Playa Cerritos

Playa Cerritos lies about 10 kilometres south of Todos Santos on the Pacific coast of Baja California Sur, roughly an hour from Cabo San Lucas on Highway 19. It is a wide crescent of soft, pale golden sand close to a kilometre long, anchored at its northern end by a rocky point and running south into open dunes. The Pacific water is cooler and less transparent than the Sea of Cortez beaches on the other side of the peninsula, a deep blue-green rather than turquoise, and the beach is fully exposed, so there is almost always surf. What sets Cerritos apart is that the point break shelters the middle and southern sections enough to produce a rare combination on this coast: rideable, forgiving waves at the north end and water calm enough for wading and swimming through much of the central beach.

That balance has made it the busiest beach between Todos Santos and Cabo. Surf schools operate from the sand at the north end, where group lessons generally run from about USD 50 to 70 including board and rash guard, and board rental is roughly USD 20 a day. The Cerritos Beach Club sits behind the sand with a restaurant and bar serving fish tacos, ceviche and cold beer, with loungers and umbrellas usually available to customers, and a scattering of hotels, taco stands and small bars has grown up along the access road. Restrooms and rinse showers are attached to the beach club and hotels, parking is on packed dirt behind the sand, and lifeguard cover is not reliable.

The crowd is a mix of learner surfers, Todos Santos residents, expatriates and families, and the tone is relaxed rather than a party scene, though the beach bars fill loudly at sunset in high season. Rip currents form along the beach, particularly near the point and on a big swell, so bathers should stay in the shallows in the middle section and treat the northern end as surf territory.