Punta La Gringa
Bahia de los Angeles, Baja California, Mexico
Punta La Gringa is a rocky point at the north end of the bay at Bahia de los Angeles in Baja California, Mexico, a few kilometers up a dirt road from town. The beach is pebbles, with no facilities. Free camping, fishing and shell hunting draw people, and whale sharks feed offshore in season.
Free camping with the whale shark bay in front of you, though the beach is pebbles and there are no services at all.
How we score beachesWear water shoes, since the beach is pebbles. Camp on the south side of the point before the estuary, and bring all your food, water and shade.
A dirt road from town, passable in a two wheel drive vehicle, ends at an estuary beside the point. Park and camp near the south side of the point for free.
The beach is pebbles and rock, with no facilities. Water shoes make walking easier.
Whale sharks arrive from roughly June to December, with the best viewing from August through November, though sightings are never guaranteed. Summers are very hot, and the water warms to the high 20s Celsius.
More Mexico & Central America beaches
Soliman Bay
Tulum, Quintana Roo, Mexico · Mexico & Central America
Soliman Bay sits about 20 minutes north of Tulum on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, a quieter alternative to the beach clubs further south, with a coral reef sheltering the mouth of the bay and villas tucked right against the sand. Puffer fish, octopus, and the occasional manta ray turn up in the clear water, and a public access point at the north end of the coast road has kayak rentals and simple seafood.
Playa Xcacel
Xcacel-Xcacelito, Quintana Roo, Mexico · Mexico & Central America
Xcacel Beach sits along Mexico's Riviera Maya coast, protected since 1998 as a sea turtle sanctuary where green and loggerhead turtles nest from April through October, releasing more than 200,000 hatchlings most years. A cenote sits just inland from the sand, and the whole stretch has stayed undeveloped specifically because of its protected status.
Chacala
Chacala, Nayarit, Mexico · Mexico & Central America
Chacala sits in a small cove on Mexico's Riviera Nayarit, about 90 minutes north of Puerto Vallarta, a nearly mile long beach of soft, pale sand lined with palm trees and palapa restaurants. The town holds around 300 full time residents, though visitor numbers climb sharply during Semana Santa and Christmas, and jungle covered hills rise up on either side of the bay.