Another well written romanticized travel article. Her family's been going there since before she was born, yet she writes as if she were just discovering it. And if she was alone, who is Adrian Wilson, who took all those pictures?
15
I traveled with my Mexican boy friend at the time to Zipolite in the early ‘80’s, we took a 12 hour bus ride from the amazing town of Oaxaca to Puerto Escondido then a cab up a dirt road then had to walk into “town”. We stayed in a hut on the beach run by an American hippie couple in hammocks, there was no electricity in Zipolite just car batteries, no bathroom or even out houses, it was rough and beautiful, the beaches scalloped into the coast, magical!
When traveling anywhere in warmer regions of the world there are certain basic rules I follow to avoid unwanted gastrointestinal bugs, no unbottled water, no ice, no fruit or vegetable that grows close to the ground with no skin to peal and is raw. This includes lettuce tomato and strawberries.
5
Don’t go here. Very dangerous at night and I had a terrible experience.
3
Wow, this piece really brings out the elitist cry babies. How dare you spoil "their" little paradise.
Being so remote and far away, I seriously doubt it will be over run anytime soon. Venice it is not.
And I'm sure there are numerous other hidden gems on the vast coasts of Mexico.
I'm big on all things Mexico - food, art, architecture, oceans jungles, etc. etc. they have it all. Fantastic culture and place - all of it. The big thing regarding Mexico that really does pain me to death though is president Trump constantly trashing the great people there. America has more "bad hombres" than Mexico.
Hopefully the temporary insanity Trump has instilled in his cult will pass before long, his dumb wall will never be finished, and we can go back to friendlier relations.
8
Dear NYTimes, thanks for ruining it for those of us who have been going there for a long, long time. Last thing we want is a bunch of ill mannered Americans. Build the wall!!
All of you, please realize: in 1970, there were tens of millions less human beings than there are now.
Of course, anything wild and free is spoiled as soon as it’s announced in a publication.
1
In a word, shoosh...
My wife and I first traveled to Puerto Escondido with our five young children (we took them out of school for a month) in 1984. We have been back many times to PE since then, as well as to all the coastal towns and bays mentioned in the article.
The criticism of this article I find misguided. Traveling is a personal experience. Stories that have been passed down to and by our children to our friends and acquaintances.
Mexico has changed dramatically in the last 50 years. But so has almost everywhere else. This stretch of Oaxacan coast will never be the next Cancun or Puerto Vallarta. That’s a good thing.
7
I’m currently in Mazunte for the first time. Ate at the very pizza place he mentions. He got Mazunte fairly accurately. But as far as Zipolite, the author missed some important history.
You see, a very unique , strong, woman named Gloria Ortega , now Gloria Esperanza, moved from Hermosa Beach in LA to Zipolite in the early 70s. It means devils beach which seems fitting since she was known as a witch! I believe She created the first of the hostel/inns down here named Shambala. It still exists but at that time it was THE hippie backpacker haven on this coast.
I knew her back in Hermosa . Went to junior high with her son and daughter.
Gloria is in her eighties now and still lives at Shambala but has turned over the running of the Posada to others.
There’s a huge New Year’s Eve gathering on the beach with bonfire, indigenous dances, drumming , and spirit.
I hope to see her this week. It’s been a mere 48 years since I was the 14 year old girl hanging out in her muraled and wild home in Hermosa Beach Ca.
19
@Julie fascinating.. I’ve known Gloria for years as well. Wow, I bet you’ve got some stories. You may know of the current situation at Shambala and the conditions under which Gloria now lives. It’s deeply disturbing to see this happening at the hands of a ruthless manipulator and greedy grifter.
@Julie I am glad to hear that Gloria did not get run off by Hurricane Pauline. That was horrific. I have not been able to return, but I'm glad that Zipolite has come back. It was a very special place, if very international. What the article missed is Puerto Angel, a small fishing village within walking distance. Very Mexican. Or at least it was.
It was interesting how the author romanticized this form of colonization. Foreigners ruining a natural landscape with an art installations/walls and a 14 year old waiting on adults in a restaurant is called child labor.
17
@Susan D
The Mexican equivalent of high schools run on dual schedules. Evening classes are for the young people who
work during the day.
A 14 year old waiting tables is called “lucky”. Construction work is far more difficult.
If you hadn’t noticed, there are many under and undeveloped areas in the world, where the entire family needs to work to get by.
Be thankful that you live where you do and young people can immerse themselves in video games and social media rather than learning how to deal with life.
21
@Susan D Colonization Susan? Should we all just stay home?
1
@Susan D Que horror! Dirty foreigners. How wonderful our country would be without them. Child labor!! I didn't start working in the States (my country!) for (minimum wage) until I was fifteen and then my employer refused to pay me.
Que horror! Eights years ago I married a wonderful Chilean (foreign!!) woman. We moved back to the States for seven years and I still bear a terrible burden of guilt for letting her enter a foreign! country. Last year we retired and moved back to Chile. Everyday I suffer in the knowledge that I live in a foreign! country and help support THEIR economy.
Every day in so many ways foreigners!!! are destroying the world.
Que horror!
3
Descriptions of several places are drastically inaccurate. This is insulting. I’m surprised NYT published this. It’s superficial, amateur and wrong.
14
So many commentators complaining about an undiscovered area when there are US$300+ a night hotels. So funny!
The idea there is going to be a beach undiscovered in Mexico when it has a long border with the US is laughable. Get over yourselves.
6
Some friends and I went to Puerto Escondido in 1968. We flew Aerovias Rohas from Oaxaca in a DC-3. The 'runway' was sloping and crooked. I recall only a few buildings in the village.
We slept on the beach to the thunderous sound of the enormous waves. I was twenty years old. I thought that is the way the world is.
13
@Peter M -- I'm 75 and it sounds a lot the same now....Greetings from San Agustinillo!
5
@Peter M I am writing from the coast of Oaxaca and let me tell you this is the way the world is.
14
To put your hand much less your entire body in water that is bioluminescence is to kill the tiny light-filled organisms you went to admire. Do it with sun screen and lights if you really want to do some damage. Please educate yourself about the nature you are sharing: You have now promoted environmentally destructive behavior to thousands.
33
@Leslie Heather Parker I just walked across the carpet in my office, possibly killing off bacteria and who knows what else...oh the humanity!
Is there no undiscovered, beautiful locale safe from ruination and overdevelopment due to journalists and their employers? Why can't some places be free of Instagrammer hoards, to be enjoyed for their naturalness?
16
There are plenty but if I told you then I’d ruin it for those of us that were able to do so. It’s not in Curaçao though.
5
Reminds of Zihuatanejo back in the day,
before Ixtapa existed.
8
@Just Me Zihuatanejo´s still nice. México has thousands of miles of coastline - acc . to google "Mexico has a 9,330 kilometer coastline, of which 7,338 kilometers face the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of California, and the remaining 2,805 kilometers front the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea." plus mountains and lakes and rivers. Visited here since a job in 1983 and lived here full time a couple of stretches, now since 2004. Its a great country. Actually I really like our entire hemisphere aside from the US people/politics. Brasil is fantastic, as is Chile, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia etc etc... no fear of everything getting spoiled really within our lifetimes, if we work to preserve the good.
8
Charming place, at least on paper.
Problem though.... crime without any real law enforcement. Don't take my word for it... google it.
If you keep a low profile, only travel by foot in the daytime, only use safe public transportation, and do not flash around money or posessions.. you are probably fine.
The average American will not survive well here.. if for no other reason.. lack of safe storage and use of electronics most Americans are addicted to. Those looking to actually get off the grid during a vacation should do fine though.
Of course standard rules of hygiene in Mexico apply: don't drink the water, and under no circumstances consume any raw fruits or vegetables. Ice can be an issue as well.. since you may not know the source. I have personally seen barkeeps in Mexico, in a big city in a tourist hotel.. dragging a huge block of ice along the ground and into their bar and then ice picking it and tossing it their ice cabinet .... so be cautious as to sources....even in a resort hotel..or you will get the worst case of the squirts ever.
7
@Chuck so much ridiculousness in this post it's hard to know where to begin. "keep a low profile, only travel by foot in the daytime?" "The average American will not survive well?" "under no circumstances consume any raw fruits?" absurd, uninformed nonsense. i've lived and traveled in oaxaca for over a decade, it's fantastic in every way. (and the fruit is delicious.)
42
I camped on the beach at Puerto Escondido in the mid 90's.
There were no fancy restaurants or retreats or galleries. It was mostly locals and scruffy surfers. I bought fish and vegetables from the locals and cooked over an open fire.
Kinda sad to read this article.
12
We are leaving on Sunday and go every year to this transcendent place. The NYT needs to be smarter about their need to exploit beautiful, affordable, cherished places to simply sell an article. Their cultural influence could focus on gems that want to be discovered, but instead finds the most secretive of places in an effort to be trend setting.
18
@Nicole See ya there! I’ll be there in Sunday too. Go every year!
@Nicole If I may translate your comment: "WE discovered this place and want to keep it to ourselves, so NYTimes, please stop writing about it."
You do not really care about the ethics of tourism articles or about the area itself. All you care about is keeping it secret for your personal enjoyment. So thoughtful and generous!
1
@Nicole it’s a great place, but i dont think it wants to stay secretive. Ask any bar, restaurant, hotel owner there — they love the nyt articles. And by extension, all of their staff as well. The majority of the people who dont like them are you and me who want to keep places to ourselves . The locals love tourists, more and more. Helps them pay the bills! They are shouting for people to come. Even if they dont understand what impact it might have
2
Thanks for ruining it! Sounds like Tulum 20 years ago. Oh well.
14
Great article for a February Tuesday! Felt like I was there for a moment.
11
Anyone who has traveled the world in previous decades and then revisits a favorite place years later has been struck by how development has altered everything in the interim.
Given skyrocketing population growth it is inevitable that all hidden, lovely places on earth will eventually be discovered and then despoiled by humans.
While it pains me to read travel writing such as this which ballyhoos "hidden jewels" and thus insures their transformation into something far less jewel-like, it is up to each of us to decide how to live mindfully in this world.
For we are certainly destroying it with our sheer numbers and selfish, heedless behavior.
Onward toward the fires and radiation on the far horizon!
20
@Humphrey Claim Yes, places change. Evolution is inevitable, but as you allude it does not have to be destruction, yet somehow it always is.
I was in Negril in the mid-70s and I shudder to think what it has become. 10 days and too many memories to fit in one life. Amazing. But now, I could never go back.
I'm disgusted by the writing of this article because it will surely ruin what is magical about this place, and likewise I'm so proud that there are other adventurers who would prefer to keep chill places a secret. The planet is overrun with people of means, who enough in number, literally bring their sewage with them, diminish the vibe and ruin affordability for most of the locals. Although we travel off the beaten path, often staying with locals and abiding by common sense, leave-no-trace-behind ways, I'm conflicted about whether to continue traveling. Surely people have been migrating for all of time, but we know the consequences--jet fuel consumption, commercialization, overcrowding, noise, trash, over-fishing, etc, etc. ...We talked to a worker on a bus leaving Tulum one late afternoon. He said he now had to travel 45 minutes to and from work because all the rentals had become Airbnbs which meant they were financially out of reach. Tourism brought construction which brought him work but it also displaced him. ...Whether or not to travel is a choice we all must make but if you do, please be considerate and maybe less apt to share it with everyone you know.
29
@R - You may want to ask the mothers who couldn’t feed their children due to extreme poverty (in the eighties when I visited from Playa del Carmen -Tulum)whether the deserted fishing village was better.
Tourism has brought a degree of affluence to the area for the locals, in addition to better paying jobs for Mexican nationals with educations. Sadly, over tourism has made life depressing for world travelers everywhere.
The locals need people to stay in their pensioners & eat at their small restaurants. Don’t forget to tip the person who cleans your room, they probably make very little money.
15
Thanks for sharing this magnificent ,sleepily, quaint ,little strip of Mexican beach. My ten thousand friends and I are always looking for a new quiet place to “discover”. We’ll be sure to bring along our plastic water bottles , disposable plates plastic spoons and forks and other disposable junk. All ten thousand of us will all come at once. We’ll be the loud drunk crowd you see on other once quiet beaches. We’ll rent lots of cars and bring money to the economy. After our visit things will never be the same.
37
I know this area. It has an active, and violent, narco problem. I find it irresponsible to not address the issue of safety.
18
@vw -- You must've woke up on the wrong side of the Cartel/DEA Collusion, vw! You certainly do not know "this area" at all! Casual responsible civilized drug use, sure....even alcohol consumption...but nothing like the violence and overdoses enjoyed in your "exceptional collapsing USA"! Greetings from San Agustinillo!
12
@vw
although to be fair, what part of Makesicko does NOT have an active, and violent, drgu problem?
Kind of like saying "don't drink the tap water".
Why state the obvious?
4
Sounds like the Goa I remember in the early '70's. And, lots of people who are lucky enough seek out those rare, wonderful beautiful places and will always do so. But I almost drowned in that crazy currents of Puerto Escondiso. .still, sweet memories. And, for all you tourist haters...it's what humans do...look, seek, migrate. So be it.
5
@Donnie
very dangerous to swim on that Pacific coast, and no helicopters with rescue swimmers will come out looking for you either.
1
@kenzo I know the area well. The lifeguards are heroes there and have saved many, many lives.
5
From someone who lived in La Punta and worked at Casa Wabi, all I can say is this is a funny article written from a very predictable perspective for very obvious reasons. The heart of Oaxaca, and it beats pretty hard in the Costa Chica, will never be overshadowed by superficiality of this caliber.
19
I am glad I got to enjoy this area many times back in the 90s. I am joining the "thanks for nothing NYT" chorus.
7
Mexico surely has its fair share of fine beaches. Most of them deserted from tourists.
5
@Markku -- You are right on the mark, Markku! Greetings from somewhere on the Costa Oaxaqueña!
5
Suffered my 30th birthday in/near Zipolite, 1976, with my hippy girlfriend, Li'l Steph and a Mexican girl named Flor, who had joined me while said sometime girlfriend hitchhiked to Guatemala (Different times!). Probably had a good time, but a bucket full of Coco Locos that included Coca Cola, pure grain alcohol among other intoxicants (rum and tequila?) blacked out the whole night.
Yes, I was invited to eat turtle eggs that I watched being ripped from the underside of a squirming giant turtle that they caught while we were fishing. The boat's motor quit on the way back in and they had to row (not an easy task), which meant that the 3 men would have no way to support their families until it was fixed, and had no money to do.
Slept in a palapa on the beach hosted by a couple named Jacobo y Abdula (both were under 30) with 7 small children. When we gave them our scraps to feed their burro, Abdula promptly made a caldo (soup) with them. When we left I made the mistake of giving Jacobo (rather than Abdula) $20, which meant he would disappear on a 3 day bender instead of fishing for the family's daily sustenance (Flor informed us after we left). They told me if I would bring back an outboard motor I could be mayor ("patron") of their fishing village (not Zipolite). Almost like being king of a leper colony. Never did make it back. Discovered Baja.
4
No longer a hipster hideaway after this article
2
ISH, UGH, YUK! All that goes on in the world and this is the number one most emailed story at 10:38 EST of the New York Times.
3
@Skye Enter
I was just looking for a few minutes respite from the unbearable.
2
I find the comments about keeping places secret to avoid their despoilment naive and likely hypocritical. And the notion that an article like this leads to corporate despoliation is ridiculous. As if resort developers don’t have armies of experts out searching for the next big place.
What happens is that the very ones who complain about this, often counter cultural seekers, find an unspoiled and undeveloped spot. Others hear from them, more arrive, grass roots development begins and it goes on from there.
So if you don’t want these places discovered by others and developed don’t seek them out yourself. And don’t expect others not to go because you want them to yourself. And blaming Freda may feel righteous, but really? Read and enjoy, then go plan your summer at home.
19
@Terry Thank you for your words. I was thinking along the same lines. It is ludicrous to believe that an article about a destination can ruin the said destination because it will bring hordes of tourists to the place. I would bet that from every thousand people who read this article, and who have not been to the place before, only 2 or 3 will actually visit it. I personally love to read articles about other places in the world precisely because I will most probably never visit them. So the only chance I have of getting to know a bit about them is through articles like this one. Of course Internet also helps, but it is not the same as reading someone's personal experiences and perspectives.
3
Thanks for working so hard to ruin this place.
1
I understand the author's intention to share her admiration for a beautiful stretch of coast, but I fear the negative externalities this article presents. Even the title adds to the inquisition and curiosity brought about by instagram influencers waiting for the next undiscovered place. Zipolite and this stretch of coast is changing (we've noticed it over the past 5 years we've been coming), but I fear this is the beginning of its deterioration. For an author who loves this place so much, I question whether the NYT was the proper outlet for this piece knowing the broad audience it would receive.
5
@Zipo Oh don´t be silly. SoCal surfers and Australian and Brasilian surfers have been at PE en masse since at least the 1980´s, they are now Los Angeles and Sydney and Rio de Janeiro adults who talk about these places - its not like Zipolite is some secret.
8
More yuppies to ruin it all, yay! Thanks NYT.
22
This week I visited Zipolite for the first time in 45 years. The town was packed for the annual nudist festival, streets were gridlocked, parking at a premium. In 1975 the only option for sleeping was a hammock in a palapa, you had to hike several kilometers into town from Puerto Angel. Hotels, restaurants, paved streets now are everywhere, reminiscent of a California town. 45 years ago the beach in Mazunte ran red with blood of harvested turtles. Now the town hosts the National Mexican Turtle Center. We are staying in nearby Huatulco with numerous flights from U.S. and Canadian cities. Zipolite and Mazunte were just two of the many Oaxacan coast beaches we’ve visited on this trip. Others were less crowded and less pretentious than Zipolite and Mazunte. They’ve already paved paradise, put up a parking lot.
20
@El Jefe Maximo -- Sorry but can't say that I'm sorry to have missed y'all! Greetings from San Agustinillo!
1
I was there in 74, the summer before my senior year in highschool. Just the bus ride from Oaxaca was an adventure shared with small farmers lugging sacks of produce, crated chickens and a few pigs as the driver negotiated around hairpin turns on mountain switchbacks and, at times, enlisting passengers to roll fallen rocks off the road. Escondido itself seemed life a half dozen unpaved roads, one or two hotels and maybe three places to eat, mostly cabanas. We slept on the beech one night and stayed in a simple hotel a few more for about 3$ a night. One night when I ordered red snapper the restauranteur looked unsure untill he checked over his shoulder and saw a local fisherman lift his catch out of the boat he just beached. Best red snapper I've ever had. At that time PE was more of a vacation spot for middle class Mexican's is what I was told and we didn't see any anglos for several days but we did run into two German surfing couples camped out on the beach a couple miles to the SE in a completely undeveloped area. The breakers were 6 to eight feet scary tall with a strong undertow. Full of foolish bravado common to young men of that age we had to test our limited swimming and surfing skills on them and where lucky to survive. As we were eating lunch on day the church bells starting to toll. Our wait person informed us that this likely signified a tragedy and sure enough, minutes later we saw a half dozen young men carrying a drowning victim across the beach into town.
9
Well, there goes Costa Chica.
38
So disappointed to see this article pointing crosshairs on one of the few remaining places still not completely flattened by corporate mega-development. If you are going to publish something like this you could at least say something about of the local people, culture, and their concerns. Does everything “undiscovered” have to be conquered? It was already under enough growth pressure as it was
64
@N I can't agree with you more. Well said.
1
@N I like to tell people that I've been everywhere but the electric chair: that I've seen everything but the wind, and that I've been everything but a member of the "Tea Party". But in reality you can count on one hand how many times I've been out of my home state. But it's good to read this article and the comments are great.
2
@peace on earth
Nice comment, Have you been to:
"...Louisville, Nashville, Knoxville, Ombabika
Schefferville, Jacksonville, Waterville, Costa Rica
Pittsfield, Springfield, Bakersfield, Shreveport
Hackensack, Cadillac, Fond du Lac, Davenport
Idaho, Jellico, Argentina, Diamantina
Pasadena, Catalina, see what I mean'a...."
Johnny Cash song.
I've Been Everywhere lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, IncSongwriters: Geoff Mack
2
I have come to hate tourists and tourism. There are just too many people with extra money flying from place to place in search of ... of what? I find it boring to see people on vacation!
In 1990 there were 439 million global tourists, but by 2018 that number had risen to 1.4 billion! Just what a weary planet needs.
(The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/news/2019/jul/01/global-tourism-hits-record-highs-but-who-goes-where-on-holiday)
29
Anthony, you don't go anywhere? No vacations, no trips anywhere, sit at home reading a book? I know a few people like this, and their claim to "hating tourists", stems from having become alcoholics and dopers, and for the past 40 years or so since high school, they're still standing in the same place. Their "Hatred" comes from not being able to "tour".
15
Ah, the NYTimes promoting the despoilment that AirBnB enables and Instagram accelerates. Such is 'travel journalism' in the internet era. Let us all now praise pictures of our food.
If, like me, you happen to cherish an isolated, beautiful place in a far off part of the world - keep it a secret.
53
@RDA, indeed! In 1995, a friend and I found a beach area on the Pacific coast of Mexico that we liked so much, we gave it a fake name to tell our friends and families back home. We used that name so much, that at this point, I'm not exactly sure which is the real name and which is the pseudonym!
2
I visited these places in 1995 and they remain some of my favorite on earth. And very relieved they haven't been completely over-run. On that front tho, and forgive the kill-joy nature of this: I wonder at what point it becomes unethical to even write about and promote to a large audience the few places that remain on earth that aren't totally shot?
62
I spent several weeks staying at the nudist beach in December 1984. On the first day I got sunburned so bad on parts of my body normally covered by a swimsuit that I’ve never sunbathed nude since. I remember the owner of the property at the end of the beach, where we rented hammocks for fifty cents a night, coming around every week or so telling guests that if they had anything that might be illegal to hide it, as the Federales were on their way to look for drugs. Also hordes of French Canadians living in palapas on the beach, holy cow, I have never seen humans party like those Québécois did. I went back two years later, nothing had changed. I have many fond memories of a beautiful place, and am sorry to see the secret is no more.
14
Never been to this place but have stayed at a somewhat more discovered town up the coast and it too is a wonderful place with wonderful people and beautiful water. Easy to get to from the west coast.
1
I spent a few days travelling the area in June 2019 as part of a 3 month backpacking trip around Mexico.
Puerto Escondido dissapointed me. (background, I am writing this from the perspective of a novice surfer.) We had initially planned 4 nights in Puerto Escondido staying in a hotel located around the middle of Zicatela. When we arrived the swell was way too big to swim in (maybe 20+ ft? i'm an excellent swimmer, travelled with body surfing fins in my backpack) across the entire beach, even La Punta was far too big to go more than waist high. I watched a group of tourists wading chest high get dragged out to sea by rogue shore break and then watched the lifeguard get dragged out to sea too, he had to work hard just to get himself back to land.
We left after a night as we were frustrated with not being able to swim even though it was absolutely sweltering and that we found the majority of the restaurants a bit underwhelming (granted we were only there a day, the majority of the restaurants we found on Zicatela were a bit touristy).
We made our way down to San Agustinillo initially planning to stay one night but ending up staying for 5. We stayed at Casa Un Sueno which was an absolute dream, great on the beach accomodation, cheap drinks, good food etc. San Agustinillo was extremely laid back, the beach was picturesque and there was a decent wave breaking. It was a much more laid back vibe than PE and one of the highlights of our 3 month adventure.
14
@Jason -- You can find me every day at El Sueño drinking banana-papaya licuados spiked with Capt. Morgan's Spiced Run, reading the The New Yorker & Economist, and enjoying all this sun and surf....When you're here, tell Cantinero Luís to point me out!
2
Dear NYTimes....I hope you read these first 85 comments, almost all of which are negative.
I hope you will see the wisdom of not publishing this sort of article any more, as there is no good reason to do so and it guarantees the despoilment of the places many of us have quietly sought and found.
This kind of journalism works, in a way, for those who believe that no place has any intrinsic value unless it is "developed".
Can no place,anywhere, ever be left alone?
92
@joel strayer The place has been discovered long ago and if you didn't get there by at least 1983 it was over. The Times are just doing their job like "lonely Planet" travel books do and now all the "online" travel services and vacations planners".
17
@joel strayer
Or just stay home.
6
@Chip Steiner -- Far more alluring are Bilma, Agadèz and that charming oasis at Fachi.
What is it with the NY Times? Once again, I get pictures of gourmet food but NO map to orient me. It's as if travel had nothing to do with geography and everything to do with eating.
10
I would prefer to call it Casa Chiquitita.
4
Ah yes - Undiscovered Mexico - where all are welcome to spend $325 a night at a boutique hotel.
Hahahaha! Priceless!
48
The idea that this is "Mexico's Last Countercultural Coast" is laughable--as evidenced by its coverage in the NYT. Please don't print misleading headlines... There are stretches of coastline in Mexico that are truly countercultural and much harder to get to... but I'll never tell.
40
LOL. There goes Puerto Escondido!
It's kind of an amusing pattern by now: well-to-do and fashionable American tourists find a "hidden" beachside gem in Mexico...fast forward a few years, and the place is lousy with $600/night inns and $3500 yoga retreats for affluent New Yorkers and Californians. Tulum, Sayulita, Zihuatanejo, etc....they all get the beachside paradise version of the San Miguel de Allende treatment.
I'm only half-joking. It's a bit annoying to see expensive American frivolities pop up in previously quiet enclaves like Tulum (like the afore-mentioned yoga retreats), but it brings in tourism money, and Mexicans are by and large pretty chill about the tourists from the north. Besides, I bet it beats Cancun-style frat bros invading your town.
21
Thank you for the last two sentences of this article. Having lived or traveled in Mexico for some 30 years, we still feel we are only scratching the surface of the country's "spectacularly varied" ingredients.
Jorge and Craig at Casa Sol Zipolite happen to be dear friends. Two years ago, on a brief stay with them, Craig mentioned to us that a guest house across the street was for sale. We knew it would be unwise to see it... Built 25 years ago by a Canadian woman who was struck by the spectacular views from the little headland just west of Zipolite, it was the second house built in the neighborhood -- there are now seven. A later owner, made some additions to the house, calling it "Casa Vista d'Oro" (yes, a rather grand, Italian-sounding name and yes, the views happen to be rather golden). We of course swallowed the hook whole and have since been on an adventure of trying to give the place some overdue care, availing the expert advice and master craftsmanship of our now numerous Oaxacan friends and neighbors. Along the way, we've had hilarious failures and stumbled upon essential delights. In February 2019, the guesthouse reopened as "Casa Kalmar" and we would not give up having adventured in this "pocket of weirdness" for anything.
Ah, for those worried about the destruction of "paradise," I can only say that I doubt any of our local friends would have ever described this place with that word. Nor will they easily relinquish the many ways they use to protect it.
11
@Kevin Lawrie A person of means, indeed. Wouldn't it be grand if some of the native locals could afford such a place...
1
@R There are plenty of people with money in Oaxaca. Southern Mexico struggles but overall the country is better positioned now than the US, with free and subsidised University to those qualified and universal health care. Central MX is much more a part of the tech world than southern but there are tons of opportunities here, and in general people welcome tourism jobs in smaller places where locals are not viewed as just burros to do the work.
5
@R -“expert advice and master craftsmanship of our now numerous Oaxaca’s friends and neighbors.” Sounds like native locals were involved and paid in creating the place. Probably all the employees are local also. It’s the economy.
4
Well, there goes that neighborhood.
18
The NYTimes recently published an article asking whether a certain magical coast could withstand the tourist onslaught. LOL! I'm sorry but this recent visitor to this Countercultural Last Stand must report that this destination is already suffering and was overrun during this years holiday season.
These quaint little towns have no infrastructure like sewers so that if you are there while it's over crowded you'll be confronted with what happens to all that sewage when there's no septic system. And it does not take much for these place to be over crowded for their scale. Furthermore, this year it rained in January!! That hasn't happened in six years. Add all that water the post New Years mix and hope you have the right anti-biotics in your first ad kit. Otherwise you will likely spend half of your visit, if not your return trip, in a close relationship with a porcelain fixture. No Joke.
16
We were there with our kids in 1992. Enjoyed Puerto Escondido and ate many huge camarones and freshly caught tuna.
Went to Puerto Angelito for a day. Then it was a cluster of small cabanas and a small restaurant/bar. Did some snorkeling there. Right off the beach and into the water, the sea bottom was littered with toilet paper and turds from the outfall of the toilets!
Not long in the water and no oysters there for me. Hopefully they've cleaned it up.
Still, a great place to visit.
6
Raw oysters? Covered in mosquito bites in the morning?
I look forward to the author's overly long descriptions of her malarial treatment and hepatitis symptoms.
26
@signalfire
Chikungunya more likely.
9
The area will be utterly changed within decades I fear. For one, your Hotel Escondido does not in any way cater to Mexicans, only very rich tourists, the kind that don't really want to experience Mexican culture but want their own private expanse of sand. You are not welcome there to eat a meal, use the restroom, or have a glass of water even if you are visiting Casa Wabi. The beautiful Manialtepec lagoon narrowly escaped a hostile takeover by a Canadian Olympic snowboarder who wanted to turn into a private water skiing playground for his bro friends. Instead he built an ugly high rise that ruins the view. The area is extremely poor, and the influx of tourists who are insensitive to this fact will only make their situation worse, by segregating the area by class. Thank god the cruise ships haven't gotten there yet. Obviously development will happen, the area will become diminished relative to what it is now, but if visitors go there without demands for English, without trampling on the locals, without elbowing out of the way anyone who gets in the way of a selfie, perhaps a remnant of the wonder of the place will remain. Not holding my breath, however.
28
@Mike The idea that the area should remain undeveloped for the benefit of North American urbanites who like to imagine it pristine (but to the detriment of the people who live there) strikes me as the product of a colonialist outlook.
9
No. Plenty of Mexicans and 'locals' hate the development just as much. Go visit Barra de Navidad if you want to see a once beautiful paradise utterly destroyed and despoiled by greedy developers and extractive capitalists. The remaining natural beaches should be declared national parks for the enjoyment of all.
18
@Luder Since when does development do anything for "the people who live there" except exploit?
4
I remember my last vacation with my parents in Huatulco, also on the Oaxaca Pacific ocean coast - a bit on the touristy side. Unfortunately I remember little as shortly after arriving news broke of the first bombing of the WTC - hitting close to home for me as I commuted on the PATH train through the WTC every day. Incredibly 9/11 happened years later and this time I was there to witness and experience it all - including dodging falling debris to get to work.
It is now getting to the point where la Casa Tiny without external communications is the way to go to not have the daily horrors and tragedies of modern life mar one's brief moment of needed solitude.
@PAN But people keep having babies and we keep growing our GDP. Great stuff, isn't it?
1
My brother and I were in Oaxaca is the mid 1970s. The city only, no coast. I remember most that the Indian women in the market would have no commerce with us Americans. They absolutely refused to sell to us. Radical politics lives there.
11
@h king - well, they must’ve changed their politics by 1982, when I was there. Also in San Cristobel de las Casas and Panajachel Guatemala, where I was constantly offered examples of handicrafts, usually bracelets, etc, even when sitting at a cafe or a bar.
2
" I awoke covered in bites, yet better rested than I’d been in months."
"Perfect".
4
The irony of seeking Mexican beaches that aren’t overrun with development while writing about it in the NYTimes is as thick as the Oaxacan jungle.
When I hear stereotypes about the dangers I have to gauge first whether I think telling people about paradise will ruin it.
The Mexican coasts are full of secrets that require a vehicle and sometimes a water taxi to get out of the green water and into the clear. I’ve seen busloads of hippies from California get dropped off with backpacks at a gas station near San Pancho, (another countercultural coast, despite the title), but also a little tourist trap with nothing but a surfing instructor raking in a captive audience on 3 ft waves. Little do the tourists know that a ten minute drive away are some of the most beautiful empty beach... 🤭... almost gave it away...
Sadly, the threats of violence aren’t for the tourists that bring their money; the cartels go after the local business owners to squeeze them for profit.
The real threats especially on the Pacific side are rip tides and currents. It’s safer in a bay or alcove, but anytime the water looks dark and sandy and your feet are cold and chest is warm, get out of the water. Unless you know how to body surf some killer waves you’re about to take a slow ride to China for as long as you can swim on your back. High tide is very dangerous on beautiful rocky islands. Beware of caves. Beauty can be deadly.
Obviously some Spanish helps to ask locals where and where not to go.
24
I used to love traveling, and I know that tourism is an important source of livilihood in many parts of the world, but I’ve come to understand how much damage we can can inadvertently do when treading through foreign lands. I recommend watching the film “Gringo Trails” which examines the affects of tourism on local cultures and fragile and easily damaged ecosystems. Reading this article and the comments, it reminds me so much of Puerto Viejo de Limon, Costa Rica, and the depressing, polluted place that pleasure seeking tourists, counterculture bohemians, and expats have turned that small Caribbean town into. Young people popularizing the once less ruined place with UTubes and travel blogs have made it all the more depressing. Also, one doesn't hear much about the crime and murders in Puerto Viejo, which increased along with the influx of expats, surfers, and pleasure and drug seekers. Two young American women who thought they had found paradise were murdered there when I was visiting the area as a volunteer in 2000.
15
@Martha Thank you for sharing. I didn't know about the film, and will watch it.
Unfortunately, there's a large swath of people--the consume-all, ego, conquer-the-natural-world, power types (see the sitting US president) who don't care what effect they have on the planet. Fragility is not a concept, and since power is their game, Cancun and cruise ships are their result.
1
My wife and I spent lots of time in Puerto Angel and have very fond memories of the area. I am glad we were able to enjoy it while it still had quiet charm. I am afraid articles like this will turn Oaxaca coast into another resort town.
6
The first time I went to Cancun there was one hotel. That was it. One hotel. The “airport” was a landing strip with a Palapa.
I can say the same for Akumal and Tulum. Akumal was extraordinarily beautiful. One small hotel on the beach.
Tulum was an hours long four wheel jeep ride away. The ruins were, literally, still in the jungle.
This article makes me sad. At least Puerto Escondido is a little harder to get to....
19
Lovely article. Nice photos. But it would sure have been helpful if the author had thought to include a MAP, so that readers could figure out where, exactly, this magical stretch of coastline is located!
9
@sfm, but we do get TWO pictures of food! Go figure. I agree with you completely, and I've written Comments like yours on several occasions but the NYT never publishes them. I made another one five minutes ago, before seeing yours. Glad that you were heard.
4
@sfm There was a map right at the beginning.
3
@sfm Needing a map for that silver spoon?
1
Here I am, stressed out in my downtown Manhattan apartment, trying to get work done by deadline today, cursing for a millionth time the noisy helicopters that always buzz about this crowded, hectic part of NYC.
And then I read this article and I am really tempted to ditch it all and move to a place that slow and quiet and serene and just...peaceful.
I suffered my first panic attack of my life last week, and have been on edge ever since. I can't even drink that much caffeine anymore because, well, it triggers the flutters. Maybe my body is telling me, "Get out of Dodge now!"
I should listen. I should really slow down and listen. I need to visit this slice of calm, cool, slow Mexico. And if I fall in love with the place, do everything I can to move down there...
6
@Luboman411
I hear you but do yourself a favor. Move to a smaller city somewhere in the heartland. I visited Manhattan a few years ago (not by choice). When taking a taxi to LGA from Korea-town I realized that the traffic was so slow, I could have gotten off the island faster by walking. I'm amazed that people endure the daily intensity and insults that are part of the reality of life in NYC.
11
@h king
Thanks for the advice. I've been in NYC for 10 years. I love this city. But my job is pretty emotionally intense right now, teacher in an inner-city school full of kids with emotional problems. Combine that with the constant busy-ness that I used to love about living in NYC, and my body is not taking it well. I need to go back to a normal office job where I don't have the constant emotional stressors of my present job. I think that will alleviate things some. But the anxiety can get intense living in this city since it's always on the go.
That being said, I'm fluent in Spanish and know Latin American culture well--I grew up in Central America until my parents won the visa lottery. Moving to a place like beachy, slow Mexico will not be as big a culture shock as it would be to most Americans used to the U.S. way of life, so to me is more of an attractive option...
8
@Luboman411 It is well on its way to being as stressful as your home.
2
I didn't think Zipolete is considered la costa chica...
1
This will never make it into the comments section, but I find travel writing loathsome now that the Internet and the automation of the travel industry has taken away practically all of the effort it takes to visit a place.
One by one, everything that was once lovely or charming is being destroyed. Just another thing to consume and put on Instagram.
54
I stopped reading at 'woke up covered with bites'. I was game for the crunchy grasshoppers but not mosquitos.
9
"It’s easy to poke fun at a place like Zipolite."
No. If you're a mature adult then gay people, nudity and non-monogamous relationships don't seem amusing at all, since it's all so commonplace.
Unfortunately most contemporary american personalities suffer from arrested development. They're infantilized, conformist and filled with irrational fear.
That's precisely why mature people need bolt holes like Zipolite to be themselves and not be bothered by the denizens of our neurotic self-righteous society.
It's far easier to poke fun at people willing to pay 350$ to spend a night in an abandoned, 6' x 10', poured concrete hut in the middle of nowhere filled with mosquitos. But that's just me. I get wabi sabi. I like a piece of driftwood in the garden. But there are hotels for 30 dollars along those same beaches.
17
@Arthur You can rent a hammock for several bucks as well, just don't use the communal bathrooms.
Anytime the pronoun "I" is the most common word in a travel piece it tells you who/what the story is actually about....
Tell everyone about the "secret" spot, how magical it was for you, get your story to the NYT and add to to the slow destruction. You are so special.
It is sad that so much writing is simply an extension of social media postings. Look at me! My life is such a dream! I hope strangers like me!
To think travel used to be a tool of personal growth, human development, exploration and discovery, now it's just another way to pump up one's ego and follower count.
59
Yuppies (yes, that is a rigorous term) need to stop producing and consuming these precious little book reports. They ruin communities by inviting a wave of instagram reality show contestants who book everything remotely, follow prompts on arrival and end up destroying the local economy and culture. Have you ever been to Sayulita? It became so trendy it hardly ever even had time to catch up and properly accommodate the waves of tourists and now generates just as many unhappy vacationers as it does #sunsetmargarita instagram posts. There's a new media order and these articles are questionable ethically.
17
I know I need to give this up, but I still expect the NYT proofers to be able to conjugate the verb "lie." Lie, lay, lain.
I lay (not laid) under a palm-frond umbrella.
46
@Marlene Hamilton
Probably due to the poultry influence..
6
How come these articles never talk about safety?
11
yes, the author should have discussed earthquakes, rip tides, dengue, traffic accidents, crocodiles, food poisoning, lightning strikes, over-priced souvenirs, the lack of gluten-free menu options and every other risk that might befall a traveler here. my advice: stay home.
18
@marc Mexico is dangerous. Don't kid yourself for a minute.
5
@Mary Bullock i wonder where you got this insight about mexico? in 12 years of living in and traveling the length and breadth of this beautiful country — from tijuana to tapachula — i've never experienced so much as an unkind remark. a broken heart, maybe, but that is a global phenomenon.
12
great article
Great. Ruin one of the few places not already ruined with development. Too many beaches in Mexico and the world have been ruined by vulture capital, their horrid hotels, untreated sewage, jet skis, yacht harbors, overfishing, festering trash dumps, sub-minimum wage jobs, and capital hidden in foreign accounts to no benefit of locals. Then when it's all sucked dry, just leave it all dumped to rot and rust. All my idyllic memories of pristine beaches, clear water lagoons you could drink from, watching turtles lay eggs, manta Ray's jumping, and dolphins playing. All dead, oozing sewage, covered in plastic bags. Walmarts, American nachos and garbage everywhere. God, I hate capitalism.
28
The author, in her tiny bio at the end of the piece, informs us simply that she "lives in a houseboat in San Francisco Bay."
Is this the ONE thing about herself the author wants to share with readers? Because, really, who cares if you live in a houseboat on San Francisco Bay?
Market yourself less, tell more.
23
@JG71 and live on, not in, a houseboat!
4
Brings back the good old days of $25 Currier flights NYC to Mexico city. Subway to bus station, bus to Puerto Angel , collectivo to Zipolite. A hammock on the beach for a buck or two a night. Just don't go past your ankles. Thanks for the memories.
6
@j. g. Ah yes,courier flights..took one to Thailand in 92.....they ain't coming back
1
Well, this certainly brings back memories of a gorgeous, unspoiled coastline! In 1984, I ended up in the so aptly described "treacherous waters" at Playa Zipolite, and dislocated my left patella while fighting drowning. I was eventually dragged out of the water by my then "feeling guilty fiancé" who was the one who wanted to go swimming in the first place, and lay writhing in pain on the sand, while a young, angry Mexican army medic yelled at me to "stop whining." Returning home to Los Angeles was a blur -there was a bus ride of about 6 or so hours to the nearest town, a difficult flight home, and a few weeks later, a wedding - with me, the bride, in a removable cast under that leg-o-mutton sleeved wedding pouf of a dress. And here we are, thirty-six years later - same knee, different husband, with Costa Chica still largely unspoiled. Thank you New York Times for the good news and the fun memories of being in one's wild 20s!
21
@Xtine i was there the same year and got thrashed by the waves as well. a nun at the church in escondido sewed me up. was studying in mexico city and had to get out of town because the pollution was literally burning my eyes. also got sick as a dog but not as sick as my girlfriend who vomited non-stop for three days. oh, and woke up the first morning there to see a bloated human corpse washed up on the shore. still, what a magical place mexico was and is. i suggest you and your new husband drive down to la paz where the water is gentle, the tacos divine, and the local hospitality fantastic.
6
@Xtine
Yes, the Zipolite beach is known for drownings. Glad you made it home alive. A lot of people do not.
4
@August West -hopefully a beach known for high waves and drownings is not conducive to cruise ships and high rise hotels?
i would think the tourism trade there would be much hurt by Coronavirus...
2
@Especially Meaty Snapper the lime kills the virus.
2
@Rick Thanks Rick. You gave me a good laugh with that classic line!
@Especially Meaty Snapper talk about an over-hyped" disease" manufactured hysteria
Ah yes, Americans like to visit the parts of Mexico, where there aren't very many Mexicans. They go there for the sand, surf and the food - but not really the Mexicans. Years ago, I found myself in Cancun in the fish market at the crack of dawn.
The active trading in Spanish coupled with the smell of the market remains etched in mind. Mexico has several beautiful coastlines, which I have enjoyed - but for me , the best part is engaging in whatever the locals do.
29
@Irene Cantu Im living in PE and there are A LOT of Mexicans--residents and visitors alike. Also...the locals go to the beach everyday at sunset just like the rest of us. They also frequent boutique hotels like HE to escape daily reality. Comments such as yours always seem to come from the type of "traveller" who mistakenly gets caught up in the idea that "locals" don't do anything but serve tourists. Oh...also....going to the local markets here in Mexico is an activity many tourists engage in.
12
@Irene Cantu
So sorry the philistine travel habits of Americans don’t measure up to your expectations. Maybe it’s the country's murder rate – five times higher than the U.S. even with our idiotic gun culture – that attracts tourists to “parts of Mexico where there aren’t very many Mexicans.”
6
The best thing about Mexico is the Mexican people, in my experience. The difference between the average American and the average Mexican is eye-opening to any of us traveling there for the first time.
23
I lived in Pto Escondido for three years in the early 90s. It was still sleepy except for the holidays. I recollect there was a turtle sanctuary in Mazunte. Pity the poor turtles as this area gets developed.
12
If you aren’t a really good surfer you won’t catch a single wave off that point. And it catches the same swells as Escondido. For God’s sake. It’s the same beach. You can walk there. It is a gorgeous area though, just don’t go with plans to “learn to surf”. Better to go to Costa Rica or Hawaii for baby waves.
3
The last thing these kinds of places need is more tourists. Stop publishing these articles. Just stop.
143
@W.H. NYT articles DESTROYED a tiny peaceful town San Miguel De Allende. That and Sothebys in bed with UNESCO. It is now like the lower east side. Renovated but very dangerous. Thanks for nothing.
11
Tell that to the locals who live off the tourist trade. I think they'd tell you to stop-- just stop.
12
@W.H. It's been decades since this area was a secret.
16
An idea about how” art should function in the world”!? Do you mean how architecture should function in the world?
8
Queue the developers
19
When I read articles like this one it reminds me that when it comes to my special place in nature (not a beach) keep my mouth shut and whatever you do, don’t draw it attention on the internet.
103
I think publications should be more responsible and stop writing about these wonderful, relatively unknown places. This one will surely be overrun with tourists soon.
51
I really hate these articles about semi-unknown (to the masses), as of yet relatively un-Instagramed, barely on the map places. How to ruin the vibe? Write an article about it in the Times. But perhaps it doesn't matter because it's already well along the road to being ruined anyway. The evidence. There's nothing "countercultural" about a $350 a night "boutique" hotel.
96
@Lotzapappa
Amen. When I spent a week in Zipolite a few years ago, I paid less than $30/night for a room on the beach. It truly is a special place. Not mentioned in the story, but you can't go swimming, owing to deadly undertows and rip tides, which may be a saving grace that keeps some tourists away. Most places to stay don't have hot water, and AC isn't commonplace, so that, also helps. And check out the bug netting around beds on Airbnb listings.
So, avoid Zipolite. You can't go swimming, you can't take a hot shower, the beach is filled with old, overweight people who frolic in the nude and if you go at the wrong time, you'll be eaten alive by mosquitoes. That's the truth. Paradise, my foot.
5
@August West Instead of bug netting, try a fan. Don't blow it on you, just over the top of you. The bugs can't land. Did this successfully everywhere I went. iVentilador, por favor! Don't rent a space without it.
"You call someplace Paradise, kiss it goodbye"
- Eagles
Yet another tourism article, about to doom a slice of paradise.
59
grumpy me: don't ruin this place. dont make it an exotic "gotta go there" destination with beautiful photos. dont keep exotifying the rest of the world. dont be those white tourists. im saying this to myself as well: dont make this just another thing to consume
23
@Michael Kingsbury yea...they are just getting paid to write ...about somewhere interesting
2
My daughter was born in Puerto Escondido in 1973, We lived in a grass hut for seven dollars a month. We ate fresh tortillas, red snapper, drank sesame seed milk with honey. It was a slice of paradise for six months before we came back to the USA, nothing about Escondido was developed then, most of the tourists were French Canadians.
40
Living much of the year in Patzcuaro, Michoacan, we have often visited Mexico's west coast. Like Ms. Moon, we have enjoyed the beaches she visited between Puerto Escondido and Huatulco. But there are many more treasures than these on the West coast of Mexico. The Michoacan and northern (western) Guererro coast has beautiful areas, from the well-known Zihuatanejo, to a lot of beaches known mostly to a few intrepid surfers, but also upcoming places with calmer surf, like Caleta de Campos. I strongly agree with Ms. Moon that the less developed parts of the western coast of Mexico offer a lot of great places to visit, in addition to such famous places as Huatulco, Ixtapa, Manzanillo, Puerto Vallarta, and Mazatlan.
11
@bernard Ix-nay, bernard. You and the author came close to mentioning my favorite beach there, but thankfully you both left it out. My cousin lived in Patzcuaro for several years, and that's how we found our paradise getaway.
1
I recall visiting Puerto Vallarta in 1968 with my family, visiting distant relatives in Mexico. A cousin who was a travel agent promised this would be the next big place. After a long drive through the jungle, it seemed enchanting to a fifteen-year-old. It was a small town on a hillside with winding cobbled streets and a few modest-looking hotels near the beach. Further down it looked like a large, several-story hotel was under construction. I have never been back, but I hear it has grown some.
12
@Roberta just a little!!!but PV isn't bad for a tourist town...better than Cancun or Cabo
1
A great place in Mexico, but without Mexican culture or Mexicans. A Surfer's beach where one can be completely alone on the wave and on the beach. Thanks for the nice writing and photos. I'm sure it might create a really big wave. Come back in twenty years. Casa Tiny will be a Grand resort and Condos on the beach will stretch as far as one can see, where there used to be nothing. One word of advice though, don't eat raw oysters when you're there.
16
@bahcom My fondest memories of Mexico include time with the Mexicans. Gracious people who can purely cook. Not sure what it looks like now. Not sure what the people feel now. Not sure it's a safe place to travel these days.....
5
@bahcom You make some pretty broad assumptions. You obviously have never been there.
@bahcom There are plenty of Oaxacans there. They surf too. And study architecture.
1
Puerto Angel and Zipolite. Both delightful places.
6
Biggest hammerhead shark I have ever seen was in Zipolite in about knee deep surf. That was 1981. Back then there was an overnight train with Pullman sleeper cars that were very comfortable to Oaxaca and then a bus to Puerto Escondido.
6
Us real hippies were hanging out on those beaches in the seventies. Hammocks in a campground for a dollar. Fishing shacks and coconuts. No communications. Internet, what’s that? Nobody cared. We walked down the beach to get to town, as who could afford a taxi? The biggest thrills were the hundreds of pelicans skimming the waves, flight after flight of them. They are mostly gone now, the populations decimated. Another casualty, mystery, romance and adventure, and not knowing what you would find months before you got there.
37
@Chuck Burton that is how i remember it as well.....did you take the bus ride from Oaxaca too...quite the thrill as i recall! .....back in the day......sigh
5
@Chuck Burton " locked up abroad"?!!
I'm not sure which looks more comfortable: the interior of Casa Tiny or that of the chicken coop.
29
@Luder
You obviously haven't walked barefoot among chickens! 8-)
2
@Luder Yes - every other step stairs, all concrete and no railing to hold onto? Pitch dark at nightime? Yee gawds. They should rename it - Suicide Cottage. The chickens looked happy enough except for worries about who was going to be Sunday dinner, though.
6
It's lovely to read about this spot, although, like many others commenting, one fears the displacement and disruption that notoriety often brings.
I have one main regret about the article, though. The Costa Chica is also home to Mexico's largest population of African descent. Scattered in villages on the Oaxaca-Guerrero border such as Corralero visitors are a number of African and Afro-Mixtec villages. It's not a surprise that the article doesn't mention them, as most Mexicans don't really know about them, and many notions central to Mexican identity, such as mestizaje, which focus on the Spanish and the indigenous heritage of Mexico, tend to ignore them almost completely. But, even if there aren't major tourist attractions, they are worth visiting, simply to talk to the people who live there, to hear their stories. They are incredibly welcoming and hospitable, and their stories are worth hearing and deserve to be heard. I loved the brief bit of time I spent there, and can highly recommend going.
44
@Claudio Cambon Leave them alone!
Not one mention of how this new cultural/ economic landscape has changed the local economy or way of life. Articules like these are written about tourists and the world they have created in a place that is not theirs. Zipolite is beautiful, but it will surely become Tulum within the decade if foreigners continue to idealize the place and disregard the people.
44
I do not recommend this area at all. Do not go. Waves are very dangerous and people die every year. Very difficult to find taxis at night and there are many thefts and assaults on tourists on the beach at night.
69
True. As soon as the sun sets..make sure you're in a safe area.
4
@adp Agreed. They also have a sewage problem.
3
@adp Please read Francisco Goldman's 2011 book "Say Her Name" which describes his wife's fatal body surfing accident at Mazunte and the difficulties he faced getting her to a hospital from this remote area.
3
No place is safe from over-tourism it seems. While I understand the writer’s desire to share a destination he loves, I very often wish travel writers would keep some special places to themselves.
27
Right this moment I’m staying at Moluzko Cultural Hostel in Zipolite.
Being Mexican, I just discovered the Costa Chica of Oaxaca just one year ago. And I’m hooked. Been here about five times in less than year.
I’m old enough to have visited Playa del Carmen before Tulum was even known, and the vibe here in Mazunte, Zipolite, San Agustinillo, et al, remains sort of unspoiled ( bring enough cash, by the way, there’s a lack of ATMs ); I just hope Costa Chica will never be Tulumized.
Punta Cometa, in Mazunte, it’s the most beautiful place in the zone. Absolutely breathtaking.
35
I go Mazunte and San Agustinillo every year since 2012, magical places in my beloved Mexico. You can also fly to Huatulco which is an international airport but I might not have said that.
12
I hung there in the early 80's
It's nice to hear that with the exception of the Hotel Escondido it hasn't really changed all that much.
Unlike the Yucatan....
10
thanks to travel writers, social media, starchitects, hoteliers, celebrity chefs, globetrotting yogis (with smartphones and credit cards) and land speculators hoping to jump on "the next tulum," this once-sleepy region is on the brink of destruction. climate change is just another nail in the coffin. what a shame, it used to be paradise.
93
@marc Call it paradise, kiss it good-bye, like so many spots in Mexico. Glad I went there 10years ago.
I've seen what Americans and Canadian tourists have done to other places in Mexico, much of which comes from the idea that it has no real value unless one can own it.
Next will come the limited access, the "No Trespassing" signs, and Private Property.
26
@joel strayer Same is happening in Nicaragua. All rich foreigners. No trespassing.
1
I have wanted to visit here for some time. There is something disappointing about a widely read article on a secret hideaway.
The author gets significant cred for the "discovery" and everyone else has to put up with all the new family friendly hotels and beaches...Ugh
LP
55
Just returned from a 5-day "wellness" retreat in Zipolite. The weather, the scenery, the food, the people, all delightful!
6
We started traveling to Tulum 30 years ago, and it was incredible. We haven’t been back in 10 years due to the crowds and development run amuck. Your article will ruin this part of paradise, as surely as similar articles did in Tulum.
146
Articles like this are the symptom of encroaching overdevelopment, not the cause. In the age of Facebook and Instagram, there are no secret places anymore.
32
@Dan Shannon I too spent many weeks in Tulum and elsewhere in that area 30+ years ago. It was fantastic, and I'll always treasure the memory. But I've also been there several times in the last 5 years and have also enjoyed it. Yes, it has changed...dramatically so. Yet I think people too often turn their noses up at change and deny themselves the pleasure that they could otherwise have in a different but still delightful place to travel. Lighten up. The world changes, but it still offers adventure and relaxation.
12
Arguably you ruined Tulum. I could complain that all the people like yourself that went and "discovered" the area 30 years ago ruined what otherwise I knew Tulum for. So a lot of it is perspective on the face of change.
15
As interesting now as during my first visit in 1978. But so much has developed!
No grey ponytail, just a shaved head...
12
"Let me put the nail in the coffin in this little known oasis by featuring it in the New York Times..."
281
@Cybil M
I have been living in Puerto Escondido for 15 years and not to worry. It keeps getting better. The coast is not just for tourists. Puerto Escondido is a city that serves farmers and ranchers, government officials etc. It has a large private hospital, oral surgeons, lots of private and public schools.It also has its share of problems, especially gang related, daylight murders. For more info see https://www.vivapuerto.com the local, English, tourist magazine.
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@Cybil M
Yes Cybil you "nailed" it. Pity that writers have to send the masses just so they can get a check and feel like they are some kind of pioneer. We have loved the Costa Chica for some time now but...
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@Barbara -- That's because you make money off of tourism, so you encourage it. Viva Puerto! is your magazine for tourists. I doubt you care what all the tourism is doing to the local culture and beauty.
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Thank you for this review. I went to Tulum a million years ago when it had no power. I slept in a Palapa on the beach and it was magical. Like your visit it was a bunch of different things that came together in one of the best vacations I have ever had. Your vacation sounds a lot like it and gives me hope that I can still find a spot on the coast in Mexico with its own vibe - and I can get away and immerse myself in magic again one day. Great article!!
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"The Tulum Trance" Remember? Word of mouth..on the Hippie Trail..."hey..there's this cool place..." figure we would check it out for a few days..then...a month later....couldn't leave..just so wonderful..days gone by..
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This article brought me so much joy reading. I had stayed in Zipolite and similar nearby towns, including a week long stretch in a beach hut without electrify, and it was the best time of my life. This small slice of the earth is some of the richest in the world in natural beauty, gastronomy and human kindness. I can’t wait to come back.
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When I was studying abroad - 6 months living and studying in Puelba, MX, I took a weekend trip to Puerto Escondido with some friends. I understand why you fly into the town - the bus ride from Puebla was more than 10 hours, if memory serves, and the bus smelled like vomit the entire way. Still, the views of the terrain and the switchbacks we took to get there made the bus ride almost worth it.
Puerto Escondido is an absolute gem of a town - I still have dreams about it. Good for you for covering such an off-the-beaten-path location. I want to return badly.
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I started visiting Mexico in the late 70s, and enjoyed discovering undiscovered beaches, pools, etc. Over time, they were all developed. We spent our later travel years, in the aughts, mostly in Cabo, until it became surrounded by bandits. Someday soon, I will compile all my photos and videos and we will revisit. We're too old now to adventure to a new area there. C'est la vie. I mean asi es la vida.
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in 1972 i hitchhike from Oaxaca to puerto angel and then walked the 2 km to zipoliti - no hotels, no restaraunts - you rented a hut from the locals and they cooked for you. muy tranquilo.
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@Ed My brother and I discovered Zipolite in 1973. We spent a couple of months there. We returned in the winter of 1974 and I ended up living there for almost 3 years, surviving by way of mask, fins and speargun. I became known as "Pablo el Buzo".
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@Ed Hey, where'd you find the hut, man? I had to settle for renting a hammock....
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@Ed those were the days...although we did get a mask and snorkel stolen even back then. Love that place. Will never forget the stars and the candles and lanterns at night in the palapas and food hut as there was no electricity.
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