How much does it cost to enter Balandra Beach in 2026?

MXN 125 per person per day, paid as a digital wristband through CONANP. Mexican nationals, foreign residents, students and teachers with ID pay 50 percent. Children under 12, seniors with INAPAM, people with disabilities and La Paz residents with ID enter free. The wristband is valid for one shift on one day only.

How many people are allowed at Balandra per day?

450 people per shift, two shifts per day, so 900 people maximum. Shift one runs 08:00 to 12:00 and shift two runs 13:00 to 17:00. Once a shift sells out, no more wristbands are issued for it.

Can a yacht anchor inside Balandra Bay?

Only vessels up to 12 metres, and only in the subzones the management program allows. Anything larger anchors just outside the protected polygon and brings guests ashore by tender. Every guest who lands on the beach still needs a wristband for that shift.

How far is Balandra from La Paz by boat?

About 8 to 9 nautical miles from Marina CostaBaja and about 10 from Marina Palmira, so roughly 30 to 50 minutes depending on the yacht. By road it is about 25 minutes from downtown La Paz.

What is the best time of year to visit Balandra?

November through May is the most comfortable window, with water around 20 to 24 C and calmer air. June through September the water climbs to 25 to 31 C, which is warmer for swimming but hot on the sand and inside hurricane season, which runs 15 May to 30 November in the eastern Pacific.

Explore the Beauty of Balandra Beach: A Paradise in Baja

The 2026 rules, in plain language.

Balandra is a federal protected area, not a public beach with a parking lot. Access is metered. These are the numbers that actually govern your visit.

450 per shift

Two shifts a day, 900 people total. Shift one 08:00–12:00, shift two 13:00–17:00. When a shift fills, it closes.

MXN 125 wristband

Per person, per day, bought online from CONANP and shown as a QR code. 50% off for Mexicans, residents, students and teachers. Free under 12, INAPAM seniors, people with disabilities and La Paz residents.

12 m anchoring limit

The management program only allows vessels up to 12 metres to anchor inside the bay's designated subzones. Larger yachts anchor outside and tender guests in.

Leave nothing

Carry out all trash. No glass, no speakers, no vendors, no rental chairs. Stay on marked trails, keep off the dune, and never climb El Hongo.

Reef-safe sunscreen

Strongly recommended everywhere in the bay. It is a hard legal requirement on whale shark swims under NOM-171-SEMARNAT-2018, and our crews apply the same standard here.

2,512 hectares

Declared an Area of Protection of Flora and Fauna on 30 November 2012, with 15 management subzones. The wetland has been a Ramsar site since 2008.

What that means for a charter. Only our RIO 36' sits under the 12 m limit. The Sea Ray 51', the Lagoon 42' and the Bravo 82' anchor outside the protected polygon in clear water, and the crew tenders you to the sand. Every guest who steps onto the beach still needs their own wristband for that shift — we tell you this before you book, not at the dock.

The mushroom rock fell down in 1989.

Balandra's most photographed object spent nearly three years lying on its side. Members of a visiting band pushed it over in 1989 and it stayed down until a New York Times story about the fallen rock reached an American businessman, Bob Gain, who paid for the repair.

Between July 1993 and January 1994 the engineer Luis Manuel Reyes and three labourers lifted the 13 ton stone back into place with recycled beams from the municipal slaughterhouse rigged as a gantry, cables and pulleys. They set it on a carbon steel base, then faced the joint in cement and local stone so the silhouette matched the original. The whole job cost about 54,000 pesos.

So it is the original rock, standing on a hidden steel spine. That is exactly why climbing it, sitting on it or leaning against it is prohibited. Photograph it from the sand.

How the day actually runs.

Balandra alone is a 90 minute stop. We build the day around it so you get the bay and the island, not one crowded beach.