Huatulco was Mexico’s newest planned coastal resort and lies
along nine sandy bays. The Mexican government began its infrastructure work in
2008 but the Quinta Real was built earlier, in the 1990s. It is in the
foothills of the Sierra Madre, extending over 21 miles of littoral between the
Coyula and Copalita rivers. The area called La Crucecita is where most of the
restaurants were. The main square where the mercado is was closed for
renovation. The town is not inviting—a beach town that is old but not charming.
Our first four nights we stayed at the Quinta Real on
Tangolunda Bay, the second three nights we stayed at Secrets on Conejos Bay.
While we were staying at the Quinta Real we went out touring a bit. On Monday
we rented a scooter for two days from Aventura Mudo, tel. 958-581-0197 across
from Dreams Hotel on Tangolunda Bay for Mex$600/US$37. On our first excursion, we took a drive toward Santa Salinis. The area looked semi-tropical, with
cactuses. It was baking hot in the sun but on the scooter, the wind made it
pleasant. Then we went in the opposite direction toward Bahia Entrega to find
an outdoor restaurant on the beach for oysters and grilled fish. A young man
also on a scooter, “guided” us to overlooks to see the views and then to the
restaurant he worked for. Because we didn’t have anywhere in mind to eat, his
place, Palapa Bufadero, was okay with us.
At the palapa, we had a huachinango (red snapper) a la
grilla/parilla. The price was Mex$350 a kilo and we had a small one costing
Mex$245. Unfortunately, the good-looking fish we chose was over-cooked and so it
was dry—almost too dry to eat. We also had a jarra de limonada that was good. A
woman came by saying she was selling ostiones/oysters for Mex$100 a dozen. We
had seen a man selling oysters on our beach at Bahia Tangolunda and his price
was Mex$200. So we bought 12. They were not oysters (ostiones de roca). They
were called concha nakar and they were in a shell that looked like a scallop
shell. They were very tough and not so tasty. We were not happy with our beach lunch
experience.
| Our palapa dining experience was not delicious or even good |
After lunch, we went into Santa Cruz to see the cruise ship harbor and investigate going to a park called (of all things) Hagia Sofia. It was too far and Audre was getting crippled on the scooter. She didn’t want to go far on it. For dinner that night we had salads at Cupulas Restaurant at Quinta Real. There was a full moon and it was magical. The service was good too. We met a couple from Park City, Utah, and their friend from Denver who have a fractional ownership at one of the villas on the grounds of the Quinta Real. They had us over for a drink to see their villa and we had a wonderful time getting to know them in their large, beautiful condominium. It turned out that we have friends in common. How cool is that?
The next day we drove our scooter to La Playa Bocana and
visited Parque Eco-Arqueologico Copalita. The entry fee was an expensive Mex$80
x 2 but it was an area recently developed by the Mexican government (Fonatur y
Instituto Nacional de Antropologa e Historia) and was well done. It had been
inhabited by Mixtecs and Zapotecs starting around 1500 BC. The architecture of the museum was beautiful and the exhibits were very well done.
| An exhibit at the museum of the Parque Eco-Arqueologico Copalita |
The park was where the Copalita River meets the sea at La Playa Bocana. The effects of Hurricane Patricia were evident in the beach strewn with debris and the dirty, brown water. While the beach at Bocana is long it is not particularly pretty. The ruins were good but the museum was great—both the architecture as well as the displays. We had a nice walk under the canopy of the trees to the outlooks.
| The ruins at Parque Eco-Arqueologico Copalita |
Unfortunately, Dimitri tripped going up some stairs and scraped one of his arms. It bled profusely.
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