Huatulco

Huatulco is built around nine bays strung along about 35km of Pacific coast, and the beaches are the reason people come. The water stays warm all year, around 27°C to 30°C, and most of the bays are sheltered coves with golden sand, rocky headlands and clear, calm water. Santa Cruz and Chahué sit next to town, Tangolunda holds the large resorts, and La Entrega is the family favourite for gentle swimming over coral.

Further out, Maguey, El Órgano and Cacaluta feel wilder, the last two reached by boat or a forest path inside the national park. Boat tours hop between bays in a morning, stopping at beaches with no road. The open-coast beaches beyond the bays can have strong surf, so swimmers stick to the coves. The dry season, roughly November to April, brings the clearest water and calmest days.

Eating here means Oaxacan cooking at the coast: mole, tlayudas, tamales wrapped in banana leaf, grilled fish and ceviche, with mezcal and coffee from the hills behind town. The most rewarding meals are in La Crucecita, around the main square and at the municipal market, where breakfast stalls and family-run fondas serve locals. Beach palapas along the bays grill whole fish to order.

The range is limited, though. Resort dining in Tangolunda leans towards international buffets, fine dining is thin, and there are only a handful of serious restaurants. It is a pleasant place to eat well and simply, not a reason to book.

Huatulco is a planned resort, and its sights are few. La Crucecita's church, the Parroquia de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, is known for the huge painting of the Virgin across its dome. The Copalita eco-archaeological park near Tangolunda combines a small pre-Hispanic ceremonial site, a site museum and a forest walk to a clifftop lookout. The older inland village of Santa María Huatulco has a quiet colonial church. A morning covers it all.

Evenings are mostly about a long dinner and a drink on the plaza. La Crucecita has a cluster of bars, a few spots with dancing, and mezcal bars around the square, while Santa Cruz has some beachfront bars by the marina. Things pick up during Mexican vacation periods and in winter high season, but most of the year the town is quiet by midnight and resort guests stay in their hotels. Those wanting a party scene go up the coast to Zipolite instead.

A large share of the coast is protected as Huatulco National Park, with dry tropical forest running down to rocky cliffs and coral patches that are easy to snorkel and dive. Boat trips along the bays pass blowholes and sea arches, and from December to March humpback whales pass offshore. Sea turtles nest along nearby beaches.

Inland, the Copalita River offers rafting and kayaking, and the foothills of the Sierra Sur hold waterfalls such as the cascades at Llano Grande and shade-grown coffee farms around Pluma Hidalgo, about an hour and a half away. Birdwatching, cycling on forest tracks and stand-up paddling fill the rest. Heat and humidity make midday hiking hard work in the rainy season.

The best outing is west along the coast, about an hour away, to a string of small villages: Mazunte, with its turtle centre and natural cosmetics workshops, laid-back San Agustinillo, the fishing harbour of Puerto Ángel and bohemian Zipolite. Puerto Escondido, a surf town with a lively waterfront, is around two hours away. Inland, the coffee villages of the Sierra Sur make a slow half day. Oaxaca city and its heritage are too far for a day trip and need an overnight stay.

Huatulco works well for families who want an easy beach stay. Sheltered bays like La Entrega and Santa Cruz have gentle water where children can snorkel among fish close to shore, resorts in Tangolunda have pools and kids' clubs, and the town is small, calm and easy to manage. Mexican culture welcomes children everywhere. What it lacks is anything built for them beyond the beach: there is no zoo, aquarium or theme park, so older children may tire of it after a week. Summer heat and the rainy season make some months harder going.

The resort area is spread across several bays, each a short drive apart. La Crucecita is compact and walkable, and the walk down to Santa Cruz is easy, but reaching Tangolunda, Chahué or Maguey usually means a taxi, which are plentiful, or a colectivo on the main routes. The remoter bays are reached by boat tour or rental car, and a car is useful for trips to the coast villages or the coffee hills. Distances are short, so getting around is simple, if not walkable.

Shopping is small and craft-led. The market stalls around La Crucecita's plaza and in Santa Cruz sell Oaxacan textiles, embroidered blouses, black pottery, alebrijes, hammocks, mezcal and local coffee, alongside a lot of beach souvenirs. There is no fashion or luxury retail to speak of, and serious craft buyers save their budget for Oaxaca city.

Huatulco is reasonably priced for a beach resort. Staying in La Crucecita, eating at the market and local fondas and taking taxis between bays keeps costs low, and small guesthouses are good value. The large all-inclusive resorts in Tangolunda, boat tours and hotel restaurants cost noticeably more, and prices climb during Mexican vacation periods and the winter high season. Overall it is cheaper than the big Caribbean resorts but dearer than inland Oaxaca.

There is little to attend. Resorts stage Oaxacan folk dance shows, and the plaza in La Crucecita sometimes hosts music and dancing during local festivals and national celebrations. Apart from a few live bands in bars, there is no theatre or concert venue to plan an evening around.

Huatulco is a slow, restful place: low-rise, uncrowded and quiet once the boats come in. The resorts in Tangolunda and Conejos have full spas, and massage is easy to find in town. The local speciality is the temazcal, a traditional pre-Hispanic steam bath taken in a small dome with herbs and a guide, offered by several spas and eco-centres. There are no thermal baths, and yoga retreats are fewer than along the coast to the west, but for unwinding the pace itself does much of the work.