Playa Buenaventura

Part coarse sand, part rock, this beach is occupied by the Hotel San Buenaventura (Km. 94.5, www.hotelsanbuenaventura.com, US$50–70), with clean rooms and campsites (US$10 to camp or US$3 for bathroom facilities with hot shower). Rooms are set around a small courtyard and have air-conditioning and ceiling fans.

George’s Olé Sports Bar and Grill (no tel., 8 A.M.–10 P.M. daily, mains US$8–12) serves food and drinks; chessboards and a library of paperback books are available. The owners have a couple of palapa huts for rent (US$10) as well as a trailer and house. The restaurant has a pool table and kayaks for rent.

Playa El Requesón

A long sandbar running perpendicular to shore and connecting to a small island makes Playa El Requesón a whimsical place. Shallow coves border both sides of the sandbar. Drive your car out onto the hardened sand and the scene looks like something right out of an SUV commercial. You can camp in a tent or RV for US$6 per vehicle (pit toilets, palapas, no drinking water).

South of this point, the shoreline of Bahía Concepción becomes less appealing to beachgoers due to the presence of rocks and standing water. The southernmost beach on Bahía Concepción that you can reach by car is Playa Armenta, which faces northwest and has a few palapas and pit toilets for US$6. Look for the turnoff between Km. 90 and 91. The beach is about 800 meters down this road, after the ranchito.