Huatulco ("Bahías de Huatulco"), centered around the town of La Crucecita,
is a tourist development in Mexico. It is located on the Pacific coast in
the state of Oaxaca. Huatulco's tourism industry is centered around 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 where the foothills of
the Sierra Madre del Sur Mountains meet the Pacific Ocean approximately 500
km south of Acapulco, Guerrero.
History
Legends say the Toltecs and Quetzalcoátl 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 Mexicas.
After the Spanish Conquest, Huatulco thrived as a port under Hernán Cortés'
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 and Thomas Cavendish - both
of whom left their prints on the region's history and legends that continue
to this day.
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. The existing population was relocated to Santa
María Huatulco. 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 (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
Huatulco is divided into four main districts. Tangolunda is the area where
the 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 that provides support services to the resort, 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 La Crucecita. It is
also the center of commercial and tourist activities, with a large pier
where yachts and cruise ships dock. Many resort offerings are 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.
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 2006, the park received certification from
Green Globe, mostly due to it management of potable and waste water, the
first resort in the Americas to do so, and the third in the world. 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, but 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
treatment plants so that no waste goes into its pristine bays. Huatulco has
been awarded the Green Globe 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 28C. 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.
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 200 has over 300 speed bumps (Topes). Driving from Oaxaca
city, the state capital is not any easier because Highway 135 is also full
of speed bumps. Highway 190 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, which is served nationally by Mexicana, Interjet, and Magnicharters, from other Mexican airports. Internationally and First Choice fly here from the U.S., Canada and Europe.
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