Water taxi to Las Ánimas and Quimixto beaches

Pangas wait at the little pier in Boca de Tomatlán to run people down the roadless coast. Las Ánimas is about 15 minutes away: a long, gentle beach lined with palapa restaurants that lend loungers if you buy food, with parasailing and banana rides, and a small adventure park with ziplines just behind the sand. Quimixto, a fishing village about 20 minutes by boat, is quieter. From its beach you walk a little over a mile up the La Puerta River, or ride a horse, to a waterfall with the Los Cocos restaurant at its foot.

Compared with the all-inclusive beach tours, you pay only for the ride and choose your own lunch. Boats to the same beaches also leave from Los Muertos Pier in town, which is a longer ride.