Beaches in Mexico

Two coasts that operate as separate industries. The Caribbean side — Quintana Roo — is coral sand, reef and resort development, with sargassum as the recurring problem. The Pacific side is bigger surf, darker sand and less building. The Sea of Cortez in the northwest is a third thing entirely: desert running into calm, shallow, extraordinarily clear water. One rule matters more than any other: every beach in Mexico is federal property and public to the high-water mark, whatever a resort's staff may imply. Access from the road is the practical constraint rather than the law. Beyond that, the coasts run on different calendars — the Pacific has its swell year-round and its rains from June, the Caribbean has hurricane season from June to November and sargassum from roughly April to August, and the Sea of Cortez is at its best from October to April when the heat has gone.

Each is a different kind: six shores across six beach worlds. Together they account for 34 km of shore. · computed from the 6 records below