Cojimies is a barrio built on a sandbank. The foundation is an untidy assemblage of boats, shacks and shop-houses is continuously being worn away by the sea. The town has moved so many times that its cemetery is about to disappear under the water. The shabby town is only of passing interest, unlike the wonderful stretch of beach running due south.

The main road to Pedernales is the beach, which can only be driven at low tide. Trucks bump and rattle at high speed down the wide, endless stretch of sand, with pool-blue sea on one side and low cliffs and coconut groves on the other. No condos, no houses, no cottages, no tourists: there are few signs of humans on this wide, 30 km [19 mile] stretch of virgin beach. Occasionally one passes a man on a horse or another truck belting up the beach in the opposite direction. With a rising tide, this joyride can become a white-knuckle race against the sea. At high tide, the trucks use the more sedate and bumpy old road, slightly inland.

Developers have bought up most of this stretch of coastline, and in 20 years it might well become a long strip of beach resorts and vacation complexes. There is already one hotel halfway down the beach hidden behind screen of coconut palms.

|Article contributed by Dominic Hamilton|||