Details on the Beaches

Here are some casual comments on the beaches that I review above, and some useful tips.

  

Alona Beach Bohol - Panglao, Philippines

It's tough to be a beach in the Philippines.  There are simply too many spectacular beaches in the Philippines, and Alona beach would be outstanding if you put it anywhere else - Indonesia, Hawaii or even Caribbean.  Too bad it's in the Philippines and thanks to the mismanagement of area, Alona Beach looks pretty crappy overall.  The sand and water are pretty good and there are some decent hotels, but the lousy roads leading to it and the low-end mess on the tourist strip really destroyed it.  Food is lousy unless you dare trying the fresh-out-of-the-sea sea urchins (which I obvious did try!)  BTW, in the rainy season lots and lots of garbage and seaweed are washed on shore too, not very appealing for sunbathers. 

Nevertheless, if you visit the Philippines, Bohol is a MUST-DO because you get a lot more than beaches in this tiny island filled with nature scenary, animals and culture, OH YES and nice beaches too. :)

  

Bahia Chileno, Los Cabos, Mexico 

Call me crazy, I didn't see Medano Beach in Los Cabos.  It's just one of those things - I rather go to a real beach than one that looks like a meat market.  This place is nice and quiet, away from the Cabos hustle and bustle, yet it's actually very close to the nice resorts.  It has no facilities so bring your own toilet paper, and be sure to grab snorkeling gears before you go!  BTW the 3 stars for food is nowhere around this beach - it's given for the local joints (like this one) with seafood and fish tacos, and a very decent selection of international cuisines near the pier.

  

Camayan Beach, Subic Bay, Philippines 

Subic is not exactly known for prestine beaches and this one is not an exception; however, if you want to drive to a beach from Manila and you like to just play on a beach that is decent and has everything from snorkeling to kayaking to food on the beach, you'll be ok here.  You just need to overlook the terrible facilities and I would never recommend staying there unless for some reason you want to spend a few days in Subic....

  

Cancun, Mexico 

This is the place for EVERYONE - men/women, old/young, urban/rural, sun-worshipper/fashion-shopper.  Food selection is amazing but frankly quality is not that impressive.  Best meal is actually at local joints downtown and countryside haciendas - lots of grilled beef and ceviches, and the prices are great!  Overall an excellent place for vacationing for the rich and poor alike (if you can afford the long flight there) - I just wish they built the hotels a little bit farther from the beach - but I guess you can go to Cozumel if the high-rises really bother you....

  

Carmel, CA, USA

Yes it's for the rich and famous - but also whoever has a car and can find a parking space downtown Carmel.  It is very easy to get to, highly photogenic with its curved beach, white sand and nice waves, has some amazing restaurants right around it (see some of them here), but you will freeze yourself to death if you try the water, and there isn't really a whole lot to do there except sunbathing (and again freeze yourself to death) and play with the sand.     

 

Dumaluan Beach,  Panglao - Bohol, Philippines

This is a truly strange beach.  The sand is fine, biodiversity is impressive, the resorts are nice and exclusive, and it's so anti-development that you'll feel that you are in the wilderness, much unlike Boracay or Cebu; however, the water is soooooo shallow most of the time that you can hard swim there.  There's also lots of rocks that are great for finding sea urchin, sea cucumber and crablets, but not ideal for swimming nor are they picturesque.  My favorite experience is to go sea urchin-hunting with a bunch of old local ladies and watch them eat it with rice.  It's yummy (but I skipped the rice - opted not to use my dirty hands to dig into their rice)!!  If you have small kids, they will have a real blast at this beach. 

 

Jimbaran Bay, Bali Island, Indonesia

This is a great beach that doesn't have pearl white sand, clear water or any fun water sports.  HMMM so why is it so great??  How about a row of luxury resort in a beautiful bay, nice and wide beach with only scattered people, 15-min from the airport and a very cool section packed with overpriced yet hyper romantic restaurants with sunset view?  Sign me up!!  Besides, people don't go to Bali for the sand anyways, but for the all-you-can-have diversity of culture, food, 10+ different types of beaches with all the water sports you can do under the sun...  If you want real white sand, go to the Philippines, Fiji or Tahiti.

  
  

La Jolla, San Diego, California, USA

One of the BEST beach towns in the whole entire country, you get enjoy a great sunset while strolling along the cliff and then enjoy a top-notch Italian or Japanese dinner.  There are also seals for you to look at, but not to touch, and also tidal pools to find sea life (not exactly like tropics but good enough).  Forget about water and beach sports unless you want to freeze yourself to death or wear a wetsuit.  If you are Norwegian or Canadian then the water temperature is just right for you.

   

Manuel Antonio, Quepos, Costa Rica 

This is probably the best all-around beach town in the country - for travelers who worship the sun, can't live without live night, want to pretent to be in one with the nature (and stay in an air-conditioned resort in the meantime) and doesn't mind a trip that seems to have no end to get to a foreigners' paradise complete with skinhead surfers and pot-smoking youngsters.  IMPORTANT - The best beaches and natural trails are INSIDE the Manual Antonio National Park.

  

Plantation Bay Beach, Mactan Island, Cebu, Philippines

Alright, this is NOT EVEN a real beach.  It's a man-made beach in the Plantation Bay resort.  So why did I even include it?  Because both the resort and the beach are very well done.  The resort is great (see my review) and beach actually looks and feel real.  And you can't beat the convenience IF you are staying at the resort.

  

Puntarenas Beach, Puntarenas, Costa Rica 

Honestly I have not been since 1989 and my memory of the beach is simply a BAD one - bad sand, big waves, lots of vendors.  Nevertheless, it's very close to the capital San Jose, it's hot and sunny, and there are lots of hotels and restaurants around.  It's very cool to stroll down the boulevard and enjoy a coconut, then head for a great seafood feast overlooking the ocean.  Compared to other city center beaches, it's not so bad afterall.

  

Playa Blanca, Santa Rosa, Costa Rica 

Go there only if you are tree-hugging, nature-loving environmentalist who's adamently against any type of development.  Oh BTW it's a 8-hour trip IF you can actually find the park and then find the beach AND your SUV (not a car, has to be a SUV) can survive a real 4-wheel experience including crossing a creek.  Once you get there, you would NOT want to leave - it's like what a perfect beach should be before humanbeings existed.  The 2-feet fish swimming around you is a big plus, and there's even a no-name beach packed with fist-size shell nearby.  Well, you may still want to leave when your car starts melting and you long for a cold one (because NONE is available within one hour drive!).

 

White Beach, Boracay, Philippines

Where should I begin....  How do you describe a beach with superb white sand, amazing offshore corels, warm air and cool clear turquoise water, a ton of beach sports to choose from (with no regard for the environment of course), too many conveniently located great restaurants and all of that at affordable prices?  It's called Boracay.  Too good for words - and too hard to get to....  If you survive plane + jetty + boat + jetty ride that often takes 3-4 hours from Manila, you wouldn't want to leave this Mr. Mystcritic's favorite beach town on earth.  I've heard same kind of things about Phuket so I can't wait to get there.... 

BTW, you need to watch out for two things when visiting Boracay: 1) For some strange reason, flights to and back from Caticlan and Kalibo are very often cancelled or seriously delayed.  Be sure to factor it into your plan and make sure the airline has your correct cell phone number.  2) There is a serious seaweed issue; it's a fine type of seaweed that you actually won't feel, but I'm sure you don't want to soak yourself in the green stuff.   Station 1 and 3 have much less seaweed than Station 2, so if it'll really bother you, avoid Station 2.
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