Yelapa Beach — Attraction in Jalisco

People should focus their reviews of service offered by beach clubs on the beach club specific mark, not for Yelapa Beach as a whole.

As far as beaches go, it’s possible that others had better luck outside of the rainy season. We arrived on a tour following a day of rain. The water was the filthiest water I have ever seen, and none of us would have dared stepped foot inside it if not to chase our kids, who of course could not be kept away from the “beautiful beach” tour company had promised. Locals confirmed a river meets the ocean in that area, so the brown water is not uncommon. You can see from my photos the difference between the beautiful blue water as you approach the area and brown in front of the beach itself. The sand was very coarse, and all of the small engine boats that bus people to shore absolutely reeked of gasoline. We spent 3h on the beach, long enough to start to get a head ache from the engines. I couldn’t wait to get out of there.

I would especially NOT recommend for families traveling with kids. Lots of stray dogs roaming the beach and beach club areas, hoping to be fed (they were surprisingly well behaved, but sad and a major chore to keep toddlers away from the dogs).

PS - If you still insist on coming here, take a water taxi. Do not book an “all inclusive cruise”. It should take about 30 min to get here. The snorkeling the cruise offers has poor visibility. It’s...

It is beautiful there. We took a water taxi over and hung out at a beach club for a few hours. The staff was attentive, the chairs and umbrellas were cozy. The sand is really pretty and yellow, but its not soft. If you're not used to walking barefoot it will probably start feeling very abrasive after a while.

The people selling trinkets were a bit overbearing at first but they mellowed out after a bit. Its a very money driven beach, but its people out trying to make a buck. If you don't want to pay money to hold the iguana then don't hold the iguana. Or any other animal that gets presented to you. We didn't make that mistake, but we saw people who did who got very disgruntled.

Side note, we were told no one there takes cards, which is wrong. I couldn't get a signal on my phone, which we'd heard about also. I saw people who were using their phones though, so I'm guessing some of the beach clubs can offer wifi.

The entrance to the hike to the waterfall is behind all the beach clubs. Getting people to tell you this without buying a guided tour up there was a bit of a pain, but if you get a couple drinks or some chips and guacamole and then ask for some directions you'll probably have better luck. Get good directions though, because the route isn't well marked and you can wander off in the wrong direction if you're not careful. Or get a tour if you like horses. They...

What an experience! We took a water taxi from Boca de Tomatlán. That alone was worth the experience. I asked the water taxi vendor the cost, and was unaware he'd already been arguing with my wife. He said, "I don't have time to debate everything people find on the Internet about what the cost should be". I thought, "wow, English is not a concern here". We bought a return water taxi ticket. Do you need to...hmmm...you probably can just get on the boat and pay cash. I know this because the water taxi will not dock until you show your prepaid ticket or just pay cash. I think the cash option is a bit cheaper but if you feel comfort in clinging to a ticket like I do go that way. Ok, Yelapa Beach was it amazing? Well, it was nice but not nearly as incredible as the walk to the Yelapa waterfalls. There are two. I don't have pictures because that was not the amazing part. The amazing part was the walks to the waterfalls. One takes you through the narrow village streets and the other takes you to what feels like a walk back in time. I included a picture of the dock as we waited for departure. So much confusion and anxiety on the tourist's part! As the water taxis came people kept pushing towards the edge of the dock! The dock attendants had to repeatedly tell people, "it will be ok, everyone will get on a boat" That did little to belay people's fears but it all worked...