My Favorite Beach in Mexico

We don't talk much about the beaches in Mexico. Mostly, it's because we just don't spend a lot of time at the beach. It's easy to focus on the vibrant diversity of food, culture, color, and design that lives within the middle of the country. For all of the reasons that I love the interior of Mexico - the main one is simple. It just seems more interesting. Yes, the ruins in Tulum are charming in a summer house by the ocean kind of way, but have you ever walked down the road between the Temple of the Moon and Sun at Teotihuacán? Intense. You quickly start to understand what it takes to rule an empire. That said...it's time to talk about my favorite beach in Mexico. 

Imagine Cancun.

Hard Rock café on the promenade, Chili's serving Tex-Mex style nachos, Senior Frogs all you can drink pre-mixed frozen margaritas, and miles of skyline-breaking hotels stretched down the beach. People who should have taken extra time applying sunblock but didn't are running around the sand in airport flip flops with selfie sticks and hot pink headbands that read I 💗Mexico. Above, a helicopter carries a banner advertising a sunset whale watching dinner cruise. 

​This is not that. ​​

Only Kind of Willing to Share this Secret...

Mazunte, Mexico is a place to sit on the beach and watch the waves. It sounds simple, right? Here's quick snapshot of my favorite beach town in Mexico. 

• There is one small street that extends through town to the beach. Walking towards the ocean, you'll pass through what seems like a lush jungle path lined with small restaurants and hotels. Some places offer yoga, other offer smoothies. It's basically heaven. More accurately, a pre-Tulum beach town that hasn't maxed out yet. 
• For some reason, there are a disproportionate number of Italian restaurants and they are insanely delicious. Small courtyards light up in the evening and homemade bread comes out of the oven. It's a dream. 
• Early morning, you can join a guide on a fishing boat who will take you whale watching for hours. Then you can snorkel with the dolphins as the sun glitters diamonds on the water. 
• Look for the platform patio overhanging the beach. It's the only one. It's connected to a hotel/restaurant that serves top notch mezcal margaritas and probably some other stuff too. 

Traveling to Mazunte

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There are several different ways to get to Mazunte, all easily researchable and straight forward. The first time we traveled to the coast, we flew from Oaxaca to Puerto Escondido. This flight was 20 minutes, approximately the same amount of time it took for our pilot to finish sipping his espresso. This is a stellar option if you book in advance. If you don't have that option, last minute flights can be a bit expensive. For this reason, our second trip out to the coast entailed an overnight bus ride from Oaxaca to Mazunte.

Spencer solved the sleeping-on-a-bus problem by drinking a bottle of wine at the bus station, complaining loudly about how annoying everyone was, and then passing out on my shoulder. I applaud his strategy. I wasn't so wise and attempted to fall asleep the "natural" way, in other words, not at all. Not sleeping for one night is absolutely fine when you are headed towards a long nap on the beach. 

Back to the Beach

When we arrived, we checked into the Posada Ziga hotel. This hotel is at the end of the beach, so it's a bit more quiet. The rooms all have AC and there's a restaurant with a great deck. The best feature of this hotel is that it's small, with only eight rooms or so. Which means...we could go back and rent the whole thing out. Easily. Who wants to go? I'm planning a trip in December before the holiday crowds rush in. Let me know if you're interested and we will get this thing in the works. But...let's keep this little spot a secret, just between us...