How could we only choose 7! We understand this is a pretty big call, and we couldn’t name them all, but after traveling extensively throughout Latin America we think we’ve narrowed down a pretty decent list. If you’re a beach lover you’re going to love our list of the 7 best beaches of Latin America.
1. The Corn Islands, Nicaragua
How could we go past this place as number 1? Apart from being incredibly untouched and underdeveloped, the islands have sensational stretches of white sand surrounded by nothing but turquoise waters and blue skies. Both Big Corn and Little Corn boast impressive beaches, but it was the added isolation of Little Corn Island that really topped it of for us.
2. El Esteron, El Salvador
It’s quiet, it’s beautiful and you can have it all to yourself when you make your way towards Playa El Esteron. We stayed at La Tortuga Verde, where we would literally step out of our room and straight onto the beach. Walk along miles of desolate beach and wonder how it gets better than this.
3. Ancon, Cuba
Nestled just outside the colonial city of Trinidad, this beach offers another picture perfect description of the Caribbean; glistening white sand, warm waters and a baking sun. Hire a bicycle from Trinidad and ride the 10km (6 mile) road through the lush green countryside and onto the beach. Don’t forget to pack some rum!
4. La Punta, Mexico
This quiet beach town is a perfect escape from the noisy and touristy Puerto Escondido. Apart from having some great waves for surfing, it’s got a chilled out beach vibe that doesn’t get too crowded. Take a walk around the point and discover some empty beaches to have a swim or just sit and admire the sunset.
5. Palomino, Colombia
Take a beautiful Northern Colombia beach town on the Caribbean, add a mile long stretch of white sand, add a couple of hammocks strung between coconut trees and now subtract your worries and the rest of the world. That’s what you get at this roadside town that offers some of the best beach relaxing in all of Colombia.
6. Playa Lopez Mendez, Brazil
Lopes Mendez is a cruisey 30 minute boat ride from the main village, but if you really want to earn your relaxing dip in the ocean you can opt for a 3 hour hike through the jungle. This beach is absolutely huge, so even in the high season you can look forward to carving out some space for yourself.
7. San Andreas, Colombia
It’s not the easiest place to get to, but catching a flight out to the island of San Andreas is well worth the effort for the remote beaches and easy living lifestyle. In true Caribbean fashion expect plenty of fresh seafood and lots of Bob Marley. Be sure to check out Rocky Cay, with it’s abandoned ship that you can swim out to and explore.
Glad to see Mexico being included in the list! 😀
Of course! We had a couple of beautiful beach options down the Pacific coast we were considering, but after spending one month in La Punta we couldn’t go past it.
I like how serene and tranquil the Corn Islands in Nicaragua look. That’s the kind of place I like to visit.
Easily our top choice, Little Corn especially! We couldn’t recommend it enough 🙂
They all look fantastic (and so quiet compared to some beaches in SE Asia)!
That was part of our criteria… isolation 🙂 It’s a whole different feeling having these types of beaches to yourself.
Great post! Will spend the day dreaming about those beaches now!
Great post! I´ve been to some of those beaches myself, would add a few more to the list too…but yeah, you can never see everything! Thank you for sharing
Wow, great list. If I could only visit one from this list I would have a hard time picking. I was curious if you did the 3 hour hike through the jungle to Playa Lopez Mendez, that sounds great to me.
Being back in Melbourne, working and studying makes us feel the same way. Forget 7, we’d be happy with 1 haha. Christine has a great story about hiking through the jungle, being lost, almost getting robbed, surviving and then finally making it. It certainly made the beach even more appealing when she made it!
They all look gorgeous! I heard San Andres was super touristy which was the reason we didn’t end up booking our trip there and went to San Blas Islands in Panama instead which was amazing. Beautiful photos! I hope to visit all of them one day!
San Andres did have a bit of tourism, but mostly in specific areas. Overall it wasn’t that hard to find a quiet spot to ourselves. We’d heard the same things about the San Blas, which just goes to show that your experience is what you make of it. If you go visit, let us now, we’ll come join you 🙂
Hi guys!
They all look pretty nice!, none from Belize though?, I haven’t been but have had many people tell me the beaches are amazing!
Aaron
Thanks Aaron! None from Belize unfortunately. We spent time in Hopkins, but the beach was full of trash. When we asked the locals why it was so dirty they told us “it doesn’t get cleaned in the low season when no tourists are here”. That was enough to put us off 🙁
haven’t managed to visit any of these awesome places…add it to the list then i guess 🙂
I just love the isolation. Looks like heaven.
It certainly was! Thanks for stopping by.
Ah, you just gotta love the beaches of Latin America.
Absolutely! Our favorite beaches around the world… for now 🙂
As we have traveled around only Brasil from the Latin American countries with great beaches, we have visited only Lopes Mendes Beach in Ilha Grande, it was really awesome! Hope to get to see the others one day! Really tempting photos!:)
Thanks Gabor, they certainly give you something to look forward to next time you’re in Latin America.
These beaches are absolutely amazing! I have visited some beautiful beaches but these are beyond anything I’ve seen so far. Great list and great pictures. I hope to see some of these places in person soon!
Thanks Jessica! They were a lot of fun. It was hard to only choose 7.
All of the countries above have been on my list for a while now. Beautiful pictures. Makes me jealous just looking at them. Hopefully I will be visiting soon.
We hope you’ll visit them soon as well. Make sure you bring your hammock and a good book!
Even though I am not usually much of a beach person, these really are spectacular and look very relaxing indeed. I think my problem with beaches is that my tolerance level is so low that I get bored way to easy and much prefer to be out and about exploring surrounding areas.
But….when you throw pictures like those above 7 locations at me, those are very, very tempting indeed! I think I would have to give in to Heather on this one and sample some of these because they look gorgeous.
Great selection guys!
Not a beach person! Haha that’s ok, more secluded beaches to us. I know what you mean about getting restless on the beaches. Most days I’d wander off and climb coconut trees and come back with a litre of fresh coconut water to enjoy. Or we’d start a small beach fire at night to cook dinner. It’s a tough life we live!
I’m really keen to get to the Corn Islands now! What kind of room do you get for $10? Close to the beach etc?
On Little Corn Island everything is close to the beach haha. The island is tiny. With that particular room it’s about a 10min walk to the beach, but it’s worth staying away from the main beaches because it keeps them more isolated. There are places that you can stay right on the sand, but they have a few extra tourists floating around.
Great choices, that one in El Salvador looks amazing!
Cheers Pablo, the El Salvador beaches were incredible. We had another one to put up, but we thought we’d save that just for ourselves haha.
It doesn’t get much better than white sands and warm ocean. Add a nice cocktail into the mix and I’m there! Such beautiful beaches and lots of places I haven’t been to yet. Great photos and great inspiration
Thanks Kate, it really doesn’t get much better! We forgot to mention a cocktail… or two haha.
I love looking at pictures of beaches and I would like to go to every single one you mentioned (first of all to the Corn Islands in Nicaragua). 🙂
I wrote about the 10 Best Places In The Caribbean and it is really hard to decide which places are the best…
It’s a tough choice, but The Corns Islands are definitely the pick of the bunch if you get the chance. At the end of the day a lot of the choice also comes down to your personal experience in each place.
These photos don’t make me at all jealous….
😉
Just followed you on Twitter so I can read more about your adventures! Hope to see you there sometime!
Don’t worry, they make us jealous when we look back over them as well 🙂 Thanks for connecting on Twitter.
El Salvador looks like a place for me to take my well deserved break from all those crazy travels!
You should definitely check it out! El Salvador is so chill and beautiful. Let us know if you have any questions!