Puerto Balandra is an isolated, unpopulated coastal area with eight beaches, an interior salt

lagoon A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into ''coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons'') an ...

and a rock formation called "El Hongo" (the mushroom) which has become the symbol of

La Paz (Baja California Sur) La Paz (, ) is the capital and largest city of the Mexico, Mexican States of Mexico, state of Baja California Sur, with a 2020 census population of 250,141 inhabitants, making it the most populous city in the state. La Paz City is located in La ...

. The area is about 25 km from La Paz on State Highway 11 on the way to Tecolote and faces the

Gulf of California The Gulf of California (), also known as the Sea of Cortés (''Mar de Cortés'') or Sea of Cortez, or less commonly as the Vermilion Sea (''Mar Vermejo''), is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean that separates the Baja California peninsula from ...

. The area is surrounded by low reddish mountains that contain the occasional desert tree and huge cardón cactus. The red color of the mountains contrast with the white sands of the beaches facing the Gulf with its turquoise, blue and green waters. These waters are filled with thousands of multicolored small fish,

coral Corals are colonial marine invertebrates within the subphylum Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact Colony (biology), colonies of many identical individual polyp (zoology), polyps. Coral species include the important Coral ...

and larger fish such as

tuna A tuna (: tunas or tuna) is a saltwater fish that belongs to the tribe Thunnini, a subgrouping of the Scombridae ( mackerel) family. The Thunnini comprise 15 species across five genera, the sizes of which vary greatly, ranging from the bul ...

, " barriletes",

striped mullet The flathead grey mullet (''Mugil cephalus'') is an important food fish species in the mullet family Mugilidae. It is found in coastal temperate, tropical and subtropical waters worldwide. Its length is typically . It is known with numerous Eng ...

, "sierra",

barracuda A barracuda is a large, predatory, ray-finned, saltwater fish of the genus ''Sphyraena'', the only genus in the family Sphyraenidae, which was named by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque in 1815. It is found in tropical and subtropical oceans worldw ...

, dogfish and green

shark Sharks are a group of elasmobranch cartilaginous fish characterized by a ribless endoskeleton, dermal denticles, five to seven gill slits on each side, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the ...

s. There are also

starfish Starfish or sea stars are Star polygon, star-shaped echinoderms belonging to the class (biology), class Asteroidea (). Common usage frequently finds these names being also applied to brittle star, ophiuroids, which are correctly referred to ...

and

stingray Stingrays are a group of sea Batoidea, rays, a type of cartilaginous fish. They are classified in the suborder Myliobatoidei of the order Myliobatiformes and consist of eight families: Hexatrygonidae (sixgill stingray), Plesiobatidae (deepwate ...

s here. Just back from the sea itself is a salt lagoon created by sea waters that occasionally come inland. It is shallow enough to walk across and surrounded by mature

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows mainly in coastal saline water, saline or brackish water. Mangroves grow in an equatorial climate, typically along coastlines and tidal rivers. They have particular adaptations to take in extra oxygen a ...

s. The water is generally very warm, about 30C average, and because of this and its shallowness, the water evaporates rapidly, making it saltier than the ocean water. While the area does have restaurants,

palapa Palapa is a series of communications satellites owned by Indosat, an Indonesian telecommunications company (formerly by Telkom Indonesia, Perumtel and then by PT Satelit Palapa Indonesia/Satelindo). The first satellite was launched in July 197 ...

s and places to rent equipment for aquatic sports such as

scuba diving Scuba diving is a Diving mode, mode of underwater diving whereby divers use Scuba set, breathing equipment that is completely independent of a surface breathing gas supply, and therefore has a limited but variable endurance. The word ''scub ...

, it has not been built up by the community that lives in the La Paz area in order to preserve its natural state.

References

{{coord missing, Baja California Sur Gulf of California Beaches of Baja California Sur