Hidden Beach (Playa del Amor), Marietas Islands

A beach inside an island

Hidden Beach, known in Spanish as Playa del Amor and also as Playa Escondida, is a small stretch of sand on one of the Marietas Islands, off Punta de Mita in Banderas Bay. It lies inside Islas Marietas National Park, which Mexico's protected areas commission, CONANP, looks after. There is no road and no path to it: the only way to arrive is from the sea, and that is why a boat day is the usual way people see it.

Getting there by yacht

The islands are about 12 nautical miles in a straight line from Marina Riviera Nayarit at La Cruz, about 16.5 from Marina Nuevo Vallarta, about 18.8 from Marina Vallarta and about 19 from Opequimar. At an assumed cruising speed of 20 knots, that is roughly 36, 50, 56 and 57 minutes each way. A sailing yacht, or a choppy afternoon, adds time. Your boat waits offshore, and the last part of the approach is made in the water, wearing a life jacket.

Days, hours and numbers

The park sets the calendar. The beach site opens Wednesday to Sunday, from 8:00 to 17:00, a shorter week than the rest of the park. The park entry charge is 125 Mexican pesos per person per day; we have found no separate charge for the beach. Visits are limited to about 116 people a day, and only boats holding the authorisation to land guests can take you ashore, so the date matters more here than almost anywhere else in the bay. We'll confirm the day, the landing slot and the fee when you book.

What a guest should know

Life jackets are worn by everyone in the water, with no exceptions. Plan to swim, and keep what you bring ashore to what you can carry wet. If the beach is shut on your chosen date, pick another day in its week, or make the islands a stop for a swim from the boat instead.