The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - Travel
‘Wherever you look there is sea, sand and perma sunshine’
Mexican coast
Mexico has almost 7,000 miles of coast – this excessive length is due partly to the great finger of beaches formed by the Baja California Peninsula. Frankly, wherever you look there is sea, sand and perma-sunshine to make them desirable all year round. But which coast is best for the coming year?
The Nayarit Riviera to the north is certainly a challenger. It already impresses when it comes to hotels and 2024 sees the opening of new Rosewood, Ritz Carlton, Auberge and Four Seasons properties.
Baja offers several different kinds of holiday: the ultimate Mexican fly-drive from the border to the beach havens of Los Cabos; sport fishing, white-sand coves and placid waters on the Sea of Cortez; whale-watching on the other shore, and wine-tasting in the Valle de Guadalupe.
The deluxe 50-suite Chablé Sea of Cortez, pushed back by the pandemic, will finally open next year; nearby La Paz is a dreamy seaside city. Cool Mexicans used to go to Acapulco; now they go instead to Puerto Escondido, a mellow town that has a certain boho chic while remaining free of mega-resorts.
If cuisine and culture appeal, try Puerto Vallarta, the hub of the central Pacific coast region; chef and restaurateur Rick Stein gushed about it on his Mexican food show and there is a hectic cultural calendar.
Finally, there is always Yucatán, which is so much more than the Chichén Itzá. Holbox Island is firmly on the boutique beach break radar.
A solar eclipse passes over Mexico in April; it may augur momentous change, but I can’t see this colourful, charismatic country losing its status as the most visited country in Latin America.
How to do it
Audley Travel (01993 461 398; audleytravel.com) has a 13-day Historic Mexico and Beach tour, taking in Mexico City, Puerto Vallarta, Cuernavaca and Guadalajara from £5,450pp, including accommodation, guided activities, transfers and international flights.
Chris Moss is a travel and culture writer who has visited Mexico at least a dozen times, and still has 5,000 miles of beach to go.