This is a gorgeous and gigantic beach. “Big Beach” is aptly named in that everything about it dwarfs you. Tall cliffs surround the area and its band of golden sand is wide, backed by a thick coconut grove that continues for miles. If you walk east, you’ll keep finding more hidden spots where you can get more privacy than on the main stretch. Even the water seems bigger here—it is definitely stronger. The wind whips into this area and creates a robust surf with a strong undertow. It’s not the beach for children or people who aren’t strong swimmers.

There are quite a few food stands where you can get lunch and drinks, and various stalls with bathing suits, jewelry, and trinkets. Vendors proffer beach chairs (US$2/day), snorkeling gear, bodyboards (US$5/hour), and surfboards (US$25/day).

The entrance from the main road is clearly marked. It leads down to a parking lot in the trees at Playa Grande. To get there, you have to pass through a gate that’s been put up by hotel developers. If it is closed, it doesn’t mean the beach is closed. The beach is open to the public by law. If the gate is open and you take a guagua or motoconcho, ask the driver to take you all the way down to the parking lot. It is about a 1.5-kilometer walk from the turnoff to the beach.