Three coasts
Mexico has about 9,330 km of mainland coastline, roughly two-thirds of it on the Pacific and the Gulf of California and the rest on the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean. The three are genuinely different bodies of water. The Caribbean side, all of it in Quintana Roo, is shallow, limestone-floored and turquoise because there are no rivers on the Yucatán Peninsula to carry sediment; the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef, the second-longest in the world, runs offshore from Isla Contoy to Honduras. The Pacific is deeper, cooler and rougher, with swell that makes Puerto Escondido a serious surf break. The Gulf of Mexico is shallow and silty, fed by the Grijalva, Papaloapan and Pánuco rivers, and its beaches are grey-gold rather than white.
Beach areas by coast
| Beach area | Coast | Airport | Best months | Sea temp. (°C) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cancún | Caribbean | CUN | Dec–Apr | 26–29 |
| Playa del Carmen | Caribbean | CUN | Dec–Apr | 26–29 |
| Tulum | Caribbean | TQO / CUN | Dec–Apr | 26–29 |
| Cozumel | Caribbean | CZM | Nov–May | 26–29 |
| Cabo San Lucas | Pacific / Cortez | SJD | Oct–May | 20–29 |
| La Paz | Sea of Cortez | LAP | Oct–Apr | 21–30 |
| Mazatlán | Pacific | MZT | Nov–May | 21–30 |
| Puerto Vallarta | Pacific | PVR | Nov–May | 23–30 |
| Zihuatanejo | Pacific | ZIH | Nov–Apr | 26–30 |
| Huatulco | Pacific | HUX | Nov–Apr | 27–30 |
| Veracruz | Gulf | VER | Apr–Aug | 23–29 |
| Progreso | Gulf | MID | Mar–Aug | 24–30 |
The Caribbean coast
The 130 km between Cancún and Tulum is the Riviera Maya, a single strip of coast served by Highway 307 and, since 2023, by the Maya Train. Cancún's Hotel Zone is a 23 km barrier island; Playa del Carmen sits halfway down the coast and is the ferry port for Cozumel, Mexico's largest island and the country's main dive base. Tulum's beach runs below a walled Maya site on a low cliff, the only one of its kind on this coast. North of Cancún, Isla Mujeres is 8 km long and reached by a 20-minute ferry. South of Tulum the coast empties out through the Sian Ka'an biosphere reserve to Bacalar, a 42 km freshwater lagoon rather than a sea beach, and on to Chetumal at the Belize border.
The Pacific and the Sea of Cortez
The Pacific string runs from the tip of the Baja California Peninsula to the border with Guatemala. Los Cabos is two towns 33 km apart — Cabo San Lucas at the arch where the Cortez meets the Pacific, and quieter San José del Cabo. Up the Cortez, Loreto and La Paz face a sea Jacques Cousteau called the world's aquarium; whale sharks gather off La Paz from October to April and grey whales calve in the Pacific lagoons of Baja California Sur from January to March. On the mainland the Pacific coast passes Mazatlán, Sayulita, Puerto Vallarta on Banderas Bay, Manzanillo, Zihuatanejo, Acapulco, Puerto Escondido and the nine bays of Huatulco. Highway 200 links nearly all of them.
The Gulf coast and the seasons
Gulf coast beaches are domestic holiday destinations rather than international ones: Playa Miramar at Tampico, the city beaches of Veracruz, Progreso north of Mérida. From October to March the nortes, cold fronts sweeping down the Gulf, bring wind and rough water for days at a time. Both coasts share a rainy season from May to October, and hurricane season runs 1 June to 30 November in the Atlantic and 15 May to 30 November in the eastern Pacific, peaking from August to October — see the climate map. Sargassum, the floating seaweed that has landed on the Caribbean coast every year since 2015, is heaviest from May to July.
Access, turtles and safety
Every beach in Mexico is federal public property. The zona federal marítimo terrestre, a 20 m strip measured inland from the high-tide line, cannot be privately owned, so a resort may control the road but not the sand. Six of the world's seven sea turtle species nest on Mexican beaches; the olive ridley arribadas at Playa Escobilla and La Escobilla in Oaxaca bring tens of thousands of females ashore in a single night between July and December, and hawksbills nest along the Campeche and Quintana Roo coasts from May to October. Pacific beaches with open ocean swell — Zicatela at Puerto Escondido, Playa Revolcadero at Acapulco — have strong rip currents and are not swimming beaches; the flag system is used but not on every beach.
Questions about Mexico's beaches
Which coast of Mexico has the best beaches?
The Caribbean coast of Quintana Roo has the clearest water and the whitest sand, backed by the Mesoamerican Reef. The Pacific has bigger surf, warmer winters in the south and dramatic headlands; the Gulf has the shallowest, warmest and murkiest water. Choose by season rather than by coast.
When is sargassum worst in the Riviera Maya?
Roughly April to August, with the heaviest arrivals usually in May, June and July. It affects east-facing Caribbean beaches from Cancún to Tulum; north-facing beaches, Isla Mujeres and the west side of Cozumel are usually clearer.
What is the best time to visit Mexican beaches?
December to April is dry and calm on both coasts and is the peak season. May to October is the rainy season and overlaps the hurricane season, which runs 1 June to 30 November in the Atlantic and Caribbean and 15 May to 30 November in the eastern Pacific.
Where is the water warmest?
The Caribbean stays between about 26°C and 29°C all year. The Gulf of Mexico is similar in summer but drops to about 22°C in January. The Pacific at Cabo San Lucas falls to about 20°C in late winter, while Huatulco in the far south stays near 28°C.