Huatulco

Huatulco is the best-planned beach destination in Mexico, and that is both its greatest virtue and its limit. Nine bays and more than thirty beaches inside a development with strict environmental rules: no high-rises on the waterfront, much of the territory is national park, and the water is among the cleanest on the Mexican Pacific.

What Huatulco actually is

Not a town but a set of zones spread along the coast:

• La Crucecita — where people live, with a plaza, market, restaurants and normal prices. Not on the beach, but five minutes from all of them.
• Santa Cruz — the marina bay, where the boats to the other bays depart.
• Tangolunda — the big-hotel, all-inclusive zone, with a golf course.
• Chahué — in between, with smaller hotels and a quiet mood.

The nine bays

This is the reason to come. Some are reachable by road and others only by boat, and the bay tour is the destination's classic outing: leave Santa Cruz in the morning and work through the coves with stops to swim and snorkel.

• Santa Cruz and Chahué — the urban ones, easy and serviced.
• Tangolunda — the resort bay, with moderate surf.
• Maguey and Órgano — sheltered, very calm water, palapas with food. Among the best for swimming with children.
• Cacaluta — inside the national park, almost untouched, no services; bring everything.
• San Agustín — the best for snorkelling, with living reef and restaurants on the sand.
• Conejos and Tejoncito — more open, with surf.

The green part, which matters here

Huatulco National Park protects a large area of dry forest and marine zone, and the destination was built with those restrictions in place. You can snorkel over living reef, run rivers like the Copalita, visit coffee farms in the sierra — Pluma Hidalgo coffee is excellent — and watch turtle releases in season.

When to come

November to April is dry and sunny with a calm sea: the best season. May to October brings afternoon rain, humidity and green vegetation. One important detail: between November and February the northern winds — the tehuanos — can chop up the sea for days and cancel boat tours.

Getting there and around

The airport (HUX) is about thirty minutes away, with flights from Mexico City and several Mexican cities plus seasonal international routes. You can manage without a car: shared taxis connect the zones and boats solve the bays. A car buys you the road-access bays and the sierra.

Where to stay

La Crucecita is our recommendation if you want to eat well and spend little; the town has a life of its own. Tangolunda if you are here for an all-inclusive and do not plan to move. Chahué or Santa Cruz to be in the middle of everything with smaller hotels.

One piece of advice

Huatulco is quiet. It has neither Cancún's nightlife nor Puerto Escondido's bohemian town: it is a destination for beaches, clean water and rest. If that is what you want, it is one of the best in the country; if you want a party, you are in the wrong place.