Last Updated on October 31, 2024 by Ellen
Huatulco, Mexico, is a special place on the Pacific Ocean, and I love it. There are several beaches – dozens – along a main bay that faces south, so the sun sets over land. People have told me there are 36 beaches to explore in this area. We are only here a week, but we’ve seen many beaches.
Some beaches, like Tangolunda beach, have a public access area, but are mainly accessed by vacationers at hotels or condo owners. For example, a major hotel chain has a location on Tangolunda. This beach has no services for people who do not stay at the resort, but there is a woman selling a few drinks out of a cooler along the trees back a bit from the beach, and a guy chopping fresh cocos on the beach. (We gave them both our business.)
We have been using taxis a lot. The public buses do not go out to many of the main tourist beaches, because these taxi drivers all make a living by driving people to and from the town area (La Crucecita) to the beaches, or from beach to beach. The airport is known as the Huatulco airport, but most of the area is called Bahias de Huatulco, because there are so many small bays off the main one.
Santa Maria Huatulco is a town inland closer to the airport. There aren’t too many tourists there, but we checked it out one day when we rented a motorbike to explore the region, and it’s a nice and quiet town.
La Crucecita is closer to the coast and it’s more active with restaurants and shops and people walking around at all hours of the day and night. It’s pretty small, but big enough to find everything you could possibly need, from a dentist to a couple of major supermarkets. This is the area we have been staying.
La Crucecita also has athletic fields that include a track that I’ve been using nearly every morning for jogs. There’s also a wonderful path that was created by blasting through a mountain that leads to the main beach, which is called Santa Cruz. It’s roughly a half mile of uphill then downhill, and I’ve jogged that, too. As beautiful as the sea view is when you reach the path’s crest heading out of town, it’s even more beautiful running uphill back the other way – back to town. Time it right and the first sun rays will hit La Crucecita, lighting up this special place at the end of the Sierra Madre mountains.
My favorite beach out of all we’ve seen is Cacaluta. (And we have not come close to seeing all 36 beaches in one week, but we did make a good dent.) There are no services there – no public bathrooms and no restaurants, and that’s part of its charm for me. It’s a three kilometer walk through the woods. Make sure you bring plenty of water and sunblock.
Playa La Entrega is popular with the locals for snorkeling for a reason – it’s the best snorkeling I’ve seen on the Pacific side. Go at high noon when the sun is right overhead to give the best light possible to the coral and fish.
I would come back here to Huatulco and stay longer than a week in the future, if it’s in the travel cards. I haven’t updated this blog in awhile because the wifi in our corner room is not super strong and, to be honest, I’ve been too lazy relaxing and reading.
By the way, I would recommend this hotel, despite the not-super-strong wifi. We are at the Hotel Maria Mixteca. We have a top, third floor corner room with a balcony and air conditioning. The shower is huge with endless hot water and a bench (so I can sit and shave my legs – yay!). It’s a half-block from the main action on the town square. We read other reviews from people who suggested ask the desk staff for a refrigerator, which we did, so we can enjoy cold drinks and fresh snacks like chilled fruit and yogurt. It’s $25 USD a night.
Everyone here has been kind and welcoming, from the hotel, to the taxi drivers, to people on the beaches.
We’ll be leaving here soon. Next up, we head to Puerto Angel for a week. That’s on the coast between Huatulco and Puerto Escondido. We eventually will end up in Puerto Escondido, and I sense surf lessons in the future…
Related:
- Puerto Angel – an amazing Mexican town not yet overrun by tourists
- Staying in the Colonia 5 neighborhood of Puerto Vallarta
- Secret and private cenotes near Tulum
Gorgeous! Looks warm.
It’s quite humid but there is an ocean breeze ?