Bahías de Huatulco

Huatulco is an interesting experiment in resort development. Until the mid-1980s, this thickly forested slice of Pacific coast hosted nothing more than a few hard-to-reach fishing villages. Then along came government-funded tourist agency, Fonatur, with a mandate to develop the region’s nine ruggedly handsome bays for tourism. But Cancún this isn’t. Huatulco’s development has followed a more ecological bent. Big hotels are spread-out, low-rise and relatively low-key; tracts of virgin forest have been protected in a national park; and the area’s unobtrusive infrastructure doesn’t really feel like a resort at all. Indeed, the main settlement Crucecita (which houses the coast’s original inhabitants) could pass off as any authentic Mexican town with its church, park and street stalls.