Mexico Beaches
Pacific Coast Pictures

Click to see Mexico Pictures from the start or more information in our Mexico Beaches Guide or Maya Riviera Beaches

Golden Acapulco, a kind of Cancun-by-the-Pacific old-fashioned beach resort.

The central Pacific Coast has several hundred miles of coastline [in other words a lot more than on the Mayan Riviera coast] with golden sandy beaches and excellent facilities.
The choices are endless, from international resorts like Puerto Vallarta and Acapulco if you want monster, densely packed, all-inclusive resorts, to smaller beach resorts with ethnic colour such as Chamela [one of the prettiest, 165 km south of Puerto Vallarta], Barra de Navidad and Zihuatanejo. Whatever, all these places offer a vast range of activities, superb seafood and lively night life.

Puerto Vallarta, another beach resort in the 'old mould' on Mexico's Pacific coast

Puerto Vallarta is a long-standing beach holiday destination sporting cobbled streets, a fair number of colonial style buildings, extensive beaches, a fine newly extended boardwalk, plentiful marine life, the Sierra Madre Mountains as a backdrop and a vibrant culture.
Activities range from scuba diving, deep sea fishing, dolphin and sea lion encounters and whale watching [mid-December to end of March] to sailing and kite-surfing in Banderas Bay and the usual noisome jet skiing and parasailing. But don't waste your time looking for good surf in Puerto Vallarta.
On land there's horse-riding, hiking into the sub-tropical forest of the Sierra Madre mountains, ziplining across canyons or tree tops, rappelling down waterfalls, crossing jungle bridges and splashing through streams and natural river pools.

Playa la Ropa in Zihuatanejo, south of Puerto Vallarta, is typical of the Pacific coast's more backpacker-friendly operations.

Cabo San Lucas beach, Baja California, Mexico

Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo on the Baja California peninsula offer miles of stunning beaches; this is perhaps America's favourite Mexican vacation destination, whether they come for the world's best sports fishing, classy golfing, big surfing, lazy lounging, or tanning and drinking tequila till dawn. Beware of strong rips at some of the beaches.

Cabo San Lucas, Lover's Beach, the Pacific Ocean this side, Sea of Cortez the other side - but only accessible by boat.

For even more tranquility go to the Puerto Angel area, including a backpacker's favourite, Zipolite Beach, 4 kms from Puerto Angel [take a taxi] and about 60 km east of Puerto Escondido. Zipolite offers simplicity and relaxation [except for the overdeveloped west end], with a good selection of backpacker accommodation and eateries beside the sand, wifi too! Recently there has been an increasing security problem. Beware of high surf [particularly August -November]. n.b. Surf board rentals are not easy to locate
Mazunte Beach, 10minutes further up the coast by taxi has a huge turtle reserve that is fascinating. More on Mexico's Pacific coast beaches...