Exploring Mexico's Little-Known Oaxacan Coast Mark Jolly - Bloomberg
go to original September 20, 2014

Along a 70-mile stretch of Mexico's Pacific shore, four towns include seemingly every stripe of simpatico beach getaway. Surfing, ecotourism, hippie chic, and luxe family resorts all coexist - and, blessedly, without any crowds. But all that's starting to change.

Word is slowly starting to spread about the lesser-known Pacific Mexico. For years, the seventy-mile coastal strip of central Oaxaca - the nexus of the Costa Chica - has been in the shadow of its flashier, noisier neighbors to the north: Acapulco, Puerto Vallarta, and even small-town Zihuatanejo. Beyond the loyal coterie of international surfers and middle-class Mexicans, this seaside stretch between Puerto Escondido and Huatulco is still unknown - despite its spectacular string of beaches and its rich biodiversity (more olive ridley turtles hatch here than anywhere else on earth). I have come looking for a blissed-out Mexican beach dream, and - owing to a confluence of socio-geographical seclusion, government mismanagement, and singular surf breaks - it just may exist.

Or, rather, they may exist. Along with a burgeoning number of the cognoscenti, I am drawn to a handful of coastal towns, each an expression of someone's idea of unspoiled Mexico. My personal favorite is Puerto Escondido - a simpatico enclave that's grown beyond its surfer roots, with no big-brand hotels and no town planning, into one of Mexico's most naturally winsome beach towns. Then, a two-hour drive southeast, is Huatulco, a sprawling resort zone without the crowds. And last, midway between the two - lining the coastal dip in the map that's known as "the belly of the whale" - is a clutch of isolated villages anchored by the boho-chic communities of Mazunte and San Agustinillo (think yoga retreats, turtle tourism, and secluded virgin beaches). Simply put: These are a lot of flavors for a little coast.

To realize the dream of Oaxaca's jeweled shoreline, it's worth exploring the reality of its isolated and embattled land. The coast has stayed anonymous because it's hell to reach: The 180-mile road there from the state capital is an eight-hour white-knuckle ride through jungle and mountain (though a daily flight connects the two in 40 minutes). What's worse, recently there were riots in Oaxaca City. What started as an annual teachers' strike for better wages escalated in the summer of 2006 into barricaded protests against the state governor, Ulises Ruiz (who's been accused of diverting millions of dollars toward suspect "public" projects). The police moved in, the violence turned deadly (claiming the life of an American documentarian), and the world media branded the evocative Mexican city a no-go zone.

Read the rest at Yahoo!

Photo: bahiadelaluna.com

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