Balandra | Short-term Parking

Mexico

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Verified:
4 months ago
Altitude:
42.4 masl
Contributor:
Song of the Road

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Half day use only. We arrived at 6:30am and were the first in line. 20 other cars arrived within about 10min after us. Gates open at 8am for the first “shift”. Dog allowed onleash only due to protected natural vegetation area and they are not allowed to swim in the water. Don’t be like the couple of entitled American assholes who let their golden retriever and brown mutt offleash to poo/pee and trample in the roped off protected area and tossed a ball into the water for their dogs to swim after. (Posted pic of these people and dogs blatantly violating the rules so others can be on the lookout for them). It’s always people like this who can’t follow the rules that will eventually make it so they don’t allow dogs at this beach at all.

Get here early in order to get one of about a dozen palapas or else bring your own shade umbrella. Water is beautiful cerulean blue, clear enough to see fishies. We saw several schools of small fish by the rocks with our snorkels and also a puffer fish (another reason to be careful and not allow dogs in the water as these are poisonous to pups).

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We spent the second shift (1-5pm) of the day here with our family (2 adults, 2 children) and had a magical time. We arrived about 40 minutes early for the second shift, by chance, and found a queue had already formed of about 20 cars, so we joined the line up. Make sure you arrive early, especially if it’s high season. We brought a SUP board and explored the whole bay easily. I loved that it was shallow enough that our kids could easily play and splash around. We likely would have spent the whole day, if we’d have had the opportunity. Beautiful spot to visit!

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This place is permanently closed.

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Pretty place, but day use only when we where here.

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Gorgeoussssss beaches! Amazing for paddle boarding, kayaking, swimming. Tons is sea life, amazing rock formations. Palapas a plenty but it fills up quick. When we were here they did a morning shift and kicked everyone out at noon and then an afternoon shift and kicked everyone out at 5pm I believe. Would definitely come again!

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Wonderful beach/lagoon with beautiful and about two dozen palapas. A limited number of visitors are allowed in at any one time, and you are allowed to stay half a day so that others can enjoy this unique place.

We arrived at the gate an hour before the gate opened at 8, and a line was already forming.

Best to be here at high tide, as the lagoon is quite shallow. We were here on the solstice with a new moon high tide.

Bathrooms available, maintained by volunteers, donations appreciated.

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A must see spot. Beautiful. The little walk up the hill to overlook the bay is beautiful. Closes at 5pm. Has drop toilets. Take your trash with you. No cell reception.

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Free beach and super clean. There’s a limit on how many people they allow per time slot. We showed up at 7:30am and drove right in with no issue. I don’t think the morning slot ever hit the capacity limit. The beach felt very secluded and relaxed. There are also palapas (free). You can walk or paddle-board over to the mushroom rock for a photo op.

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Free beach & very gorgeous. We went in the AM & had no issues. They kicked us out at 11. Cops come by and put sirens on & walk the beach making sure everyone leaves. It’s closed from 11-1. Then they allow you to re-enter from 12-3. We didn’t go back in the afternoon due to the long lines.

Follow for more travel adventures @TheWisconsinites

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280 pesos per vehicle and the line to get in starts at 6am, tried to get in line at 7:30 and turned away at 8:30 since they were full (due to covid they’re only allowing 160 people). Took a boat there the other day and saw everything. It’s nice but not worth the money or hassle, plenty of other beaches just as nice that are free and open all day.

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Gorgeous white sand calm shallow bay. Great for kids to paddle and adults to kayak, doze, get sunburnt. Not much else.
As stated, closed to camping, only day use allowed. Limited numbers, 50 pesos.

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Got here around 1 PM and waited about 10 min to park, as they manage the cars coming in. Stayed overnight with another 2 campers, and nobody said anything. Toilets free and clean until 5PM. Beautiful beach and small hiking…

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Best beach in La Paz. BUT No cell service (which is kinda nice), very sporadic and def NOT full bars of 3G during the THREE trips I’ve taken here summer of 2021. Check @NomadicMotorRad on IG for sexy drone footage 😊

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Está abierto pero con aforo restringido. Ayer pasamos y no había espacio. Nos dijeron que llegáramos a las 5am. Hoy a las 5am llegaron más de 20 vehículos y siguen llegando. Esperar en la entrada porque sino la policía los saca y no los deja ingresar. El ingreso es a las 7am. No está permitido dormir aquí, dormimos en Tecolote a 1km,noche muy tranquila y fría en la madrugada.

It is open but with restricted capacity. Yesterday we passed and there was no space. We were told that we arrived at 5am. Today at 5am more than 20 vehicles arrived and still arriving. Wait at the entrance because if not the police will take you out and let you not enter. The access to the beach is at 7am. Not allowed to sleep here, we slept at Tecolote 1km away, really quiet place at Friday night.

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Closed. They have environmental police at the entrance

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Had a quiet night, by ourselves. Would've preferred if a few other rigs were here. Honestly the best beach I've even seen in all my life, at low tide. You can easily walk all the way across the bay. The beach by the parking lot gets overrun by rude vendors with umbrellas and tables by the parking lot, would recommend going as far from the parking lot as practical. We spent one night here and one night at Playa de Teycote and while Balandra is way nicer during the day especially at low tide, several dozen overlanders camped at Teycote and we were more comfortable there over night.

We can't wait to return to this place. It is truly amazing.

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A little loud until late but Stayed here one night so that we could wake up and enjoy it to OURSELVES! You should too!!! So beautiful. Make sure to hike over the mountain to the right of parking lot... even rented kayaks!

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Basically you can just stay in the parking lot. We stayed 3 nights, got a spot in the furthest corner and could even set up our side awning (we made sure to not take other spots but we also have a VW Vanagon so not a big rig). Saturday was really busy during the day, Sunday was better. A couple of cars with people talking/music came over late evening but nothing too loud. We were waken up by some dogs barking 2 nights out of 3, they went on for a while in the middle of the night. The first night was fine for mosquitos and sand flies, but they literally ate us the following 2 days (no matter day or night). We could barely go outside the van without being biten.

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So. Many. Bugs. Take this warning seriously! The beach is beautiful during the day but we would not camp here again. We were parked in the lot and ravaged by all sorts of noseeums, including the tiniest little fleas that get everywhere. There’s a crew of dogs that bark in the night, and locals yelling in the wee hours. Would recommend Tecolote instead, fewer pests and less crowded.

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Spent a beautiful day here after coming in on the ferry. Palapas are available and there is beautiful swimming. Hongo is around the corner, you can walk along the coast in the water to get there. We heard stories about sandflies and the parking lot was packed, so we moved down to Tecolote for the night. Definitely check out this beach if you’re in the area.

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What a beautiful beach. Stayed couple of days, first night was nice and quiet; however, the second night was windy.....I mean very, very windy. No much sleep. Despite this, the beach is absolutely beautiful

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Great beach, not too many people after 6pm on week days, love it.

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This is our second time here in a week. Arrived at night and a there were a few cars left from the day at the beach. No issues staying here last night it was very quiet. In the morning, also very quiet.

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Beautiful beach and a great place to stay for the night. Arrived in mid afternoon and the place was packed with cars and two big busses. Parked by the side of the road and enjoyed the day on the beach, in the water and on a nearby mountain for an amazing view of the area. By 6:00pm most visitors were gone, so we were able to park for the night with a great view. One other RV arrived after 6:00pm to spend the night.

Very quiet st night with no issues except for the small sand fleas that cane out after sunset. Had to close door, windows and roof vent as they were coming in pretty bad.

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Heads up. We had our truck broken into while at the beach for the afternoon. Thinking there was someone posted on the hilltop as a lookout. The parking lot was super crowded so they weren’t too worried about witnesses. Cuidado.

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As described. Beautiful place to spend couple hours. For sleeping I would recommend Tecolote few km away where you can camp away from crowds.

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Beautiful beach. Kayaks are now 300MP/hour and the SUPs 250MP/hour. It gets crowded even during week days. No facilities. Good Telcel signal.

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comme tous les commentaires plage sans eau à marée basse et une eau limpide et cristalline à marée haute peu profonde. aucun service pas d eau ni toilette. occupe le jour mais tranquille la nuit les jours de semaine.

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Really nice low tire
A lot of tourist during the morning
Dangers of stepping on stingrays!
You can almost walk to the other side

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Impossible to stay here with the no see ums! If there is no wind: run away! They'll swarm the whole place, we are still feeling the bites almost a week later...
Other than that, nice beach but VERY crowded before sunset - almost no parking spots when we got there...

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Beautiful beach and a bay with free small palapas. Kayak rentals available $200 pesos or more for an hour. The water is crystal clear and can even see fish swimming by underneath. Great hike leading up to a hill top overlooking the area. Stayed here one night but the no-see-ums at night were really bad, still red bite marks visible a week later. No facilities or bathrooms but there was a dumpster for trash.

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Pretty much like everyone said...you can just park in the lot (big enough for larger vehicles) or throw your tent up on the beach, with plenty of palapas to choose from. I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s the quietest, nor would I really call it “wild” camping, since it’s a facility and there will likely be others there. Three local jovenes rolled up at 3am, car thumping, and hung out in the parking lot having a good time for a little over an hour, but nothing earplugs couldn’t fix. Apparently the place gets very busy around 11a, but I was out of there by then. People started rolling in to party a bit after 7a.

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Beautiful and feeling secure. We're 6-7 campers to celebrate Christmas.

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Just as described, perfect to wait the ferry! Beautiful beach with nice little hike to do at the sunset. A lot of people during the day, but only campers at night. We were 8 rv/vans the night we were there, thanks iOverlander, feels safer!

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I agree with most of what everyone else said here. I was there last night for sunset. I learned of this app from a camper there - thanks John. There were at least for couples camping there last night. Incredible sunsets, no restaurants ad another had mentioned. There are restaurants 5 minutes away at Tecolote. Locals say to drag your feet to avoid being stung by rays. Was rather packed with locals when I was there lady wknd.

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lovely beach with 15 or so free palapas. we arrived just before midday (midweek) and still a few to choose from. no shade otherwise. very shallow sea, especially at low tide.

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one of the best beaches in Baja, absolutely stunning turqouise coloured water. we camped for free in the parking lot but out of respect for beach goers we moved out of the way during the day and then moved back to prime position in the evenings. theres a little hike up to the top of the hill thats worth doing to view all of the bay.

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Beautiful beach! Sand flies not too bad.

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Massive attack of no see ums after sunset. Deet and screens didn't stop them. Ruined an otherwise beautiful place. Maybe they're seasonal since other people don't mention them. During the day, beautiful bay with crystal clear water that's never deeper than your knees. Lots of day trippers but pleasant, friendly atmosphere. One jellyfish bite, the sting isn't too bad. Would have loved to stay longer but impossible with the bugs. Captaine Ricardo stands guard at night.

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good spot to wait for the ferry
great beach, crowed during the day but quiet at night
can get very windy!

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Great spot on the beach. Cell reception (3g / telcel).

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Amazing beach, very shallow, warm, turquoise water.. Some palapas, lots of local families during the day. Very friendly atmosphere. Beautiful sunset and swimming. When we were there, one other camper showed up. Very nice, just no toilets and a smelly trash can.

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Beautiful inlet with shallow, clear water. No facilities but it's free and close to the ferry. No-seeum bugs are BAD here. We got eaten alive. Bring bug spray!

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Stayed there before taking the ferry. Beautiful beach. The night we stayed there it got really windy. We were told that the nights before it was not like that.

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Nice Spot, palapas for free, umbrellas for Rent or other beach Equipment. No toilet. Nice breeze! No one there...very quiet.

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Funny and welcoming locals. The beach is beautiful and provides a great sunset point. Good for picking shells and a light swim. The restaurants are mostly empty, but you can order food at the bar. Be sure to ask for the fresh fish of the day. It was the perfect spot before we left on the ferry. How can you go wrong with free?

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It was Saturday night so a bunch of people were there but it quieted down pretty early. Nice man on the beach rents paddle boards and kayaks.

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A free beach spot; we just stayed in the parking lot. No facilities but the beach is amazing. ~USD Free

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PROS: One of the most beautiful beaches we camped on, no one there except for us and our overlanding friends – CONS: Sandflies. You’ve been warned. One of our friends was stung by a stingray and we know of one other person who got the stingray treatment so be careful!- Free!

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