Trip to Laguna de Chacahua

So this will be our last new destination before heading back to Oz. After 3 weeks of absolute bliss in San Agustinillo, it’s hard to imagine how this is going to compare. Everyone to whom we had mentioned that we were going to Laguna de Chacahua had told us we would love it. But apart from the positive responses, we still didn’t really know what to expect.

The online travel blogs we found had limited information beyond that it’s a place still relatively unspoiled by tourism due to the difficulty involved in getting there. And beyond that, it’s simply a place to surf, read, kick back in a hammock and have a thorough digital detox. All things considered, that was exactly what we needed.

Now when I say “difficulty involved in getting there”, it’s mainly because of how many steps are involved. First we caught a colectivo (tray back truck), then a bus to an undefined turn off the highway, then squashed 6 passengers into a small sedan taxi, before catching a boat 40mins across a lagoon. Yep, just a few steps. Ordinarily probably pretty easy, but with our limited Spanish it was a bit harder.

We’d already recce’d the bus stop and knew the buses departed fairly regularly. For $8 each we made the 1hr trip west along the coast from Puerto Escondido. The marker for where to get off the bus was a simple taxi stand at an intersection with the highway. With 6 of us disembarking and one taxi, there was a moment that we all looked at each other; considering the ratio of people to seats. Our awkwardness was quickly interrupted by the taxi driver gesturing for us all to get in. Obviously for a second there we had forgotten we were in Mexico and seatbelts aren’t a thing. With Jessie and I clearly the pick to squeeze ourselves into the front passenger seat, we contorted ourselves into a version of “taxi-twister” which resulted in Jessie on my lap with her head out the window like an excited puppy. Thankfully it was a short 10minute ride with not too many bumps so we made it to the boat ramp without any issues.

Now arrived at the boat ramp, it was now a case of choosing between a series of boat skippers all trying to fill their boat.

The Lagoon of Chacahua is actually pretty impressive in its own right. Designated as a National Park for the immense ecological value it has to the area. A vast lagoon, much of it covered in mangroves that are the habitat of water birds, crocodiles, and fish. It’s actually such a highlight that there are tours to come from Puerto Escondido just to spend a day on the lagoon. With a culminating point being seeing bioluminescence in the water after sunset.

We’d been told there were 2 options for the boat:
1. the cheap “local” option - a short boat ride across to the beachside island, with another colectivo truck taking you the remaining 40mins along a gravel road to the village of Chacahua, or
2. A boat direct through the mangroves to the village on the far side of the lagoon.

Opting to take the direct route, we got to see some of the lagoon at the same time. It was incredible to see how much of the lagoon was covered in mangroves. And how many water birds were among them. The satellite view on Google Maps makes it look like so much of the lagoon is land due to the dense vegetation. But once we were making our way through the mangroves it became clear why this was such a protected ecosystem.

We arrived in Chacahua to the point where the lagoon meets the ocean. We made our way along the beach to find our accommodation was built directly on the beach, and our room with an uninterrupted view of the water. Immediately we knew that this was going to be a great week! With perfect waves, mostly basic restaurants and Cabañas lining the beach, and the entire town built on sand, it was the perfect beach town for our last week in Mexico.Read more