Oaxacan Coast

Mazunte, Zipolite, and Puerto Escondido

The Oaxacan coastline is incredible. For one, there are so many quiet, hidden gems to explore around Mazunte and Zipolite. The whole place radiates an unforgettable sense of freedom. Zipolite is known as a nude beach, but I much preferred the less commercialized feel of the quieter beaches just a short walk from Mazunte. Any quiet beach surrounding Mazunte seems to be clothing optional and my favourite was playa Marmajita. Unlike the hotel and bars lining the beach of Zipolite, this place is quiet with only a few campsites and huts at one end. This is the kind of beach where you look around and every single woman has their swimsuit off. My kind of place! Because this beach is not commercialized, it’s not covered in sunchairs/umbrella and there are also no people walking around selling things so it’s much more peaceful than the beaches in the towns. This is the kind of place where you bring your own drinks, a towel, a speaker and some good company. We would usually come around 3 pm to enjoy the hot sun and stay well past the sunset. The stars are also incredible on this beach. If you fall in love with it like I did, there are a couple campsites set back from the beach where you can pitch a tent for very cheap and use a communal kitchen.

Where to Stay on the Oaxacan Coast

If you have time, you should definitely stay in as many of the towns of the Oaxacan coast as possible. Puerto Escondido, Mazunte, Zipolite, Barra de la Cruz and Chacahua are the go-to’s for backpackers on the coast of Oaxaca. I wrote a full article on Chachua. Puerto Escondido is very different to the smaller towns of Mazunte and Zipolite so read on to find out which is the best fit for you (or spend some time in all 3 if you can!)

Puerto Escondido

If your priority is great nightlife and a club scene, while also being in proximity to some cool adventures in the day, Puerto Escondido is the place for you. There’s some awesome venues to dance the night away in the Zicatela neighbourhood of Puerto Escondido. You can also go skydiving and land on Zicatela beach for about 200 USD. Puerto Escondido is actually quite big with lots of different neighbourhoods to check out. Collectivos for 10 pesos connect them all, but I would recommend staying in La Punta for the best backpacker vibes and plenty of awesome hostels to chose from. This is great spot to wander, shop and eat delicious food. If you are going in high season (December to May), make sure to book well in advance because there won’t be any hostels available last minute. One hostel that is not actually in La Punta that I loved the vibe of was called Tower Bridge. It’s in the centro neighbourhood (central). It has a beautiful pool with a bridge going over it and a volleyball net. The hostel organizes lots of activities like boat parties, tours to go see bioluminescence, dolphins, yoga, etc. The staff are friendly, welcoming and will get you involved and making friends in no time. The layout of the hostel is also really cool with all different levels that reminded me a bit of a treehouse.

What to do in Puerto Escondido (besides partying)

There’s huge waves for surfing in Puerto Escondido and depending on the time of year, it’s really not the best place for beginners to learn because there are some pretty intense rip tides that can be pretty dangerous.

There is an awesome little restaurant/painting studio just up the street from Zicatela beach. Right next door is the restaurant called La Olita which has the best tacos I have ever had in my life. I recommend doing a paint night with your friends next door. For 250 pesos per person you get all the materials to paint including the canvas, a drink and a tapa/apetizer. If you just want the drink and no food, you can ask her if you can pay a bit less and just do the painting + drink (wine or beer). We did this twice while we were in Puerto Escondido and although we couldn’t bring our painting with us, we gave them as gifts to our airbnb/hotel hosts who held onto our bags when we ventured to the island of Chachua and wanted to leave our big bags behind.

Also in Zicatela, on the same street there is a great vegetarian restaurant called Spirulina. They have delicious food and great cocktails. If you love burgers, then you definitely need to check out Mar & Wana, which is a super funky-in-the-trees-vibe restaruant/bar. They do huge smoky bugers on the bbq that are delicious.

We did an incredible horseback riding adventure with a company called Eco Tours Minialtepec. You can find them on facebook. You have to take a collectivo or splitting a cab if there is 4 of you is also very reasonable. Note that you can take a collectivo to get there as the ride starts at 4:30 pm but it ends around 10 pm so there will not be collectivos to take you home at that time and you must take a taxi back to Puerto Escondido. Best thing is to pre-arrange your pick-up with a taxi driver (or if you decide to cab to Manialtepec then just ask the same driver to come back and get you later that evening). Maniltepec is a small village where the horse riding is and It’s about 45 minutes driving outside Puerto Escondido. The tour is about 4 hours and will leave you feeling absolutely exhausted but your soul will feel more alive than ever. We were all asleep on the cab ride home, but still managed to go to a bar afterwards! The horse riding adventure was one of my favourite memories from Puerto Escondido and even if you are not a horse freak, you need to do it…you won’t regret it I promise. We rode out at about 4 pm through the most spectacular fields surrounded by glowing mountains, across a river eventually ending up at a beach. We left the horses and were taken across a second river (by boat) because of crocodiles and walked about 50 meters to a quiet and remote stretch of coastline. Out of nowhere a man appeared to take us to a lone table and chairs that was already set up for us. He sold us delicious fresh-cooked dinner and beers. Our guides had brought along a complimentary shot of mezcal for each of us to cheers to the most gorgeous sunset. We drank, swam in the sea and ate a delicious dinner under a fiery sunset. After the sun had gone down, we took the boat back across the river in the dark and got back on our horses. We rode back to the starting point under the stars. It was absolutely beautiful. The guides would shine a flashlight when they needed to, but for the most part we rode by starlight. And because we were not near any town, there was no light pollution. Pure magic! I was riding at the back where the guide taking up the rear even pointed out a crocodile lurking in a stream off to the side of the trail. I was shocked and super happy I didn’t bring my dog along for the ride! The guides dogs were following along but they didn’t get eaten so that’s nice. Apparently a lot of dogs go missing around these areas. Our ride finished at a different spot than the starting point, but the same taxi driver who had dropped us off at the start was waiting there for us because we had the guide explain to him where to pick us up after the ride and what time. Good thing too because we were literally in the middle of nowhere so there would have been no hope of hailing a taxi.

Most hostels will advertise and organize tours like boats, dolphin tours, bioluminescent plankton. If you are planning on going to the island of Chacahua, make sure to swim with the bioluminescent plankton there because they will probably be more vibrant better than the ones in Puerto Escondido. You can do crocodile tours as well, but if you are going to Mazunte I would recommend the crocodile tour at Valladolid. There is a great conservation project there and you will also get up-close and personal with the crocodiles.