The 5 Best Beaches in La Paz Mexico

When people come to La Paz from the US and Canada, spending their days basking in the sun on gorgeous beaches is usually at the top of their wish list, and boy can La Paz deliver! This coastal desert paradise has a lot to offer, but its beaches have earned a reputation for being lovely, inviting and always clean. It wasn’t easy, but we narrowed it down to the five best, most beautiful beaches in La Paz, Mexico. Here they are:

Top 5 most beautiful beaches in La Paz

5. Playa El Coromuel

Best for: hanging with the locals

If you’re looking for an immersive experience outside the typical tourist areas, try spending an afternoon at Coromuel on the weekend, one of the most popular beaches for locals. It’s not as big as some of the other beaches, but makes up for it in people watching!

4. Playa Pichilingue

Best for: lunch or dinner

Pichilingue is a very nice, clean beach, but what sets it apart is the great restaurant service just steps from the water. Some say the restaurant at Pichilingue is the best for seafood in all of La Paz.

3. Balandra Beach

Best for: families with children

The cove of Balandra is simply gorgeous. This huge expanse of water rarely gets more than knee deep, making it great for families with small children. The desert mountains against the light blue waters is like something from another world.

3. Playa El Tecolote

Best for: island views

Tecolote is a peaceful beach that completely embodies the name of the city “La Paz” (Spanish for “peace”). This is the best beach on the mainland for views of the islands out in the Gulf.

1. Ensenada Grande (Espiritu Santo)

Best for: privacy and beauty

This beach is an hour’s boat ride from the mainland on Isla Espiritu Santo, but it is definitely worth the trip. Ensenada Grande was rated the most beautiful beach in Mexico and one of the top twelve in the entire world. Its somewhat remote location makes it a very intimate and relaxing beach, with plenty of opportunities for fun activities if you want to shake things up a bit.

5 Reasons La Paz Has Mexico’s Best Snorkeling Outside the Caribbean

The most amazing snorkeling experience is closer than you think! There’s no need to go all the way to Cancun to get your diving fix. Much closer to home in Baja California Sur is the beautiful beach city of La Paz, Mexico. If you need a bit more to go on than that, we’ve got 5 reasons why La Paz has the best snorkeling in Western Mexico.

1. UNESCO says so

Out in the Gulf of California, past the Bay of La Paz is the island of Espiritu Santo, which has been designated a Biosphere by UNESCO for over 20 years. This uninhabited island’s land and marine habitats have an astonishing biodiversity with some species that can’t be found anywhere else in the world.

2. Travel Magazine says so

All of the beaches in La Paz are gorgeous, but the beach on Espiritu Santo takes the cake, being rated the most beautiful beach in all of Mexico by Travel Magazine and one of the top 12 in the entire world.

3. You get to snorkel with baby sea lions

La Paz’s Espiritu Santo is one of the few places in the world where you can dive with friendly, wild sea lions in their natural habitat at Los Islotes. These playful creatures have a colony on the northern tip of the island and people come from all over the world to swim with the females and young.

4. Also… whales!

While the reefs in La Paz are dominated by the sorts of tropical fish you would expect, just beyond them are many larger species that make for a once in a lifetime experience, including sea turtles, dolphins and yes, whales!

5. Or, if you’re feeling brave, sharks

Okay, they’re whale sharks, which only eat plankton and don’t have any teeth. But then you can go back home and tell everyone you snorkeled fearlessly in shark-infested waters, and it wouldn’t be a lie!

4 Sites You Just Have to See in La Paz, Mexico

La Paz (Spanish for “Peace”) is a little gem of paradise surrounded by desert, and there’s always something fun and interesting to do (although doing nothing is perfectly acceptable and encouraged in this tranquil beach town!). To give you some inspiration for your next visit to La Paz, Baja California Sur, here are 6 sites you simply have to see:

1. The Sea of Cortes and Espiritu Santo Beaches

The uninhabited desert island of Espiritu Santo has some of the most amazing beaches in the world, with gorgeous reefs teeming with colorful fish, wildcats and a species of jackrabbit that can’t be found anywhere else in the world. You can even stop by a sea lion colony while you’re there!

Meanwhile, on the open water of the Gulf of California (also known as the Sea of Cortes), you’ll see stunning landscapes of yellow desert coastlines meeting sapphire waters of the gulf. This has been a feeding ground for whales for hundreds of years, so keep your fingers crossed!

2. The Boardwalk in La Paz

The Boardwalk, which runs along the seawall of the Bay of La Paz, has incredible ocean views and dreamy, romantic sunsets. La Paz’s Boardwalk is about 3 miles long, dotted with unique sculptures that are just begging for a selfie.

3. Velasco Garden Plaza

This is the main square in the city of La Paz and is buzzing with activity day and night. If you’re interested in absorbing the local culture and seeing the melding of colonial Mexico with modern-day, you have to spend an afternoon leisurely exploring the Velasco Garden’s many historic buildings.

4. The Cathedral Nuestra Señora de la Paz

The cathedral itself dates back to 1861, when it was constructed on the site of the 18th century Jesuit mission that essentially founded the city (after a few unsuccessful attempts in the 16^th century). Aside from an interesting architectural site, the La Paz’s cathedral is also a museum of centuries old paintings rescued from other missions