The Oaxaca coast.. non surfing edition.
If ya surfer friends are thinking about Oaxaca, you’re likely pondering over Chacahua, Puerto Escondido, or Barra De la Cruz. In my latest trip to Puerto Escondido, we took a day away from surfing to visit some neighboring beach towns and check another Pueblo Magico off the bucket list! Here’s how it went on a daytrip to Mazunte, San Agustinillo, and Zipolite:
And of course, first your guide to public transport.. If you’re starting in Puerto Escondido, you have about an hour journey to start. Head out to the main road and wait on the side heading south. Look for any BUS or COMBI van headed to Pochutla, they seem to pass every few minutes! We got so lucky on the way out and got an air-conditioned combi, costing 50 pesos a person. On the way back, we paid the same cost for a JANKY, bumpy bus, so regardless of the means of transport the journey will cost you the same. To get to Mazunte, you’ll need to get off at the intersection that heads to Mazunte, in a pueblito called San Antonio. From there, you could flag down a pricey taxi OR do the local thing and hop on a combi truck headed for Mazunte— just hold on tight, it's probably standing room only! This ride will only take 10-15 min and should cost no more than 15 or 20 pesos.
You’ll get off in Mazunte, right after you see the Pueblo Magico letters. I didn’t have any expectations going in, but I was surprised this town doesn’t have the central plaza that defines most Mexican towns. Mostly just two main roads are filled with shops and restaurants and dead-end into the beach. The food here seems even more healthy and vegan than in neighboring Puerto Escondido, so definitely lots of yummy meals and coffee to choose from!
Mazunte is known for health retreats, yoga, etc etc. Definitely not my go- to scene (if you know me, I’m more of the free, ecotourism, active traveler), but could be a sweet way to show yourself some love! Very earthy hippy vibes going on here. There was even an advertisement for vaginal steaming, if that's your thing 🤷
Mazunte Beach itself isn’t super big but nonetheless beautiful! It seems the waves and current can get really strong (though not surfable waves), but plenty of people were swimming at the west end of the beach where it’s a little calmer. The Oaxaca midday sun is so strong that you will need to limit your time on the sand or bring/ rent an umbrella.
If you’ve wandered up and down the streets and the beach, you’ve basically already gotten the boho, expat scene that defines this place… definitely not your stereotypical Mexican destination but very pretty and relaxed nonetheless. If you cross over the main road, I found the most beautiful, nearly empty skatepark and was bummed I didn’t have my board on me! The only place we ate here was called LODELI --- soo yummy and a really fair price. With that, we kept walking south-wards about 15 minutes until we got to the next pueblo, San Agustinillo.
~Chill, boho Mazunte vibes~
Things we didn’t get the chance to do in one day: at one end of the town, you have a short hiking trail to Punta Cometa, where you would wanna go to watch the sunset! Didn’t make it there this time but definitely worth to check out. There was also the Centro Mexicano de la Tortuga (turtle center!) which seemed like a great family friendly activity. For me, since this place doesn’t have surf, I wouldn’t go out of my way to spend a bunch of nights here, but if you prefer to swim over surf this could be an awesome alternative to wavier spots on the coast.
San Agustinillo is right down the beach...
Once arrived to San Agustinillo after a short walk, the beach opened up a bit more into a nice cove, with rocky caves at one end and a potentially surfable wave. I only saw a closing-out wave, but the local lifeguards and apparent surf rental shops reassured me that it is a good beginner surf spot at high tide. If any surfer friends have any input, I would love to hear about it! We strolled down the short beach from Playa Elefante, walking down and around two more rocky coves.
The beach is lined by lots of palapas and bed and breakfasts but generally pretty laidback. We didn’t stop at any food or shops here, though it did appear a little more rustic and affordable than Mazunte. If you wanna stay in one of those two towns, they are right next to each other so you have time to see it all!
Finally, with some time to spare in our day trip, I decided we would send the last hotspot on this strip of the coast— but be warned, it is Mexico’s only official NUDE beach, Playa Zipolite. Hop on any combi truck heading to Zipolite and you’ll have a curvy 15 minute ride until it dead ends in the combi station there. You just have to walk about 5 minutes down a dirt road until you get to the main strip of shops and restaurants.
Some sweeet street art in Zipolite
Now, to each their own, but my mom and I were not trying to participate nor spectate in the nude scene so we just walked up to the beach edge to see what it looked like and turned back around. However, I did see a good bit of surfers and surfboards around so I think this can be a powerful beach break wave if you’re looking for less crowds than Puerto Escondido. The afternoon sun was really wearing on us so we didn’t have the freshest eyes when seeing this place, but in general it was definitely a funky, artsy, hippie scene here. There is also an older expat population here, as well as a gay scene evidenced by lots of rainbows everywhere!
Even though arriving to Zipolite it feels like you’re really getting out there, you’ll be surprised how many white folks have ended up in this little pueblo! After a little loop around central Zipolite, a pretty small place, we hopped back on a combi to the main highway, and a bus back to Puerto Escondido.
My overall impressions of this little stretch of coastline: definitely an easy place to visit, and a great day trip to get away from the more populated city of Puerto Escondido. I am glad we did a day trip instead of a whole overnight. There is great infrastructure considering the places are pretty isolated, and the truck-bed combi is a fun way to get around for cheap. Don't expect to have the most authentic Mexican experience, but do come ready to relax, enjoy the blue water, eat some yummy foods, and CHILL!
