Every foot of beachfront property in beautiful Playa Langosta has been built up, but now the contractors' hammers are ringing out in every building space inland. Luckily, most of the development is tucked behind mangrove trees, so you can enjoy an unsullied dramatic beachscape, with surf crashing against rocky outcroppings. The sand here is coarse, black pulverized rock and shell, though there's a wider, whiter, softer stretch in front of the Barceló Resort. At low tide you can walk across the San Francisco estuary and walk a ways up the tidal river in search of wading birds: showy snowy egrets; hunting little blue herons; tail-bobbing spotted sandpipers; and if your eyes are sharp, tiny white-lored gnatcachers, endemic to these parts.
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