page_title: Mazunte
section_title: The beaches
hierarchical_section_title: Mazunte / The beaches
caption_attribution_description: Español: View of Mazunte, Oaxaca, Mexico
context_page_description: Mazunte is a small beach town on the Pacific coast in Oaxaca, Mexico. It is located 22 km southwest of San Pedro Pochutla on coastal Highway 200. Mazunte is located some 10 km to the west of Puerto Ángel and just about 1 km from San Agustinillo and 264 km south of the capital of Oaxaca. There are two etymologies for the name. Some sources state that “Mazunte” is derived from a Nahuatl phrase, “maxotetia” which means “please deposit eggs here.” However, older residents of the community state that it is from the word “mizontle, ” used by locals to refer to a crab species that used to be very abundant in the area.
  Mazunte is famous for sea turtles. Before the mid 20th century, it had nearly no human population, but that changed when a market for sea turtle meat and eggs developed. Due to the many turtles that come to Mazunte to lay eggs, by the 1970s, Mazunte was the center of sea turtle hunting in Mexico, with its own slaughterhouse. Concern over the declining number of sea turtles eventually led to an absolute ban on turtle meat and eggs in Mexico, and deprived most families in Mazunte of their main source of income.
context_section_description: Mazunte is a 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) stretch of beach with a secluded cove on the far west end. Boats on this beach offer tours to Zipolite, Puerto Ángel, Estacahuite, La Mina and La Boquilla. Depending on the season, it is possible to see whales, dolphins, sea turtles, manta rays and other aquatic species. Rentals for sports fishing are also available. The main beach and the cove on the west end both have a number of small hotels and restaurants. All beaches have lifeguards during the tourist seasons. There are two other secluded and non-developed beaches in the area, Playa Mermejita on Punta Cometa and Playa Escobilla just west of the  principle beaches.
  All but one of the marine turtles come to the Mazunte area to lay their eggs, as well as a few land and freshwater turtle species. The Pacific coast town of Mazunte is famous for its sea turtles. Thousands of olive ridley sea turtles arrive en masse to lay their eggs in nearby Escobilla Bay. The nesting season generally begins in May and lasts for several months. Although an endangered species, the turtles come to the beach in large numbers for a few nights after a full moon. These events are called arribadas. Other turtles that lay eggs here are the Hawksbill turtle, the “prieta” (a subspecies of green turtle), and some leatherback turtles. In 1997, The Centro Mexicano de Tortuga counted the arrival of about 900,000 sea turtles to La Escobilla beach alone.
  Volunteers from the Center monitor nesting areas in and around Mazunte. When females come onto the beaches at night, generally just after a full moon, they are measured, tagged and their eggs collected for incubation at the Center. The process ends with the liberation of the hatchlings from the same beaches they were collected from. On many of these occasions, the public may participate in the freeing of the hatchlings.
caption: View of Mazunte beach from Punta Cometa
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