Oaxaca Pacific Coast Beaches

Camping Mazunte Beach, Oaxaca, Mexico, Pacific Coast 

Oaxaca Beaches, Pacific Coast, Mexico
Updated November 21, 2012 

• Mazunte: 

Sea trurtle at the Mazunte aquarium  

     Mazunte Beach is noted for its sheltered cove, small wave beach, and for the turtle museum and rescue project, the Centro Mexicano de la Tortuga. 
      At the site, sea turtles are sheltered after being rescued and they are returned to the sea if their health allows.  Turtles too badly injured become residents at the site and are displayed in tanks in an Aquarium setting.  
      The center runs projects to sustain the sea turtle population by protection of the eggs that are deposited by the female turtles on the beaches. Volunteers often join this effort to remove the eggs from the beach nests and put them in protected places for incubation.  
Mazunte(link) also offers camping and budget lodging and a hiking trail to Punta Cometa, to the right of the beach.    

• Playa Ventanilla

Crocodile at Playa Ventanilla

Northwest of Mazunte, along the Pacific coast, Playa Ventanilla is the smallest of the villages on the road that runs along the coast towards Puerto Escondido.
Playa Ventanilla  (link) offers an eco tour that takes passenger by small boat into a lagoon to see crocodiles, turtles, iguana,  and many types of birds that live in the lagoon. The tour cost 40 pesos.
The fee helps the local people maintain the lagoon, the sea turtle hatch, and the crocodiles.

• Puerto Escondido

Puerto Escondido is Oaxacas most notable Pacific Coast Beach village because of the surfing waves on Zicatela Beach and its two Ecotour lagoon locations                                                                                                                                                                                               

Puerto Escondido 

      Tours run from Puerto Escondido to the Chacahua Lagoon and to the Manialtepec Lagoon.  
      The tour to Chacahua  (link to info) is an all-day trip through the mangrove lakes where stork, roseate spoonbill, herons, and many other birds nest. 
     The tour to Manialtepec Lagoon can be a half-day trip because the lagoon os just six miles northwest of Puerto Escondido town center.
     Rent kayaks and tour Manialtepec independently or go with a tour out of Puerto Escondido    

•         Bus Service, Pacific Coast Oaxaca

Pochutla serves as a bus hub for several bus lines that run service along Oaxaca's pacific Coast and between Mexico City, Acapulco, and Huatulco.  Modern, first class buses stop in Puerto Escondido, Pochutla, and Huatulco and offer service to Acapulco, Oaxaca City, and Mexico City.   
     Sur Buses run regular service to Puerto Escondido from Huatulco and Pochutla.  Also Futura bus , a division of Estrella Blanca, an Ata Mar Buses serve first class passengers along the Route 200, Pacific Coast bus route

•        Vans  (link)

Van service by several companies provides frequent service from Oaxaca City to Pochutla and Puerto Escondido for 150 Pesos 

 From Puerto Escondido, Pochutla, and Huatulco, OCC buses leave for San Cristobal de las Casas and the road over the mountains to Ocosingo and the ruin of Tonina and to the ruin of Palenque. An option is to bus to Tapachula Chiapas for a visit to the ruins of Izapa.  
See Izapa ruins and museum for more info.

OCC buses leave Pochutla for the 12 hour, 440 Peso trip to San Cristobal de las Casas Chiapas.

Next page San Cristobal de las Casas