Mazunte, Oaxaca

Our time spent with Roberto and Marley had been a great chance to settle for a week and find some routine. Zicatela had finally been the chill beach vibe we’d been looking for along the Mexican coast. Despite this, we hadn’t been able to find anywhere to stay longer term. As much as we loved Roberto’s place, to keep our budget down we needed to find somewhere much more affordable.

The next beach along this stretch of coastline is Mazunte. Set amongst the jungle surroundings it has a reputation for being much more hippy and catering to travellers seeking yoga retreats. So we hoped to find a cheaper place. With the potential for better surf, and being only about an hour away, we booked in our next stay.

We packed up our home-for-a-week, and Roberto gave us a lift to where La Punta’s main street meets Highway 200. Sad to say goodbye, we left with the comfort that it was highly likely we would drop back through soon enough.

We actually didn’t have much idea about how the bus trip would go. The only advice for the trip that we’d found was that a small bus leaves from the main bus departure point in Puerto Escondido, and that it stops along Highway 200. And then, you get off the bus about 40 minutes later at the intersection of the road heading down to Mazunte. From there you catch a Colectivo to Mazunte. (A Colectivo is a tray back ute with a canopy that has bench seats in the back. Locals version of a shuttle bus I guess)

And it all happened pretty much like that. The bus arrived, we jumped off at the intersection and 10 minutes later we piled onto a crowded tray back for our trip back to the beach. Wow! This was exactly how I expected travel along the coast of Mexico would be.

Our first impression of Mazunte was like a mix between Nimbin and Bali. Plenty of “alternative” types getting around, hot and dirty streets but a beautiful beach at the end. A couple of the travel blogs I’d read had mentioned 3 beaches along this part of the coast:
1. Mazunte - the most popular spot, catering specifically to the naturalist and yogi type.
2. San Agustinillo - a 10-minute walk along the road and over the headland. A more chill version of Mazunte yet still easily accessible for any of the shops.
3. And then Zipolite - About 10 minutes further on the Colectivo, This small town we would find out to be the most alternative of them all.

We had booked our standard 2 nights to give us a chance to check out the area and decide where to go next. Either book in longer or head somewhere else. After dropping off our bags at our hotel we went straight down the beach. Wow! It was stunning. Much different to the long beach of Zicatela, This part of the coast had smaller beaches and rocky headlands with jungle encroaching down onto the coves.

Our first night we strolled into Mazunte and found the main night spot was the road we came in on and a cross street called Rinconcito. Hard to describe but it just felt different to La Punta. A bit dirtier and less inviting. Thankfully we scored with dinner. We pulled up for dinner at a place called Fish Burrito and not only did it have the cheapest beers of the trip, but the food was incredible! Lightly filled burritos filled with a seasoned rice mix and delicious freshness. Massive win!

Conveniently the place we booked was on the San Agustinillo side of Mazunte. So we were able to easily check out both beaches the first day we arrived. Immediately we realised we liked it more. Much more relaxed and almost entirely fronting the beaches, it was definitely our favourite so far.

However with Mazunte so close, we would definitely be back for another Fish Burrito.Læs mere