Bahia Concepcion

Bahia Concepcion is a long, narrow bay sheltered behind a mountainous peninsula on the gulf side of Baja California Sur, and highway 1 runs along its western shore at a height that gives one of the great road views in Mexico: a sequence of white-sand coves, each backed by desert hills and filled with water in graded turquoises, one after another for some forty kilometres. The beaches are the destination - Santispac with its palapas and hot spring at the tideline, El Requeson where a sandbar links the shore to an islet at low tide and vanishes when it rises, Playa Coyote, Buenaventura, Armenta - all shallow, calm and warm enough to swim most of the year. The culture is camping: palapa shelters rented by the night for a few dollars, RVs and vans lined along the sand through winter, kayaks paddling out to the bay's islands, and clams dug on the flats. Facilities are minimal to nonexistent, phone signal is patchy, and that is precisely the arrangement everyone here came for.

What you actually see

• The cove sequence - white beaches down the bay from the highway.
• El Requeson - the sandbar to the islet at low tide.
• Santispac - palapas, kayaks and a shoreline hot spring.
• The desert hills - cardon and rock above turquoise water.

When to go

November to April for the camping season and mild water; summer is extremely hot with hurricane risk, and most palapas empty.

Honest expectations

Facilities are basic - bring water, food and shade; a few beaches have simple restaurants. Fees are collected per vehicle per night. Jellyfish and stingrays appear seasonally; shuffle your feet in the shallows.

Nearby

Mulege's oasis town lies north; Loreto and its marine park are ninety minutes south.