Santa Cruz Huatulco's small beach is easily accessible but often crowded, and its looks are marred by the cruise-ship pier – especially when one of the floating skyscrapers is in dock. It has several beach restaurants of the kind where staff stand outside with menus trying to pull people in.
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
26.56 MILES
Zipolite's beach is huge, running for a good 1.5km and dispatching massive waves. It's famous for its nudity; you'll see people randomly swimming,…
15.09 MILES
Halfway between the western edge of Parque Nacional Huatulco and Puerto Ángel awaits some of the most precious coastline in Oaxaca. The water can be…
29.03 MILES
This rocky cape, jutting out from the west end of Mazunte beach, is the southernmost point in the state of Oaxaca and a fabulous place to hike at sunset…
8.27 MILES
This long, sandy beach, 14km west of Santa Cruz Huatulco, is backed by a fishing village, and in contrast to Huatulco's other settlements, there's…
24.06 MILES
The coast east of Puerto Ángel is dotted with small hidden beaches, none of them very busy on weekdays. Playa La Boquilla, on a gentle bay about 7.5km…
4.81 MILES
The oddly named 'rabbit bay,' 3km east of Tangolunda, has a long main beach divided by a small rocky outcrop into the western Playa Arenas and the eastern…
2.85 MILES
Cacaluta is a 1km-long slice of paradise that's protected by an island, backed by dunes and usually deliciously deserted. The Mexican road-trip movie Y Tú…
1.93 MILES
Three kilometers west of Santa Cruz and easily walkable along a roadside pavement, Maguey’s fine 400m beach curves around a calm bay between forested…
Nearby Bahías de Huatulco attractions
0.41 MILES
One of Huatulco's more recent developments is a wide terraced walkway that leads from Crucecita to the Santa Cruz harbor. The path then carries on west…
0.66 MILES
La Entrega lies toward the outer edge of Bahía de Santa Cruz, a five-minute motorboat trip or 2.5km walk/drive along a bendy road from Santa Cruz. This…
0.75 MILES
The beach here, 1km east of Santa Cruz Huatulco, is wide with soft sand, but offers little in the way of shade, plus the surf can be surprisingly strong…
4. Parroquia de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe
0.97 MILES
Let it not be said that the age of great church building is dead. Crucecita’s pale-orange colonial-style ecclesial dame dates from – ahem – 2000, but,…
1.38 MILES
Just east of Bahía Maguey, this lush 250m beach has calm waters good for snorkeling, and no crowds because there's no vehicle access and no restaurants…
1.93 MILES
Three kilometers west of Santa Cruz and easily walkable along a roadside pavement, Maguey’s fine 400m beach curves around a calm bay between forested…
2.78 MILES
Tangolunda, 5km east of Santa Cruz Huatulco, is the site of most of the major top-end hotel developments. The long, wide, spotlessly clean beach is…
2.85 MILES
Cacaluta is a 1km-long slice of paradise that's protected by an island, backed by dunes and usually deliciously deserted. The Mexican road-trip movie Y Tú…