Oaxacan Coast

Oaxaca, in southwestern Mexico, has a long Pacific coastline. You can fly into Huatulco and drive down the coast, stopping at the tiny towns of Mazunte, Zipolite and Puerto Angel on your way to Puerto Escondido where you can fly home.

Jarrod McKenna

A small town nestled in hilsides along an ocean coastline at sunset.

Como estas,

Between Oaxaca’s larger centres are little towns where it’s as if time stopped 50 years ago: there are no chain hotels, no chain restaurants and no huge resort-style buildings, just authentic and pure Mexico. Locals mix with foreigners in an easy way where everything is ok. Hippies, gay, straight, couples, singles, older, younger, nudists – everyone is welcomed. It’s a place to do nothing in a hurry.

More from Jarrod’s travels

Recommendations from Jarrod

We stayed in three places over the course of two weeks: a lovely B&B called Heven, then a hotel on the beach called Nude, but our favourite was a beautiful guest house called Casa Sol.

Fancy dinners can be had in El Alquimista Hotel or in the restaurant La Providencia. However, we tried a lot of the small family-run restaurants at the beach. Our favourite was Sal y Pimienta, where we had the best tacos and cold beer.

La Pasion – It’s one of the places that opens the earliest (good for me as I’m a morning person). Amazing coffee and green smoothies, plus tasty breakfasts.

Check out the turtle sanctuary in Mazunte.
There’s great surfing all along the coast. It’s a surfer’s dream…not so much for swimming though.
Go to Punta Mita at sunrise or sunset for a special treat, though it’s just as fantastic watching it from the beach.