The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Playa \Pla"ya\, n. [Sp.]
   A beach; a strand; in the plains and deserts of Texas, New
   Mexico, and Arizona, a broad, level spot, on which
   subsequently becomes dry by evaporation. --Bartlett.
   [1913 Webster]

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

88 Moby Thesaurus words for "playa":
   alkali flat, alluvial plain, bank, basin, beach, berm, bottomland,
   bushveld, campo, champaign, champaign country, coast,
   coastal plain, coastland, coastline, delta, desert, down, downs,
   embankment, fell, flat, flat country, flatland, flats, foreshore,
   grass veld, grassland, heath, ironbound coast, lande, level, lido,
   littoral, llano, lowland, lowlands, lunar mare, mare, mesa,
   mesilla, moor, moorland, open country, pampa, pampas, peneplain,
   plage, plain, plains, plateau, prairie, riverside, riviera,
   rockbound coast, salt flat, salt marsh, salt pan, sands, savanna,
   sea margin, seabank, seabeach, seaboard, seacliff, seacoast,
   seashore, seaside, sebkha, shingle, shore, shoreline, steppe,
   strand, submerged coast, table, tableland, tidewater, tree veld,
   tundra, upland, vega, veld, waterfront, waterside, weald,
   wide-open spaces, wold