Oaxaca Coast.

A chilled seaside break which ticked all the boxes with Playa Estacahuite stealing the show, it’s beautiful.

1. Puerto Ángel.

The main aim of our time in Puerto Ángel was to chill, read and plan for the rest of our travels. And we succeeded.

Puerto Ángel is a fishing village on the Pacific coast of Mexico. Half of the bay is lined with fishing boats at the top of a sandy mount. The fishermen zoom up to the beach at a ridiculous pace to make sure they summit the mount. I can’t help but think this must knacker the boats but it’s great for people watching (from afar!). You can swim in the other half of the bay but the waves got pretty big by the afternoon. Luckily our Airbnb had a lovely little pool so we spent a lot of our time there!

One lunch we ate fresh fish and drank Piña coladas at Anahi watching the fisherman come in which was delightful. (After Tom very kindly helped push a fishing boat back in the sea!).

2. ‘Antojito’ on the hill.

I’m proud to say we ate at this little antojito almost every night, which I’ve now learnt translates to ‘little cravings’ (ie. Mexican street food).

It’s run by a family who live next door (all of whom we met) and is only open in the evenings, 7.30pm to be precise. The place is constantly buzzing with people popping in and out, sitting on the outside stalls or driving by to pickup takeaways.

There was no menu you’re just told what’s available: tacos, tostadas, tortas o tlayduas con quesillo, pollo, chorizo o jamon. Simple but delicious. I sampled their changing agua del día including Horchata, a sweet white drink with a hint of cinnamon. We spent £6 a night on dinner (for both of us) including drinks and a generous tip, madness.

3. Playa Estacahuite.

The three coves of Playa Estacahuite are absolutely stunning. There was barely anyone there the whole afternoon, and by the end of the day we had a cove to ourselves. Dreamy.

We had a lovely fish lunch at the top of the cove at El Bucanero sampling some pescado a la diabla which translates to ‘to the devil’, which is basically very spicy!

I think you need to pick your timing as the bay is a popular snorkelling tour stop off – but just grab a drink and wait for them to leave!

4. Playa Zipolite.

I was slightly underwhelmed by Zipolite. It’s a surfing beach and it was difficult to swim as the current was very strong which is probably why it wasn’t for me! The beach is lined with bars and restaurants with thatched roofs so it would be a great place to chill and get a tan. (There did seem to be a few travellers that had been there for a while!). As a side note it’s also a nudist beach – that didn’t make much difference though!

5. Fiesta del Ángel.

One week in Mexico and it has became abundantly clear that Mexicans love a fiesta. Little did we know our stay coincided with the weekend long Fiesta del Ángel where the village celebrate the Saint of Puerto Ángel. As we explored on our second day there everyone seemed to be getting involved preparing and decorating the streets with sea and fish bunting!

On the first evening a parade circled the village with music, traditional dress and a large Angel puppet. We watched it all from the comfort of the wonderful Antojito! The main event (so it seemed) was the sea parade the next day. The large Angel puppet was paraded around the bay with a brass band serenading it on a neighbouring fishing boat. Fisherman decorated their boats and accompanied the Angel to nearby beaches as part of the parade. There were so many fishing boats! That evening the village roads were closed to make way for a stage, music and dancing. We set up camp in a taquería and watched!

6. La Casa de Tía Locha.

Just a little shout out for our Airbnb, the main thing being that there was a pool and the most incredible view of Puerto Ángel. The room itself is pretty basic, an en-suite with a fridge, but if you just want to hang by the pool for a few days it’s perfect!

We visited Puerto Ángel in October 2018.