19 Best Beaches Close to Guadalajara, Mexico 2023

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Looking for the best beaches near Guadalajara?

Yeah, me too! I’ve been searching for the best Guadalajara beaches for 15 years and I am still just as stoked today as I was as a kid to find a new beach. Especially because the beaches around here are so cool.

Guadalajara is the second-largest metropolitan region in Mexico. There is an excellent quality of life, important contributions to the national identity, and a developed economy but there are no beaches for over 200 kilometers. The coastal areas closest to Guadalajara are marvelous but you need to log some kilometers on the highway before you can touch put your feet in the sand.

Mexico is famous for great surf spots but you have to put some work in to get to the beach from Guadalajara.

Guadalajara Beaches Overview

The capital of the State of Jalisco has an interesting geographical relationship with the coast. The closest beaches to the capital are not in the State of Jalisco but in the neighboring states of Nayarit and Colima.

As the crow flies, Puerto Vallarta is relatively close to Guadalajara but the old highway is a backcountry road that curves through the mountains and is not meant to be traveled at a high rate of speed.

There are actually five different states with beaches that are close to Guadalajara. These are my favorites.

Table of Contents: The Best Beaches Near Guadalajara

• The Beaches of Nayarit
• The beaches of Jalisco
• The Beaches of Colima
• The Beaches of Michoacan
• The Beaches of Sinaloa

The Beaches of Nayarit

The State of Nayarit, or more aptly, the coastal region referred to as the Riviera Nayarit is very hot right now. With another wave of seaweed landing on the beaches of Cancun and the Riviera Maya, Nayarit is well poised to capture some of the excess demand for spectacular Mexican beaches and tourist infrastructure.

When you look at the map of Western Mexico, you will notice that Nayarit starts just north of the Puerto Vallarta International Airport. From the Puerto Vallarta Airport or even the Guadalajara Airport for that matter, you can drive across the state in just a few hours. It is incredibly easy to access a lot of very unique beach towns, quickly.

This is where I spend most of my beach days. I love the area. Some of these destinations are super luxury while others are rustic. There is a Mexican beach experience for all tastes and budgets.

• Las Islitas de San Blas
• Chacala & Caleta
• Rincon de Guayabitos
• San Pancho (San Francisco)
• Sayulita
• Punta Mita

1) Las Islitas de San Blas and Stoner’s Point

San Blas has become my new favorite surf spot. The drive in from Guadalajara is really easy. It is all freeway without those mountainous curves that you have to go through to get to Puerto Vallarta. I can usually make it in two and a half hours depending on what the traffic is like getting in and out of Guadalajara.

Stoners Point needs a serious swell to wake up. If the open ocean buoy is less than 4ft it is going to be a lake. When you see a serious southwest swell you should cancel your plans a post up in San Blas for a few days. The wave runs down, has a ton of sections, and quarter-mile-long rides are common. The wave starts off mellow with an easy drop and quickly stands up and races down the line.

There is some really exceptional seafood in San Blas. Chef Betty, the owner of the Hotel Garza Canela is a celebrity chef that was on TV Azteca for years.

It changes from year to year but San Blas has a reputation for aggressive bugs. The last few times I have been there the mosquitos haven’t been too bad. However, I remember a few years back when they were bad.

2) Chacala and Playa La Caleta

Besides being one of the closest beaches to Guadalajara, Chacala is also one of the most beautiful. Most people heading to the Riviera Nayarit from Guadalajara will exit the 15D freeway at Jala and take the new freeway to Compostela. The new freeway ends at Compostela but the next section of the freeway should be done any time now and it will drop you off just minutes away from Chacala. When that section of the freeway is completed, Chacala will be the closest beach to Guadalajara. I estimate the trip will take less than 2.5 hours.

The town of Chacala sits in a small bay and the main beach is lined with simple restaurants. On the north side of town is an exclusive beachfront residence called Chacalilla. The beach houses in Chacalilla rent for thousands of dollars per night.

There are two particularly spectacular beaches on either side of Chacala: La Caleta and Las Cuevas (AKA Divisadero). La Caleta is a world-famous surf spot with fairly difficult access. This isn’t an armature surf spot because the shallow reef is covered with sea urchins and putting your feet down can ruin your day. Access to La Caleta is an hour-long walk through the jungle, a $700 peso boat ride or a 4 wheel drive adventure. Las Cuevas is a little easier to access with a dirt trail getting pretty close to the beach. There are some sea caves with a beautiful view of the tree-lined shore that helped name the place.

3) Rincon de Guayabitos and La Peñita de Jaltemba

The Jaltemba Bay is made up of La Peñita de Jaltemba on the northside and Rincon de Guayabitos on the south. The Guayabitos side has more hotels while the Peñita de Jaltemba side has more locals and year-round residents.

There is a little island that you can just barely make out in the photo called Coral Island. It is less than a mile offshore with a spectacular beach that it is a fun day trip. Just South of Rincon de Guayabitos is Los Ayala with some more expensive vacation rentals and a great white sand beach.

South of Los Ayala is a trail that leads to Playa del Tora which is one of the most beautiful beaches in the region. It is undeveloped and absolutely pristine. There is a great lookout point from the cliff above the beach.

4) San Pancho (San Francisco)

San Francisco is locally referred to in the diminutive: San Pancho. Sayulita and San Pancho are both surf towns that people refer to as hippy chic. There are lots of wannabe surfers who pass through just to smoke pot. You will probably smell pot in the air from time to time.

The surf in San Pancho is better for a shortboard while the surf in Sayulita is better for a longboard. In San Pancho, the waves break over sand on the south side of the beach. It is not common to have surfable waves on the north end of the beach but it does happen.

There are a lot of restaurants along the main road, Avenida Tercer Mundo (Third World Avenue). The restaurants closer to the beach tend to be pricier than the restaurants farther away from the beach. The boutique hotels are nice but overpriced for the level of luxury they include. I always feel the atmosphere is just a little bit better than the food. The way the restaurant tables line the street at night with performers passing through is really cool. You can really feel the sense of community because people like to hang out. Time moves a little slower in the pueblos than it does in the city.

5) Sayulita

Quickly growing into one of Mexico’s premier destinations, Sayulita is the surf capital of Nayarit. Just a few decades ago this was a sleepy fishing village 45 minutes north of Puerto Vallarta. Today Sayulita has a minor league baseball team, boutique hotels and international cuisine. You can still find a good taco but you might have to look a little harder to find it.

Sayulita should be your base camp for exploring the Nayarit coast. There is a great bar scene, plenty of surf shops, and a decent wave out front. If you rent a car you can surf out front in the morning, head over to Punta Mita in the afternoon and be back to Sayulita before happy hour starts. Life congregates around the main plaza so grab a chocolate-covered banana and take it all in.

In the state of Nayarit, Sayulita is regarded as the town that grew up quicker than the infrastructure around it.

A couple of years back there was a sewage problem that made most of the town violently ill. The local government finally finished the wastewater treatment plant but at a cost to the town’s reputation.

During the spring there are major shortages of water. The population is absolutely booming but there aren’t any parking spaces left on the weekend. I love Sayulita but the high season isn’t as enjoyable as the low season.

6) Punta Mita

Punta Mita, my in-laws always correct me should be Punta de Mita, is a secluded and very wealthy community on the north shore of the Banderas Bay. It is a little peninsula sticking out into the ocean. The tip of the peninsula is a gated community with a Four Seasons, a St. Regus, and some luxury villas that rent for thousands a night. There are some great beaches if you know where to look 🙂

The Beaches of Jalisco

The Coast of Jalisco is broken into two main sections: The Banderas Bay and the Costa Alegre. Puerto Vallarta is the principal attraction in the Banderas Bay area. The Costa Alegre is a little more rural.

• Puerto Vallarta
• Mismaloya
• Cabo Corrientes
• Barra de Navidad

7) Puerto Vallarta

Puerto Vallarta keeps getting closer to Guadalajara as more sections of the new freeway are completed. As of April 2023, it takes less than four hours to drive from Guadalajara to Puerto Vallarta, and there are still two sections of the freeway that are still under construction. When it is all said and done, I think the entire drive will be less than three hours.

There are a couple of daily non-stop flights from the Guadalajara Airport to the Puerto Vallarta Airport but make sure to avoid the flights with layovers in Mexico City.

I don’t know what I can add to the conversation about Puerto Vallarta except that it is just as relevant today as it was 50 years ago. There is no shortage of wonderful things to do in Puerto Vallarta. There is great dining, nice beaches, and a beautiful downtown. Puerto Vallarta has something for everyone.

The southern part of town is fabulously lush, green, and the epitome of charm. The cobblestone streets and tile rooves preserve an air of rustic coastal life. Puerto Vallarta has grown into a reasonably sized city the life south of the Río Cuale still feels like you are stepping back in time.

There is nothing like strolling the malecón boardwalk in Puerto Vallarta. It is a lovely experience.

8) Mismaloya

Mismaloya is an iconic beach in the southern part of the Bahía de Banderas that is responsible for putting Puerto Vallarta on the map. In 1963, Director John Huston brought Richard Burton and Ava Gardner to a remote fishing village to film an adaptation of Tennessee Williams’ new play.

What really caught the attention of the international media was the fact that Richard Burton had just filmed Cleopatra with Elizabeth Taylor. Burton and Taylor were getting romantic even though they were both married to other people at the time. The biggest stars on the planet were shacked up in a fishing village in the middle of nowhere Mexico, in sin!

The paparazzi published plenty of pictures of idyllic Puerto Vallarta. The town got a lot of free publicity. John Huston loved the place so much he leased a house that was accessible only by boat and would go fishing all over the bay.

Today, Mismaloya is a small suburb of Puerto Vallarta that feels a world away. With the exception of the Barceló Hotel, the area hasn’t changed much. There is still lots of fishing and simple restaurants selling drinks on the sand.

9) Cabo Corrientes

Cabo Corrientes is the southern tip of the Bahía de Banderas and includes a vast swath of land from Boca de Tomatlán to Mayto and back to the highway. Much of the area is virgin. There are few roads that lead out to the beaches. Many of the beaches are only accessible by boat.

Because of the lack of development, this is one of the most beautiful sections of beach in the state of Jalisco.

10) Barra de Navidad y Cuastecomates

Barra de Navidad is a hidden gem along the Costa Alegre in the State of Jalisco. There is a super fun longboard wave right off the jetty.

In the summer the waves can get big but remain unintimidating. There is still a narrow sandbar beach that separates the estuary from open ocean swells. The fishermen keep their boats on the estuary side while the surfers hang out on the ocean side.

The natural harbor used to receive Spanish ships bringing treasures from the Philippines and China.

One of the coolest beaches in this area is Cuastecomates. This is the first beach in Mexico to build infrastructure to accommodate handicapped beach lovers.

The inclusive philosophy has taken off and includes wheelchairs for the sand, ramps that go right out to the water, and a good rural hospital. The beach is tucked into a cove that is protected from the surf which makes for great snorkeling.

The Beaches of Colima

Colima is a small state to the south of Guadalajara famous for its active volcano, coconuts, limes, and sea salt.

The capital of the state is Colima which is located about 45 minutes from the beach but should also be checked out.

Manzanillo is the most important Mexican port on the Pacific Coast. Tourism in Colima is not as international as tourism in Puerto Vallarta tends to be.

Several of the beaches downriver from the volcano have beautiful black sand that forms into sand bars and grooms the massive waves that march in every summer. Be careful during the summertime because much of the coast is open ocean and the surf can be violent.

The surf is much calmer inside the bays in Manzanillo but Pascuales and Cuyutlán are known for huge waves.

• La Culebra, Barra de Navidad Estuary
• La Boquita, Manzanillo
• Santiago Peninsula, Manzanillo
• Las Brisas, Manzanillo
• Cuyutlán
• Boca de Pascuales

11) La Culebra, Laguna de Barra de Navidad

La Culebra probably should be in the Jalisco section but technically this side of the lagoon is Colima even though it is only 150 yards to Barra de Navidad. I love staying at the Grand Isla Navidad Resort and the Colimilla Restaurant in La Culebra is a big part of that.

This is an absolutely classic Mexican beach town with amazing food and beautiful views. The zarandeado whole fish they serve at La Colimilla is one of the best I have tasted and is unique in the use of the plantains. The plantains are savory with the fish and then for dessert, they bring you some lechera sweet and condensed milk to finish the plate.

Taking the water taxis around the estuary from Barra de Navidad to the Grand Isla and La Culebra is a lot of fun. This place has a lot of history and I highly recommend you check it out.

12) Santiago Peninsula, Manzanillo

The Santiago Peninsula is a hidden treasure of Western Mexico. Manzanillo is usually associated with the industrial port and a rundown downtown area. The beaches on the Santiago Peninsula are fairly small but they make up for size with a lot of charm.

The resorts of Las Hadas and Barceló have nice private beaches but the real treasure is the public beach, La Audiencia. The water around La Audiencia is calm and crystal clear. There is lush foliage scaling the cliffs.

The Santiago Peninsula area is one of the best beaches near Guadalajara because of the developed tourist infrastructure and its proximity.

If you haven’t stayed at the Las Hadas Resort you should check it out. We absolutely love that place.

13) La Boquita and Club Santiago

Club Santiago and La Boquita Beach are on the far north side of the Manzanillo area. This beach faces south and a peninsula blocks the open ocean swells from entering the bay.

There are almost no waves which makes a great beach for the kids. Once in a while, a huge swell will make a fun wave in front of the inlet but that wave doesn’t actually make it to shore. The same waves in Pascuales will be 20 feet tall and in la Boquita the waves will be breaking 3-4 ft and playful with nice form.

There is a shipwreck about 150 yards offshore that is a good place to go snorkeling. There are a number of tour boats that post up on the beach during the weekend.

The Club Santiago development is a semi-private area. There is a guard booth but they don’t check people very well. There is a golf course and a lot of vacation rentals. Many Guadalajara families buy something like a timeshare with a small group of friends that give them access to the houses a few weeks a year.

Just know that if you stay at the Hotel Palma Real you have to leave Manzanillo, drive all the way around the estuary, and come back in through the little town of El Naranjo. It is a nice property but it is way farther than everything else in Manzanillo.

14) Boca de Pascuales

After around ten or eleven in the morning, the black sand beach will start to burn your feet. The beach isn’t particularly pretty. It’s mostly an agricultural community with coconut farms as far as the eye can see. The locals are not an inviting group of people either. It is easily one of the most competitive breaks in Mexico and if you make a mistake you will be reprimanded. The wave is dangerous and an error in judgment can cause grave bodily harm. Every surfer in Guadalajara has a horror story about being held down by a big set at Pascuales and most of them never return.

So why is this one of my favorite beaches??!! Well, the surf is amazing. I have gotten the best barrels of my life here, and my worst injuries too. I don’t even surf this place when it gets big and I am still scared of it. But I love it. This is the big leagues where the pros come to shoot videos and get photos published in the magazines. But all it takes is one draining barrel to make you a believer in the virtues of Boca de Pascuales.

15) Cuyutlán

Cuyutlán is a tiny sand bar of a village that separates the Palo Verde Estuary from the Pacific Ocean. The estuary has been producing gourmet sea salt for hundreds of years. There are coconut palms as far as the eye can see and a very local tourism industry. A dozen humble seafood restaurants rent umbrellas and chairs to the tourists who eat seafood and play in the shore break.

After a good morning of surf head over to the Cuyutlán Turtle Sanctuary. You can get up close and personal with two species of turtles common to the region. There is an excellent estuary tour of the Palo Verde Reserve where you will see lots of wildlife. The tour never gets old.

Don’t forget to buy a bag of the Cuyutlán sea salt from the cooperative at the salt museum. Eat some tacos in the plaza and put some salt on the tacos and tell me that isn’t the best salt you have ever tasted.

Check out the full article on Cuyutlán

16) Las Brisas, Manzanillo

The Las Brisas neighborhood is one of the older touristic neighborhoods of Manzanillo with some retro charm. There are a number of good restaurants and a lot of full time residents that call this area home. Las Brisas is a sand bar that separates the industrial port of Manzanillo from the ocean so you will see container ships waiting in the bay.

Chef Nico Mejia has a restaurant called La Sal in his childhood home that is listed as one of the best restaurants in Mexico. It is a really enjoyable place to eat for an affordable price. Pick up a copy of one of the chef’s cookbooks. They are as much a travel guide for Colima as they are a culinary lesson.

The Beaches of Michoacan

Michoacán is one of the most beautiful states in Mexico. Most of the population lives closer to the capital of Morelia than near the coast. The only city of any significance on the coast is Lázaro Cárdenas.

Most people will drive to the Michoacan coast from Guadalajara and will pass through the state of Colima.

• San Juan de Alima
• La Ticla
• La Manzanillera
• La Llorona
• Maruata
• Barra de Nexpa

17) La Ticla

La Ticla is a magical village with a Trestles-like cobblestone river mouth and world-class surf. The food is spectacular. This is where I first tasted a tortilla made with locally grown heirloom corn ground on a metate (prehispanic grinding stone). This is a special place for the surfing community in Guadalajara to spend long weekends camping.

This is rural Mexico so don’t expect any cell phone service or modern hotels. The area had some security issues a while back because the local Indians took up arms and fought off invading drug cartels. The federal government didn’t take kindly to the Indians setting up a checkpoint on the coastal highway and forcefully removed them. Today the region is calm but don’t take chances driving at night.

18) San Juan de Alima

The Beaches of Sinaloa

19) Mazatlán

It is hard to find better food on Mexico’s Pacific Coast than you will find in Mazatlan. The name Mazatlan is synonymous with deer but the local specialty is shrimp. From upscale eateries to down-home street food, there is no shortage of exciting culinary adventures.

The historic core is a treasure of early 20th-century architecture and there are waves right off of the boardwalk. People around here love the beach and spend lots of time on the boardwalk taking in sunsets.

Guadalajara Beaches FAQ

The first thing that everyone always asks is, “Is it safe to drive in Jalisco?”

Yes and no. First and foremost, it depends on each person’s individual driving skill. There are a lot of bad drivers out there. Some people are great in the mountains and horrible in the city. I have known people who drive in Santiago or Mexico City who don’t know how to drive on the freeway. A good deal of accidents are driver error.

You are probably thinking more about being carjacked or kidnapped. As long as you avoid a couple of areas, the possibility is pretty remote. Avoid the backcountry between Tuxpan, Tecalitlán, and the Michoacan border. Highway 80 between Cocula and Autlán is off-limits to US consulate employees. I would also throw in the 205 highway from Yahualica into Zacatecas. Other than that, I think you are pretty good.

How to get to the Beach from Guadalajara?

Rather than taking the old highway, it is much faster to take the toll-road freeway to the beach. The distance if further but the time it takes to get there is shorter. There are two different directions you can leave from. The 15D heads northwest out of town and quickly crosses into the State of Nayarit. The 54D heads due south out of town into the State of Colima

The beaches in this part of Mexico have waves for all ability levels and experiences for all sorts of beach lovers. As the seasons change so do the options. In the summer the south swells in Colima are monstrous. The beach breaks in Colima can be twenty-foot tall while two states over in Nayarit the point breaks are head high but reeling down the line for a quarter-mile. There are luxury hotels, humble enramada kitchens that rent beach chairs and umbrellas. There are also unspoiled beaches that require some effort to access and enjoy. Choosing the right experience for your mood and style is easy with a little research.

What Are The Three Closest Beaches To Guadalajara?

The closest beaches to Guadalajara take two different routes. You can head south to Colima or northwest to Nayarit. If you are heading northwest to Nayarit there are two fast routes to the beach.

The fastest is to head to Tepic, take the macrolibremiento around Tepic, and down the hill to San Blas. The other route exits the 15D about 20 kilometers past the Jalisco/Nayarit state line at the town of Jala. The Jala-Compostela toll road will spit you out right by Chacala.

• Las Islitas de San Blas, Nayarit (250 KM and 2.5-3 hours)
• Boca de Pascuales, Tecomán, Colima (250 KM 2.5-3 hours)
• Playa Chacala, Nayarit (250 KM 3 hours)

Las Islitas de San Blas and Boca de Pascuales are pretty close to the same distance and time to reach the beach. The drive to Las Islitas is a little bit easier because it is a passing lane the entire length of the drive from Guadalajara to the beach. When driving to Colima, there is a short section of the freeway that does not have a passing lane and can sometimes slow down because of the heavy tractor-trailer traffic leaving the port of Manzanillo.

Sometime soon, Chacala will be the closest beach to Guadalajara. Currently, there is a section of windy country road from Compostela to Las Varas. The toll-road freeway is under construction and was supposed to be finished years ago. That leg, from Compostela to Las Varas, is the second section of the new freeway to Puerto Vallarta. The first leg has been done for years and runs from Jala to Compostela. When the next section is complete, Chacala will be the closest beach to Guadalajara by a half hour or so.

What is Guadalajara known for?

Guadalajara is known for tequila, mariachi, and folkloric cowboys called charros. There is a big tech industry with multinational companies and lots of good universities. It is known for the Chivas soccer team which is one of the top soccer teams in the country.

When somebody says, “Torta Ahogada” the first thing that should come to mind is Guadalajara. However, birria is having a moment on the internet and has gone international.

Guadalajara is famous for a few things. You should come check it out.

What is the most famous food in Guadalajara?

The most famous food in Guadalajara is birria. Birria is a braised goat dish served with a bowl of chile and tomato broth. Today people make birria with all sorts of proteins like beef, lamb, and even catfish.

Some of the best birria in Mexico is found in little towns along the road to the beach. I love stopping for birria in the middle of nowhere. It encourages me to take the free road so you can visit the pueblos.

Are there beaches in Guadalajara?

There are no beaches in the Guadalajara Metropolitan Area. There are some hot springs and rivers but that really isn’t the same thing.

Is it safe to swim in Lake Chapala?

It is not safe to swim in Lake Chapala because of heavy pollution. The Lerma River is full of industrial chemicals from factories upriver in Mexico State. I was warned not to eat the catfish in Jamay often because they are full of heavy metals. One of the small villages on the lake has the highest level of infant cancer in Mexico.

Another deterrent to swimming in Lake Chapala is the old trash. The waterline has changed enormously over the decades. When the water was low, barbed wire fences ran out to the waterline. When the lake filled up again later, many of the fences were never removed. There is still a lot of sharp old fencing sitting in the shallows that a swimmer could step on or get tangled up in.

Don’t risk it. Don’t swim in the lake.

Conclusion: Beaches Closest To Guadalajara

Every time that I update this article I get an unsatiable need to visit the beach. I have spent a good deal of time exploring the coast but I realize that I am barely scratching the surface of all the great beaches near Guadalajara.

Next up on my list of beaches close to Guadalajara are the beaches of the Costa Alegre in Jalisco. I also have a few more beaches that I would like to visit in Nayarit. Playa del Toro and Playa Las Cuevas are up next.

Thanks for reading!

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