Beaches spanning 1,550 miles of Mexico's western coast serve as fantasy foregrounds for resorts and mountains, small villages and large cities, palms and jungles. Disappearing into the Sea of Cortez and the Pacific Ocean, they either teem with bodies or echo with loneliness. The trick is to find just the right beach.
Here's a north-to-south tour of the golden sands of Western Mexico.- Guaymas: Pronounced "Eemahs," 80 miles south of Hermosillo, a six-hour drive south of the Arizona border. On the Sea of Cortez, Guaymas is principally a shrimping town separated from the nearby resorts of San Carlos and Miramar by jagged hills.
The beach at Guaymas is not especially enticing, but Club Med at San Carlos carved a beautiful resting spot out of the white sand and scrubby countryside. Club Med guests indulge themselves in tennis, sailing, scuba diving and horseback riding, as well as sunning beside the sea on a postcard-perfect lagoon.
- Mazatlan: The Sea of Cortez meets the Pacific at Mazatlan beaches, 475 miles south of Guaymas via Highway 15.
Impossibly misnamed - the translation is "place of the deer" - Mazatlan is home to a half-million people and holds nothing in the way of a countryside feel. It's a thriving resort with a modern airport, popular with beach-going Americans and billfish anglers.
Spanish galleons began using Mazatlan's harbor in 1513 as export base for gold mined in the Sierra Madres. Since that time, Americans, French and Chinese have traipsed noisily through, but now there are no historical monuments to interfere with travelers' enjoyment of beach, ocean and sunset.
A tourist strip following the highway might just as easily be in Florida as Mexico - the coast curves northeast beside condos, high-rise hotels, fancy gift shops and suntanning Americans on sands leading to the ultra-resort, El Cid.
Playa Gaviotas is the Golden Zone beach, where guests at Playa Mazatlan and Los Sabalos hotels play. At the zone's northern edge, El Cid is the 1,000-acre complex with 17 restaurants and lounges, disco, health spa and fitness center, several pools, tennis courts and an 18-hole golf course.
North of the zone, Playa Sabalo is a good beach, but some say Playa Bruja, at the nearly deserted southern area, is the best beach around. The sand is gorgeous, waves are huge and the excellent restaurant offers music, shrimp and ocean view.
Old Mazatlan's downtown cloaks the Zocalo, and the town beach is called Playa del Norte. Also in downtown, the pebbly beach at Olas Altas is the quiet, pretty antithesis to the Golden Zone. There, Colonial buildings shadow sands and smashing waves in a 1950s-era resort spread. The grande dame of this area is the Belmar, a huge old hotel whose charm is kept intact by inlaid marble, dark woods, expansive rooms and baths. Ocean view rooms are best.
Boat getaways to Isla de la Piedra and Islas Venados are great escapes from Mazatlan's masses. At La Piedra, palapa restaurants, coconut groves and beach fiestas make for an idyllic day trip. Check into Sematur ferries, operating on an on-again-off-again basis between Mazatlan and and La Paz, on Baja California, Friday through Wednesday.
- San Blas: A former Spanish port, 220 miles below Mazatlan on Highway 15.
Some 10,000 residents thrive in the successful fishing village, boasting both beaches and jungle, the latter filled with bananas, papayas and mangos.
Although gaining popularity among condo vacationers who favor satellite dishes, the town isn't convenient - travelers usually arrive by car or bus from Guadalajara or Puerto Vallarta - so there's not much threat that commercialization will ruin its quiet cobblestone charm.
Surfers flock to Bahia Matanchen to find mondo waves, and anglers nab record marlin, mackerel and snook. Playa Borrega is the nearest sand, where palapas and hammocks are your companions. One with cold beer is May y Sol, which also rents boogies and surf boards. Las Islitas, a group of little coves past Bahia Matanchen, has great beaches and waves.
Above the town on a hill, La Contadura is the area containg an old fortress ruins - complete with cannons. Or there's La Tovara, reached through mangrove swamps and a low-ceiling jungle via river boat trip, where a freshwater spring creates a refreshing swimming hole. Look along the way for exotic birds and crocodiles.
Serious birders traveling to San Blas between October and April will want to find a guidebook - one is sold at Las Brisas Resort - with which to study the 300 species found in the area. Birding spots, detailed in maps with directions, include some with waterfalls.
San Blas, unfortunately, is plagued by diligent mosquitoes. Come equipped with serious repellent.
- Puerto Vallara: Highway 200 hugs the jagged coastline, through possibly the most scenic of all Mexican Pacific areas. It's found about 140 miles south of San Blas and 260 miles west of Guadalajara.
Were it not for Hollywood, PV might still be an unknown town on remote rocky Banderas Bay, unlinked to civilization by airlines, highway or telephone. As it is, Richard Burton, Ava Gardner, Elizabeth Taylor and John Huston propelled this Pacific mountainside playground with gorgeous coves to multimillion-dollar resort status.
Since the filming of "Night of the Iguana" in 1956, the resort with 24 miles of coastline has blossomed. Most attractive is the southern half of town, bordered by Rio Cuale. The quaint old neighborhood is a work of stucco, tile and cobblestones, while north of the river, a new hotel and shopping zone gets flashier almost daily.
South, hotels such as Marsol and Molino de Agua are less expensive than the northern biggies and have pleasant, authentic Mexican character - gardens, courtyards, brick floors and an Old World atmosphere prevail. The busiest beach is Playa de los Muertos, and adjacent Playa de Olas Altas is attractive though infested with aggressive peddlers.
Side trips - by boat and car - make a Puerto Vallarta vacation much more interesting: easiest is a drive south alongside the cliffside coast to tour "Iguana" and "Predator" movie sets at Mismaloya, en route to Chico's Paradise. The jungle setting there, overlooking Tomatlan Fallls, is as good the food.
- Barra de Navidad: 126 miles south, Barra de Navidad is something of a guarded secret. Reached by bus or car from Puerto Vallarta and Manzanillo, the town is still very Mexican and not much resort. Barra has good restaurants and a beach with super waves, while next-door neighbor Melaque is populated by big hotels but isn't a desirable town.
Boogie boards, surfboards and skindiving gear are rented at Mariner, across the street from the Barra church, an odd story in itself. Iglesia de San Antonio, modern in styling, is unusual for its El Cristo del Ciclon - or Christ of the Hurricane - whose arms are bent and drooping as a result, legend says, of Hurricane Lilly's strike in 1971.
Good and cheap lodging choice: Hotel Delfin; clean rooms, big bathrooms and a terrace overlooking the lagoon.
Just across the lagoon, Colimilla is a little village reached by a "lancha" for a $10 round trip. There, palms mix in with pigs and cows, and big breakers await at Playa de los Cocos, at the far end of the lagoon.
- Manzanillo: Another 40 miles south of Barra, the unattractive city is equipped with an airport and has areas of golden sand north and west of town that are most appealing.
First and most famous is Las Hadas, the fairy-tale resort rocketed to success by the film "10." Las Hadas has elaborate Moorish styling rising above Santiago Bay, with four restaurants, four bars, two pools, a marina and golf course.
Las Brisas is the beach area with motels just north of the city. Club Vacacional Las Brisas has affordable bungalows - about $40 - with kitchenettes around a large pool, plus a lawn with palms and a tennis court and restaurant. Just north of Las Brisas, the peninsula and village of Santiago sits over a hotel-lined beach. The lodgings are clean and cheap but not glamorous.
- Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo: Adjacent sister towns, 350 miles southeast of Manzanillo on Mexico 200. Other than location, the two have absolutely nothing in common: Zihuatanejo once was an old fishing village and Ixtapa is a huge new resort development - but they work together in a pleasing way.
Zihuatanejo has a downtown with several good shops for jewelry and textile purchases, and a market filled with basket, leather and pottery bargains. Restaurants with pretty patios serve everything from Mexican plates and fresh grilled fish to Italian dishes and pizza.
Around the bay, pretty beaches are lined with hotels - Villas Miramar on La Ropa is wonderful - and palapa restaurants. In order, they are La Madera, La Ropa, Las Gatas. Wooden beach lounges rest beneath a long row of palapas on Playa la Ropa; find one, order a cold cerveza or fizzy mineral water and look at the blue Pacific. Or eat some shrimp at one of the open-air cafes, then nap in a hammock. Very peaceful.
Less than 20 years old, Ixtapa consists of a single paved boulevard with manicured landscaping, a shopping mall and big luxury hotels such as the Presidente, Krystal and the exceptional Camino Real. Restaurants offer French, Japanese and Mexican dining.
South of the hotel zone, past Laguna de Ixtapa, a wonderful succession of beaches include Quieta, Linda and Isla Ixtapa. To reach the latter, take a $5 boat ride from Playa Quieta.
- Acapulco: Southeast of Zihuatanejo, 160 miles on Highway 200, Acapulco - once the gem of Mexico's resorts - is now a fading star and a huge city. People who don't mind crowds and traffic and want extensive shopping at shiny complexes, a busy disco scene and nightly poolside fiestas will enjoy cliffside Acapulco.
The big bay is cradled on the northern end by a peninsula with a bull ring; off the peninsula is a submerged virgin statue - boat trips are available - near the island, Roqueta. An old fort is worth touring at the north end of the city, and just beyond is La Quebrada, where the famous divers are daring as ever.
Beyond La Quebrada, Pie de la Cuesta is a swath of sand between ocean and lagoon giving welcome relief to the chaos of Acapulco. Lounge on hammocks and enjoy the view, but beware that the beautiful blue water has a dangerous undertow. Bungalow hotels there are good, with cabanas going for about $40-50.
Hotels on Acapulco's bay front Hornos, La Condea and Icacos beaches. Pick from several huge places, such as the Hyatt, Acapulco Plaza, Fiesta Americana, all of which are expensive, or consider the more intimate Ritz, Maralisa or Royal Elcano.
Just south of town, Las Brisas maintains its outstanding reputation for exclusive mountainside villas, and farther south, the pyramid-shaped Princess on Revolcadero Beach is still renowned for its waterfalls, manicured acreage and tree-filled lobby.
- Puerto Escondido: A good beach getaway, 230 miles south of Acapulco on Highway 200, or a 185-mile bus ride due south from Oaxaca City. There's an airport, too, for connections from Oaxaca, Mexico City and Acapulco.
Here's a familiar story of fishing village discovered by American and European tourists and slowly transformed into a great hideout that's still somewhat rustic - even with a population of 20,000 - but gaining hotels and modern services.
Hilly Puerto Escondido has a wonderful reach of sand framed by two superb rock outcroppings, balanced by a pedestrian thoroughfare called Perez Gasga, lined with restaurants, bars and souvenir stands.
The main beach is split at the southwest end of town by jutting rocks; the southern part is Playa Zikatela, with demanding waves for expert surfers, and the northern part is Playa Marinero, quiet home to the local fishing fleet. At Marinero, arrange a fishing trip for about $18 an hour at one of the beach restaurants.
Or hire a "lancha" for the quick, $5 trip to Puerto Angelito, whose beaches - Manzanillo and Angelito - are beautiful if small, and the calm, clear water makes for wonderful snorkeling and coral study.
El Son y La Rumba is a favorite live music bar specializng in "vampiros" - sort of a bloody Mary-tequila sunrise - and margaritas. For rest, try Hotel Santa Fe, with excellent beachside sunset views, charming hacienda styling and $50 rates; and Paraiso Escondido, a small place with stonework, stained-glass windows, tiling, patios and balconies, bay views and $40 rooms.
- Puerto Angel: 50 miles southeast of Escondido, the fishing port of Angel has 15,000 residents but almost no development. Basking in the sun on the coastline's final southern curve, Angel is still a true escape.
Pure beaches, delicious lobster feasts, anglers and camping travelers are the most notable assets, now just beginning to outnumber the 60s-style beach-goers who often doze in hammocks and play nude on Zipolete Beach.
Few names or lights are hung on the streets of Angel, and just the occasional restaurant or hotel has a name or address. Watch trucks from places as distant as Mexico City, Acapulco and Oaxaca come to Playa Principal and load up fresh fish hauled to shore by local fishermen in their rainbow of boats.
A pleasant place to rest - only a quick walk from the Playa Panteon - is small but friendly Posada Cason de Vata, where a lush, wooded ravine provides respite from the heat. Decor is Guatemalan and Mexican, rooms and bungalows are fan-cooled and private baths are throughout. Rates are about $40-$50, and meals are good and cheap.
- Bahias de Huatulco: The final stretch of resort coast, 30 miles below Puerto Angel, bears the newest venture in Mexican tourism. While government planners advise that this is the next Cancun - a new airport is already in use - such magnitude is still years away. Baby powderish sands, tropical birds and blossoms, exquisite coves and translucent waters, however, make this nine-bay area a natural for a jungleside resort.
The name is simply an umbrella term covering the stretch of bays and sprouting luxury hotels and restaurants. The towns of Crucecita and Santa Cruz are actual settlements now being spiffed up with new plazas and flowering landscapes.
Santa Cruz has a dock where travelers hop on bay tours and glass-bottom-boat trips.
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Ways & Means:
For more information on Mexico travel, contact the Mexican Government Tourism Office, (800) 44-MEXICO or (713) 880-5153.