty of shade under the palm trees, and a freshwater cenote, or sinkhole, is just a few steps from the beach in the jungle.
Costa Maya
Further down the peninsula, closer to the Belize border, is Xcalak and its renowned white-sand beaches. This area of Costa Maya is remote and not yet a main tourist destination. You can dive and snorkel on the part of the world's second-longest barrier reef, fly fishing or kayaking, or laze around on the soft white sand. No gift shops or large hotels exist; finding a telephone can sometimes be challenging. Some tiny, comfortable guest houses are available.
Puerto Escondido
Also slightly off the beaten track, Puerto Escondido, or "hidden port" in Spanish, is just south of Oaxaca. It is not the easiest of places to get to, there is a small airport in the vicinity, but flights are only sometimes reliable, and access is generally cheaper by car or bus. Here you will find several beaches, with some of the best surfing in the region, fishermen bringing in their catch to sell at the market, and beachfront "palapas" serving grilled fish and local delicacies. Some small, reasonably priced hotels and a couple of four-star, all-inclusive resorts exist.
Costa Esmeralda
This is a 15-mile beach area that sits on the Gulf of Mexico, about 259 kilometers south of Tampico and 150 miles north of Veracruz. Five small beach towns dot the coast, and a few small rivers flow over the beach as they flow out to sea. It is a semi-secluded, relatively unknown beach surrounded by tropical forests. The area receives visitors but is not overpopulated with tourists, so it is a great place to find shells. A couple of small inn-like resorts sit on this beach, and camping is allowed. There are also small fresh seafood restaurant huts.
Playa Escondida
Playa Escondida is considered the most beautiful beach between the Yucatan and Florida. However, it is almost impossible to reach. It is a genuinely isolated beach located in the municipality of Catemaco Veracruz. To access this beach, which is an ideal beachcombing location, you have to travel north from Catemaco to Montepio; then, at 28 kilometers on the downward drive, you will see a gate and sign leading the way to Parador Icacos. Stop here and walk the trail uphill to Playa Escondido. It's about a half-hour walk through the tropical forest. There are rarely any people here, and two bluffs protect the beach. Although isolated, this is an excellent place to picnic, stroll the beach, pick up seashells, and have an incredible bird- and wild monkey-watching experience.
Playa Jicacal
Another beautiful isolated beach, great for beachcombing, sits in the southern part of Veracruz near the municipality of Catemaco. This relatively unknown beach is on a shallow bay bordered by rocky cliffs. Most of the year, it is desolate, only occupied during Mexican holidays, and even then by only a handful of visitors, making this 6-mile stretch a beachcomber's paradise. There is a small old hotel and a beachfront restaurant offering a variety of seafood. Access to the beach is from the Catemaco-Montepio highway. There is a dirt road that branches off the highway at mile 16. The road goes toward the gulf and is about a mile long, and at the end, you will see the Parador (state-owned hotel). From there, you can follow the steps down to the beach.
Cancun and Cozumel
Two more developed tourist beach destinations in Mexico, Cancun, and Cozumel, are on the northeastern tip of the Yucatan Peninsula. On the mainland, Cancun is known for its strip of all-inclusive resorts, high-rise hotels, and restaurants along a long, white-sand beach with calm, Caribbean waters. Cozumel is a small island off the coast, without the skyscrapers but still offering a wide variety of premium tourist services. The island is also a scuba-diving and snorkeling destination with spectacular coral reefs, which could be fun for a family vacation. Cancun has an international airport, and you can reach Cozumel through its smaller airport or by ferry from Playa del Carmen.
Isla Mujeres
Isla Mujeres is a small island off the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula. Close to Cancun and Cozumel, Isla Mujeres is a low-cost alternative to the two. Without the five-star hotels and fashionable bars, Isla Mujeres offers the same beautiful, deep-blue waters, white sand, tropical weather, and coral reefs in a more casual and inexpensive atmosphere. The island also has a small Mayan archaeological site if you want to spend a few hours away from the beach. You can reach Isla Mujeres by ferry from Puerto Juarez, north of Cancun.
Cancuncito
The Mexican state of Veracruz stretches all along the southern part of the Gulf of Mexico. Although these beaches tend to have rougher waters than the Caribbean Yucatan Peninsula, the island of Cancuncito is a notable exception and a good destination when the more touristy beaches of the Yucatan are swamped during the summer high season. The island is a small sand bank with shallow and tranquil waters, protected on one side from development by the Central Veracruz Reef Reserve. Cancuncito usually is a day-trip destination, accessible by ferry from Hornos beach or Villa del Mar beach in Boca del Rio.
Tulum
If you need help deciding between Mayan ruins or beaches on your trip to the Yucatan Peninsula, Tulum is the perfect destination. The beach is located between an archaeological site and a nature preserve, and construction on the coast is limited to a few small, basic hotels that generate their electricity. In this tranquil atmosphere, a far cry from the shopping malls of Cancun, turquoise waters bathes a beach with powder-like white sand, all under Mayan temples perched on a hill overlooking the shore. Frequent buses will take you to the town of Tulum, next to the archaeological site.
There are thousands of great beaches in Mexico, but not all are appropriate for beachcombing or collecting shells. The best beaches to find shells border the Gulf of Mexico, preferably the isolated beaches that receive very few visitors. Beaches populated with visitors see a constant flow of traffic from tourists and Mexican traders looking for shells for their handicrafts. This traffic crushes, hides, locates or buries whatever shells wash up on the beach, whereas isolated beaches remain in their natural state with little or no human traffic throughout the year. This leaves shells and marine life that wash ashore intact and in their natural state.
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