Mazunte, Oaxaca

Mazunte is a fantastic beach town on the Pacific coast of Oaxaca. Increasingly famous as a quiet beach destination, it's long been the center of a sea turtle trade that slowly converted into a conservation and preservation trade. Today, the famous turtles are the town's leading attraction. And the town is home to one of the most important turtle conservation and research facilities in the country.

The name comes from the Nahuatl expression meaning allow me to see you lay your eggs. The turtles have nested here since time immemorial. But today they are fiercely protected and local people have just as much stake in protecting and preserving them as their ancestors had in harvesting the eggs. With a whole list of natural attractions, the Punta Cometa is just the most prominent. Known also as the Cerro Sagrado (Sacred Hill), it's the highest mountain on the south Pacific coast.

The mountain is a favorite spot for sunsets, but at sunrise, just off the coast the humpback whales are plainly visible from December through March. Migrating flocks of pelicans only nail the point home: it's a spectacular place to see all of them. 

Mazunte is visited for the incredible beaches as well as for the natural confluence of so many wildlife species. It's the only town on this coast that enforces strict limits on architecture and building. As such, it's preserved a welcoming, and just good-sense atmosphere that makes sense to the people who just keep coming back.  

Mazunte is roughly equidistant between the airports of Puerto Escondido and Huatulco. Escondido likely sends more travelers simply because it's a slightly busier airport. But people travel this coast en route to Zipolite and Puerto Ángel and to the dozens of beaches along the way and in between. Combi service and taxis make it easy and fun to visit all or some of them in the same trip.