Huatulco
Encyclopedia
La Crucecita, Oaxaca
La Crucecita along with Tangolunda and Santa Cruz comprise the resort area known as Huatulco in the Mexican state of Oaxaca.It is the community closest to the bays but it is only 4 km from Federal Highway 200...
, is a tourist development in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. It is located on the Pacific coast in the state of Oaxaca
Oaxaca
Oaxaca , , officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Oaxaca is one of the 31 states which, along with the Federal District, comprise the 32 federative entities of Mexico. It is divided into 571 municipalities; of which 418 are governed by the system of customs and traditions...
. Huatulco's tourism industry is centered on its nine bays thus the name Bahias de Huatulco but has since been unofficially shortened to simply Huatulco. You will find a wide variety of accommodations from rooms for rent, small economy hotels, luxury oceanfront villas, vacation condominiums, bed and breakfasts, along with several luxury resorts standing on or near the shores of Tangolunda Bay. The Camino Real Zaashila, Quinta Real Huatulco, Las Brisas, Dreams Resort & Spa (Formerly the Gala hotel) and the Barceló are examples of the most popular larger resorts in the area.
Huatulco is located in the state of Oaxaca
Oaxaca
Oaxaca , , officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Oaxaca is one of the 31 states which, along with the Federal District, comprise the 32 federative entities of Mexico. It is divided into 571 municipalities; of which 418 are governed by the system of customs and traditions...
where the foothills of the Sierra Madre del Sur
Sierra Madre del Sur
The Sierra Madre del Sur is a mountain range in southern Mexico, extending from southern Michoacán east through Guerrero, to the Istmo de Tehuantepec in eastern Oaxaca.-Geography:...
Mountains meet the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
approximately 500 km south of Acapulco, Guerrero. the population is 50 000.
History
Legends say the ToltecToltec
The Toltec culture is an archaeological Mesoamerican culture that dominated a state centered in Tula, Hidalgo in the early post-classic period of Mesoamerican chronology...
s and Quetzalcoatl
Quetzalcoatl
Quetzalcoatl is a Mesoamerican deity whose name comes from the Nahuatl language and has the meaning of "feathered serpent". The worship of a feathered serpent deity is first documented in Teotihuacan in the first century BCE or first century CE...
came from this area. Quetzacoátl, according to a later legend, set an enormous and indestructible cross, which has never been found. Various people have passed through this area, including the Chatmos, the Zapotecs and the Mexica
Mexica
The Mexica were a pre-Columbian people of central Mexico.Mexica may also refer to:*Mexica , a board game designed by Wolfgang Kramer and Michael Kiesling*Mexica , a 2005 novel by Norman Spinrad...
s.
After the Spanish Conquest, Huatulco thrived as a port under Hernán Cortés
Hernán Cortés
Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro, 1st Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca was a Spanish Conquistador who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions of mainland Mexico under the rule of the King of Castile in the early 16th century...
' control serving as a vantage point for Spanish galleons and a distribution centre for supplies on the Pacific coast. The latter half of the 16th Century saw Huatulco attacked by Francis Drake
Francis Drake
Sir Francis Drake, Vice Admiral was an English sea captain, privateer, navigator, slaver, and politician of the Elizabethan era. Elizabeth I of England awarded Drake a knighthood in 1581. He was second-in-command of the English fleet against the Spanish Armada in 1588. He also carried out the...
and Thomas Cavendish
Thomas Cavendish
Sir Thomas Cavendish was an English explorer and a privateer known as "The Navigator" because he was the first who deliberately tried to emulate Sir Francis Drake and raid the Spanish towns and ships in the Pacific and return by circumnavigating the globe...
- both of whom left their prints on the region's history and legends that continue to this day.
Vicente Guerrero
Vicente Guerrero
Vicente Ramón Guerrero Saldaña was one of the leading revolutionary generals of the Mexican War of Independence, who fought against Spain for independence in the early 19th century, and served briefly as President of Mexico...
was executed by firing squad here in 1831.
Until resort development began in the 1980s, Huatulco was little known except as a coffee-growing area.
In 1984, FONATUR (Fondo Nacional de Turismo), a government agency dedicated to the development of tourism in Mexico, acquired 21,000 hectares of land to develop a tourism center, similar to that in Cancun
Cancún
Cancún is a city of international tourism development certified by the UNWTO . Located on the northeast coast of Quintana Roo in southern Mexico, more than 1,700 km from Mexico City, the Project began operations in 1974 as Integrally Planned Center, a pioneer of FONATUR Cancún is a city of...
. The existing population was relocated to Santa María Huatulco
Santa María Huatulco
Santa María Huatulco is a town and municipality in Oaxaca in south-western Mexico.It is part of the Pochutla District in the east of the Costa Region....
. The plan resulted in the improvement of roadways and other infrastructure. It also has populated areas mixed with "green zones" to make the area more ecologically-friendly. In fact, this is one of the cleanest developments in Mexico.
In addition to the beaches, one can explore and shop in the small communities of Bahias de Huatulco, such as Santa Cruz, La Crucecita, or old Santa María Huatulco
Santa María Huatulco
Santa María Huatulco is a town and municipality in Oaxaca in south-western Mexico.It is part of the Pochutla District in the east of the Costa Region....
(the municipal seat). When doing so, one can travel between the communities by bus or taxi. The entire area has a "small town" feel about it and is rarely crowded with tourists with the exception of the Christmas and Semana Santa holiday periods.
About 80% of all tourism in Bahias de Huatulco is domestic in nature. Only about 20% of Huatulco's tourism is foreign, mainly because international air access is limited. Bahias de Huatulco has a small international airport just 20 minutes from the main resorts in Tangolunda Bay. The peak season for foreign tourism is typically from December through April.
Geography
Bahias de Huatulco is divided into four main districts. Tangolunda is the area where the large upscale resorts are located; Santa Cruz is a small town with the main marina and Santa Cruz beach; La Crucecita, is another small town just inland from the beach area which provides support services to the area, and Chahué is an area between Santa Cruz and Tangolunda.The Bahias de Huatulco, (Bays of Huatulco) are actually made up of a series of nine bays and numerous small coves stretching along 26 kilometers of jagged coastline, including 36 white sandy beaches. The most centrally located bay is Bahía de Santa Cruz, which is just south of the town of La Crucecita. It is also the center of commercial and tourist activities, with a large pier where cruise ships dock. Many resort offerings can be found here such as hotels, craft shops, discothèques, bars, restaurants, excursion agencies, sailboat excursions as well as scuba diving, snorkeling and jet skis for rent. The Capilla de Santa Cruz is where many weddings and baptisms are celebrated next to the sea. Playa Santa Cruz, is the best known of the beaches here. It is 250 meters long, with soft white sand and turquoise blue water.
Heading east from Santa Cruz are the bays of Bahía Chahué, Bahía Tangolunda and Bahía Conejos. These are the more developed areas of Huatulco. Bahía Chahué is 2 km east of Santa Cruz and its name means "fertile or moist land" in Zapotec
Zapotec language
The Zapotec language are a group of closely related indigenous Mesoamerican languages spoken by the Zapotec people from the southwestern-central highlands of Mexico. Present-day native speakers are estimated to number over half a million, with the majority inhabiting the state of Oaxaca....
. It has a marina for large and small yachts along with three principal beaches; Chahué, Esperanza and Tejón. Even though these are wide beaches, their moderate surf makes them less-visited than those in Santa Cruz. Three km east of Chahué is Bahía Tangolunda, which has five beaches; Ventura, Manzanillo, Tornillo, Tangolunda and Rincón Sabroso. Here the water varies between cobalt blue and emerald green. Most of the larger hotels are located on this bay. Residencial Conejos is 4 km east of Tangolunda and has some of the larger residential homes in the area, some of which are vacation rentals. The mouth of the Río (River) Copalita is slightly east of Bahía Conejos and it has a long zone of beaches. To the east of Río Copalita are beaches stretching all the way to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec
Isthmus of Tehuantepec
The Isthmus of Tehuantepec is an isthmus in Mexico. It represents the shortest distance between the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean, and prior to the opening of the Panama Canal was a major shipping route known simply as the Tehuantepec Route...
. Two of these beaches are Barra de la Cruz and Playa Mojon. Some great surf waves can be found from these beaches. Barra de la Cruz is one of the best and easiest to access. Playa El Mojon can, at certain times of the year, have some decent waves for surfing and is also a great location to explore.
To the west of Santa Cruz, the beaches are less developed; in fact most of this area belongs to the Parque Nacional (National Park) Huatulco. This is a protected area (Área Natural Protegida) created in 1998. It contains 6,375 hectares of lowland jungle and 5,516 hectares of marine areas, encompassing the bays of Bahía Maguey, Bahía Órgano, Bahía Cacaluta, Bahía Chachacual and Bahía San Agustín. In these bays live the most important coral communities of the Mexican Pacific. 723 species of animals live in the park as well as a number of species of colorful fish, and it is open to scuba diving, bird-watching and hiking. In 2005, Huatulco was awarded the Green Globe
Green Globe
Green Globe is based on Agenda 21 principles for Sustainable Development endorsed by 182 Heads of State at the United Nations Rio De Janeiro Earth Summit . Green Globe Certification and Green Globe Asia Pacific deliver separate certification services and standards to the travel & tourism as well...
International Certification as a sustainable tourist area. Huatulco was the first sustainable tourist community in the Americas and the third worldwide, after Bali in Indonesia and Kaikoura in New Zealand, to receive this prestigious award because of its development programs for a culture environmentally-friendly to conserve its natural resources. Bahía Órgano is named for the cacti that grow there. It is 240 meters long and only accessible by boat. Bahía Maguey is about 1/2 km long and is accessible by car. Both these bays have fine, white sand and waters of various colors of blue and green. Bahía Cacaluta and Bahía Chachacual are only accessible by boat, and there are absolutely no human constructions of any kind. Bahía San Agustín is the furthest west and the largest of all the bays. It has 1 km of beaches between 20 and 80 meters wide. There are also small islets inside the bay itself.
Large portions of the Bahias de Huatulco resort area are located within an "ecological zone"; much of the area is protected from future development, and the area is serviced by modern water and sewage
Sewage
Sewage is water-carried waste, in solution or suspension, that is intended to be removed from a community. Also known as wastewater, it is more than 99% water and is characterized by volume or rate of flow, physical condition, chemical constituents and the bacteriological organisms that it contains...
treatment plants so that no waste goes into its pristine bays. Huatulco has been awarded the Green Globe
Green Globe
Green Globe is based on Agenda 21 principles for Sustainable Development endorsed by 182 Heads of State at the United Nations Rio De Janeiro Earth Summit . Green Globe Certification and Green Globe Asia Pacific deliver separate certification services and standards to the travel & tourism as well...
certification, and it is the only resort in Mexico to receive this prestigious award (Green Globe is the worldwide benchmarking and certification system for the travel and tourism industry across the triple bottom line of economic, social and environmental management).
Climate
Sunshine can be expected about 330 days a year with the average temperature of 28 °C (82.4 °F). The dry season extends from December to May and the rainy season is from June to November. The amount of precipitation has a definite effect on the local vegetation, being brownish in the dry season and very green in the rainy season.Coffee plantations
There are a number of coffee plantations which are still in operation and give tours, including Finca (farm) Las Nieves, Finca Monte Carlos, Finca Margaritas, Finca El Pacífico and Finca La Gloria. Finca El Pacífico is known for the organic coffee it produces called "Pluma Hidalgo," and it is surrounded by waterfalls and ravines. Finca La Gloria is known for the butterfly sanctuary "Mariposorio Dain Biguid", where dozens of species of butterflies can be seen and the "Llano Grande Falls". The Río Copalitilla has its source here as well.Festivals
The Festival Música por la Tierra (Music Festival for the Earth) features music and culture in an event designed to raise awareness about the environment. The event features a number of rock and popular music groups.Transportation
Despite the improvements in infrastructure, Bahias de Huatulco is not as easy to get to as other resorts like Cancun. The drive south from Acapulco on Federal Highway 200Mexican Federal Highway 200
Mexican Federal Highway 200 is also known as Carretera Pacifico and is a Federal Highway of Mexico. Carretera Pacifico is the main leg of the Pacific Coastal Highway within Mexico and runs along the Pacific Coast from Mexican Federal Highway 15 in the north to the Guatemalan border in the south...
has over 300 speed bumps (Topes). Driving from Oaxaca city
Oaxaca, Oaxaca
The city and municipality of Oaxaca de Juárez, or simply Oaxaca, is the capital and largest city of the Mexican state of the same name . It is located in the Centro District in the Central Valleys region of the state, in the foothills of the Sierra Madre at the base of the Cerro del Fortín...
, the state capital is not any easier because Federal Highway 135
Mexican Federal Highway 135
Mexican Federal Highway 135 is a Federal Highway of Mexico....
is also full of speed bumps. Federal Highway 190
Mexican Federal Highway 190
Mexican Federal Highway 190 is a Federal Highway of Mexico....
has fewer but it's a much longer road with many curves due to the mountainous terrain.
Bahias de Huatulco has an airport, the Bahías de Huatulco International Airport
Bahías de Huatulco International Airport
Bahías de Huatulco International Airport is an international airport located at Huatulco, in the state of Oaxaca on Mexico. The airport handles national and international air traffic for the Pacific coast south of the city of Oaxaca....
, which is served nationally by Interjet
Interjet
ABC Aerolíneas, S.A. de C.V., operating as Interjet, is a low-cost airline with its headquarters in Lomas de Chapultepec, Miguel Hidalgo, Mexico City, Mexico. The airline operates scheduled flights to 24 domestic and 3 international destinations out of Toluca Airport and Mexico City International...
, and Magnicharters
Magnicharters
Grupo Aereo Monterrey S.A. de C.V., doing business as Magnicharters, is a airline with its headquarters in Colonia Juárez, Cuauhtémoc, Mexico City, operating domestic holiday flights out of Mexico City International Airport.-History:...
, from other Mexican airports. Internationally, American Airlines
American Airlines
American Airlines, Inc. is the world's fourth-largest airline in passenger miles transported and operating revenues. American Airlines is a subsidiary of the AMR Corporation and is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas adjacent to its largest hub at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport...
and United Airlines
United Airlines
United Air Lines, Inc., is the world's largest airline with 86,852 employees United Air Lines, Inc., is the world's largest airline with 86,852 employees United Air Lines, Inc., is the world's largest airline with 86,852 employees (which includes the entire holding company United Continental...
fly here from the U.S., Canada and Europe. Frontier Airlines
Frontier Airlines
Frontier Airlines, Inc., is an American airline headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. The carrier, which is a subsidiary and operating brand of Republic Airways Holdings, operates flights to 83 destinations throughout the United States, Mexico, and Costa Rica and maintains hubs at...
also has seasonal service that begins in December.