Playa Azul

Playa Azul is a fishing and beach town of about 3,400 people (2020 census) in the municipality of Lázaro Cárdenas, roughly 26 km west of the port city. It is the end of the line for Federal Highway 37, the road that comes down from Uruapan and the highlands, which is why it has long been the beach that Michoacán families drive to first. Of all the beaches on the state's coast it has the most tourist services: hotels in several price ranges, bungalows, cabins, camping areas, restaurants and seafood stands along the sand, and local and long-distance buses. Besides tourism, people here live from fishing, farming and cattle.

The beach itself is long, open and gently sloping, with soft yellowish sand and a strong, steady surf. That makes it a consistent beach break for surfers, with lefts and rights that work best in summer, but it also means the water deserves respect: the state fisheries commission warned in 2026 of unusual currents here and asked swimmers to follow the lifeguards and Protección Civil. The town was the epicentre of a magnitude 7.2 earthquake on 24 October 1981. Near the Estero del Tigre, a lagoon at the edge of town, lies the rusting hull of the Betula, a ship that ran aground years ago and is now the local sunset photo spot.

Sea turtles are the other draw. Like most of the beaches around it, Playa Azul has turtle-protection camps, including those at Barra de Pichi and Barra de Santa Ana, which collect eggs, incubate them in protected corrals and release the hatchlings. Protection of the three turtle species that nest on this coast began around 1992, and the town now holds a sea turtle festival on the third weekend of October, the 'month of the sea turtle': hatchling releases on the beach in front of the plaza, displays on conservation work, local food stands, a drawing contest and a local surf contest.