Quintana Roo in Cancun. (Photo: jthetzel / Flickr)

On Mexicos beaches, Ive been sporty, social, or had my solitude. Ive had the friendliest service in the world, the best housemade guacamole, and left with killer suntans. Beach vacations dont get much better than this.

Cancun

(Photo: jthetzel / Flickr)It was my firstand everyone elsesbrush with Mexico and I keep going back. Thats because it simply boasts the gold standard of beaches. Powder-white sand is such a clich and almost never true. But its accurate here. Even more gorgeous is the water, so pale and iridescent, with such a flawlessly sandy bottom that the patterns the light makes on the surface evoke the kind of swimming pools that Hockney painted.

I stayed at Live Aqua Cancun when it was just called Aqua, before Hurricane Wilma wrecked it; and I stayed there after the extensive rehabilitation (its now all-adult and all-inclusive). If the beachfront location werent enough, the place has one of the choicest pool gardens in the world, with eight pools of different temperatures and types: round, infinity, wadingand one is elevated so you can fall from it, into the pool below. Did I mention the oceanfront cabanas with the sun beds that are suspended from the ceiling and gently sway with the breeze? I have now.

Cabo San Lucas

I lived in Southern California for years, and Cabo was the go-to place for Angelenos who cant bear the 70 degree winters at home. Its around a two-hour flight (movie trivia: in Tarantinos film Jackie Brown, the L.A.-based heroine works as a flight attendant for the fictional Cabo Air). Among Cabos swimmable beaches, the most famous is Lovers Beachits the one with the rocky arch that launched a million postcards. This beauty can be reached by boat or via a hike from Solmar Beach. The One&Only Palmilla resort is among the areas most luxurious: it features Jack Nicklaus first Latin American golf course, a renowned 13-treatment room spa, and a safe-to-swim beach.

Costa Maya

Remote and unspoiled, Costa Maya probably only exists in its current form because of its proximity to a cruise ship terminal. Its located on the Yucatan Peninsula near the Belizean border, but its a full 200 miles from the Cancun Airport. The only reason I even learned about it is because I was the editor of a magazine for Holland America and I visited the port on a Caribbean cruise. I was glad I did. Some staffers from the ship suggested I check out the main town, Mahahual, which turned into a barefoot beach paradise during its rebuilding after Hurricane Dean hit in 2007. The towns malecon (promenade) is flanked on one side by spiffy boutique hotels and bars to get your Dos Equis on, and a beach dotted with thatched-roof palapas on the other. The Nacional Beach Club & Bungalows, overseen by hosts/owners Evan and Anna, serve up great hospitalityand quesadillas.

Zihuatanejo

Go here to read the rest:

A guide to Mexico’s beautiful beaches