The state of Nayarit in Mexico hides a very unusual beach paradise. The Marieta Islands lie on the coast of Nayarit. However, this hidden beach is only accessible through a special permit. Find out why and from where to get it. By Deepali Sharma
This heavenly island is a safe haven for an incredible range of biodiversity. The marine life and precious coral reef present on the island is something you’d want to any day travel for.
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The focal point of the island is the ‘love beach’ which can only be entered through an underwater cave. The islands formed by volcanoes were the testing site of Mexican military. As a consequence of the bombings, this crater shaped rock formation was created. The Mexican government later preserved the area by creating a natural park around it. Aerially, you can view the white sand uniting with turquoise water through the humongous hole in the middle.
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This crater-visible beach is popular for the special permit that visitors require to enter the island. Due to increase in tourism, the marine life started degrading; there was an increase in pollution and depletion of natural biodiversity. In order to preserve the essential flora and fauna of the island, the Mexican government closed the island for tourism. Later on it allowed visitors to explore on special permit by SEMARNAT, the Mexican Environment Ministry. The Ministry also accounts the number of visitors entering the preserved area.
The place is home to 92 species of birds and 200 species of coral reefs along with more than 30 species accounting the diverse wildlife.
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There are several damage control steps that the Mexican government is taking to mitigate the damage done by tourism on the island. The need for a special permission is one of them. To bring back the normalcy to marine life, replanting of coral reefs has been initiated.
So, go get your permission to visit the island right now, because the natural beauty the island holds is unbelievably stupendous.
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Aindrila Mitra
Editorial Director - Travel Hub
Aindrila Mitra comes with over 19 years of experience in journalism, covering lifestyle and travel. She has handled diverse portfolios in her career tenure, both in print and digital. She has spearheaded the Indian license of the globally successful, Ziff-Davis owned, AskMen.com portal. Prior to this, for 11 years, she was a senior editor at Bennett & Coleman’s Times of India Group where she was responsible for luxury and lifestyle products, including being the founding editor of Femina Wedding Times, and launching iDiva. Since 2018, Mitra has been spearheading Travel + Leisure India & South Asia, during which the title has grown by over 300% in terms of its digital reach, and has also been instrumental in increasing readership of its print edition through strategic partnerships. Mitra is a thought-leader in India’s current media landscape and is responsible for the evolution of the brand perception of Travel + Leisure in the Indian market through campaigns like #WhyWeLoveIndia, #GoingPlacesWithPeople, among many others.
