Mexico / Baja California Sur
Playa Balandra
Playa Balandra is a 455 m-long sandy beach facing west, 19.9 km north of La Paz (Baja California Sur, Mexico). The sea averages 29.1 °C in September, its warmest month, and 20.6 °C in February; it is 21 °C or warmer in March–January.
Average sea surface temperature by month. Current month outlined.
Reference
Playa Balandra is a beach located on the Baja California Sur peninsula of Mexico in La Paz. It is located on the Eastern side of the peninsula, but faces west, as the southern tip comes up.
Wikidata item Q7203137.
Month by month
October at Playa Balandra
Beach-day index 9.6/10 · Mexico median 8.4
| Measure | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sea °C | 21.0 °C | 20.6 °C | 21.0 °C | 21.9 °C | 23.4 °C | 24.6 °C | 27.0 °C | 28.8 °C | 29.1 °C | 28.7 °C | 26.4 °C | 23.3 °C |
| High °C | 21° | 21° | 22° | 24° | 27° | 30° | 31° | 31° | 31° | 29° | 26° | 22° |
| Low °C | 19° | 18° | 19° | 20° | 22° | 25° | 27° | 29° | 28° | 27° | 24° | 20° |
| Rain mm | 9 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 24 | 53 | 112 | 26 | 17 | 13 |
| Cloud % | 42 | 38 | 32 | 34 | 21 | 18 | 40 | 43 | 36 | 24 | 31 | 41 |
| Wind m/s | 4.4 | 4.2 | 3.9 | 3.7 | 3.5 | 3.4 | 3.3 | 3.2 | 3.4 | 3.5 | 4.0 | 4.6 |
| Daylight h | 10.8 | 11.3 | 12.0 | 12.7 | 13.3 | 13.6 | 13.5 | 13.0 | 12.3 | 11.6 | 11.0 | 10.6 |
| Record high/low | 24°/15° | 27°/11° | 29°/15° | 31°/17° | 32°/18° | 34°/19° | 35°/23° | 35°/25° | 33°/24° | 33°/22° | 31°/19° | 26°/16° |
| Beach index | 7.0 | 7.0 | 7.9 | 9.1 | 9.8 | 9.8 | 9.4 | 9.1 | 8.7 | 9.6 | 9.6 | 8.2 |
Long-term monthly averages: air from NASA POWER (2001–2020), sea from NOAA OISST (1991–2020); records are the extremes of 2001–2020. How the index works.
When to go
The beach-day index peaks in May–July and October–November; May scores 9.8/10 with highs of 27 °C, sea at 23.4 °C and 0 mm of rain.
In May that is 1.1 points above the median of the 345 beaches in Mexico covered by this atlas.
At its warmest the water here is 0.6 °C cooler than the Mexico median for September (29.7 °C).
Across the year the sea averages 24.7 °C, warmer than 76% of the coastal beaches in the atlas.
September is the wettest month (112 mm) and April the driest (0 mm); the yearly total is about 270 mm.
Daylight runs from 10.6 hours in December to 13.6 hours in June; in mid-May the sun rises at 05:38 and sets at 18:56 local time.
Orientation, sun and shore
The shore faces west (269°). Open water fills about 19% of the horizon close by, which makes it a sheltered cove or bay.
The sun sets over the sea in January–November; in mid-June it goes down at 19:10 local time on a bearing of 296°.
Straight out to the west the next coast is roughly 30 km away, so waves are mostly wind-driven sea rather than ocean swell.
The sea floor is still within the shallow coastal margin 1 km out; 3 km offshore the depth is about 50 m. Behind the beach the ground is about 0 m above sea level 500 m inland and 72 m at 1.5 km.
Within 1 km, the land is 53% bare ground, sand or rock, 33% shrubland and 14% mangroves (satellite land-cover map, 2021): open dunes, sand or rock. Water makes up 43% of that circle.
- Bare 53%
- Shrub 33%
- Mangrove 14%
Land cover: ESA WorldCover 2021 (10 m). Orientation from OpenStreetMap land polygons sampled in 36 directions; depths and heights from the GEBCO 2020 grid (about 450 m cells), indicative only.
OpenStreetMap shows no lifeguard station within 1 km. Seasonal lifeguard posts are often unmapped, so check on site.
Photos
From above
Facilities within 1 km
- –Restaurants, cafés & bars
- 1Public toilets
- –Showers
- 1Car parks
- –Lifeguard stations
- 2Viewpoints
Counted within 1 km of the beach (bus stops 1.5 km) from OpenStreetMap features and Overture Maps places, release of 2026-10. Unmapped does not mean absent.
Nearest services
The nearest place to eat or drink is 1.9 km north-east (Club De Playa El Tecolote), the nearest grocery shop is 15.4 km south (PalMarket), the nearest fuel station is 11.3 km south (Pemex) and the nearest pharmacy or clinic is 17.6 km south (Farmacias Similares).
| Service | Nearest mapped | Distance | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Food and drink | Club De Playa El Tecolote | 1.9 km | north-east |
| Groceries | PalMarket | 15.4 km | south |
| Accommodation | Rancho San Lorenzo | 3.3 km | east |
| Pharmacy or clinic | Farmacias Similares | 17.6 km | south |
| Fuel station | Pemex | 11.3 km | south |
| Car park | Bahia Balandra | 300 m | north-west |
| Public toilets | — | 200 m | north-west |
| Bus stop | — | 1.9 km | north |
Straight-line distance to the nearest feature within 20 km, from OpenStreetMap and Overture Maps places. A category is missing when nothing is mapped within 20 km.
Around the beach
Nature
- Cerro el Diablo peak 1.1 km SW
- Cerro el Tecolote peak 1.3 km NE
Getting there
| Airport | Code | Distance | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manuel Márquez de León International Airport La Paz | LAP | 27.9 km | south |
| Los Cabos International Airport San José del Cabo | SJD | 144 km | south-east |
| Cabo San Lucas International Airport Cabo San Lucas | CSW | 158 km | south |
Straight-line distances from the beach; road distance is usually 20–40% longer.
Local transport: 1 mapped car park within 1 km.
No town of 1,000+ people lies within 10 km; within 30 km there are 3 (about 257K).
When people look it up
The EN Wikipedia article was read 5,609 times in the 12 months to August 2026. Interest peaks in January (632 views), 1.7× the quietest month.
Map and nearby beaches
Loading map…
Open in OpenStreetMap · Directions in Google Maps
- Playa El Tecolote1.9 km NECompare
Data on this page
- Air temperature, rain, cloud, wind, humidity: NASA POWER climatology 2001–2020, 0.5° grid.
- Sea temperature: NOAA OISST v2.1 monthly normals 1991–2020, nearest ocean cell 7.9 km away.
- Beach outline, surface, rules and public facilities: OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), feature w154141788; restaurants, cafés, bars and lodging: Overture Maps places (CDLA-Permissive-2.0).
- Water body, status and length: Wikidata (CC0).
- Towns and time zone: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Airports: OurAirports (public domain). Sunrise and sunset: NOAA solar equations.
- Photos: Wikimedia Commons, author and licence under each image.
- Satellite view: Copernicus Sentinel-2 (ESA), scene S2C_12QWM_20260224_0_L2A.
- Orientation: OpenStreetMap land polygons (ODbL). Depth and terrain: GEBCO 2020 grid.
- Settlements: GeoNames places with 1,000+ inhabitants.
- Nearest services: OpenStreetMap and Overture Maps places within 20 km.
- Land cover: ESA WorldCover 2021, 10 m (CC BY 4.0).
- Search popularity: about 49.5K Google searches a month for the name (KeywordTool, October 2026).
Data compiled 2026-10-13. Something wrong? Report a data error.