The Oaxacan Coast
We had heard lots about the state of Oaxaca and were excited to be entering a new territory with a new culture, cuisine, and climate. The hills of San Cristobal were chilly at night, and we were looking forward to some warmer weather (we hadn't packed nearly enough warm clothing for a Mexico trip!) We stopped at five towns on the Oaxacan coastline.. here's a little about them.
Puerto Angel
Salina Cruz
To get to the coast, we had a long coach journey from San Cristobal. To avoid traveling overnight, we planned a one night stop-over in Salina Cruz. We hadn't heard a great deal about this area, and what we had heard was "give it a miss". We've been misled in the past with comments like this, so we usually take them with a pinch of salt. We were ready to give Salina Cruz a chance.
I was excited to be by the coast again, and thought it would be a great opportunity to taste some fresh fish from this region. It was no where to be found, no street food, no fishermen. Our taxi driver dropped us off at "the best seafood restaurant in town", but it was a depressing with a grim-green, eating hall with laminated menus (although laminated menu snobbery gets you nowhere in Mexico, sometimes those places have the best authentic food!).
After walking the streets, with its stray dogs and battered old trucks we soon realised Salina Cruz may live up to its reputation. One last search for some ceviche around the corner, and another stop in a completely empty drab bar serving nothing but overpriced soggy burgers. It was getting dark, and the small town felt a bit wild West, so we hopped back in a taxi and we gave up on eating out.
I had my first experience of Walmart that night. I guess you have to experience everything once, and that place really is a once-only visit. Out of complete necessity and hunger it was our only option for food that was [less likely] to make us ill. We laughed about it as we ate some cheese rolls with avocado whilst sitting on our hotel windowsill looking out at our car park view. We were excited to move on and see the places we had heard so much about.
Sunrise at Playa La Entrega
Crucecita
A long delay and a two hour gut-wrenching drive later, we had arrived at our first enjoyable stop on the Oaxacan coast, Crucecita. It was worth it. What a different place. This place really was a polar opposite to Salina Cruz, quite unbelievable considering we weren't that far away. Pristine lawns and palm trees lining the streets, taxi drivers kindly charging four times the rate. I had read the town was popular with tourists and treated as a bit of a hub to get along the Oaxacan coastline.
There are a few authentic places to eat in the town, such as Grillo Mariniero seafood restaurant. At first, our waiter seemed a little vacant, perhaps not quite ready for the lunchtime rush, but once we struck up a conversation about fish, he became instantly chatty. It turned out he goes out fishing every morning, and they serve the catch the same day. In my eyes a perfect restaurant. They shamelessly open at 12 and shut at 8pm, but with fish that fresh they can do whatever they like. The beer is served ice cold and ceviches are excellent served with tiny sweet fresh limes. I tried a beautiful whole fried snapper which was doused in hot garlic butter, the sort of simple fresh cooking you're dying to find whilst being by the coast. It was - sit down, chill out and eat-with-your-hands kind of food. We love it.
Grillo Marineiro, whole red snapper with rice and salad.
The beaches and bays surrounding Crucecita are hard to beat. They lie somewhere between the developed hotel world and an unspoilt Mexican way of life that still has a thriving fishing industry and locals going about their business. It was here we met Guero and had our infamous fishing trip - as we mentioned in the pervious blog.
Puerto Angel
After a few nights in Crucecita, we headed west along the coast to Puerto Angel. Small and almost completely cut off from public transport, it's easy to know why many visitors overlook this town, but if anything that helps to preserve it the way it is. The rugged rocky coastline with a notorious strong current and crashing waves make for an exciting walk around the bay. As a visitor, you will be a minority, but that's not a bad thing, just more of a reason to get involved and learn a bit about the local way of life - which is fairly chilled out as it goes. The small village is mainly populated by Mexican fisherman, successful ones at that. We spoke to a few who had very wheel barrows full of fresh mahi mahi, bonito tuna and shark. A great sign and what we had been searching for after having a fairly meat and corn heavy diet so far! Still, we already had already caught our own Tuna. Did we mention that?
View over Puerto Angel from our Air Bnb
We were lucky to find an absolute corker of an Air BnB, high up on a hill, lush green grass and a Mexican plum tree heaving with ripe yellow fruits. There was no kitchen included, but the rooms had the god-send of air conditioning, and the view of the bay was unrivalled. There was even use of a private pool heated by the scorching days' sun, we felt like we were starring in a 1980s gangster film as we admired the view sipping a drink in the pool. Well worth the sacrifice of no kitchen, and we soon got used to eating raw and fish ceviche (made with our Tuna, of course), even for breakfast.
Puerto Angelito
Heading a little further West along the coast, you will find lots of small bays and long stretches of beaches, famous for their high waves they seem to attract keen surfers. These are acessible for the day from Puerto Angel, so we took a collectivo (a shared taxi truck), which here was a little more 'rustic' than we had been used to, in the style of jumping in the back of a dusty metal truck with a very old lady grasping a bag of limes and tomatoes.
I can handle a hot kitchen for hours, but the days are SERIOUSLY hot in the peak here, so walking isn't advised for long distances. Respect the sun before becoming dehydrated like a desert lizard. We got through a lot of water, cold beer, dark chocolate ice cream ... and that was just to make it from the road to the beach.
Oaxacan Coastline
This stretch is a little more modest, less hotels and with palm roofed beach huts and hostels that offer some tasty dishes. We stopped in one for some lunch and a sip of mezcal, and a lovely dish of 'Pescado en rojo mole' - a succulent, gelatinous unamed white fish which was grilled and served in a complex and punchy red mole sauce. When ordering I had no idea what was coming, but that adds to the experience.
Mazunte
On the same day, we also vistied Mazunte - only minutes from Puerto Angelito. There's a few things in town to see and do including some late night bars and a turtle sanctuary. On the beach there's a similar vibe to the rest of the coast, which seems popular with tourists. We sat in a bar for a while to cool down and listen to some bohemian travellers play a ukulele. We were approached by a lady selling freshly pressed coconut oil make from Oaxacan coconuts. 100% natural and smelling of intense coconuts we bought a small bottle. I was gathering a few rare and unique ingredients from everywhere we stopped. At this quality and price, you'll regret it if not snapped up.
Pristine Beach at Crucecita
Huatulco flight
We would have happily stayed here for much, much longer, however our next stop - Oaxaca city was calling us. The route by road wasn't advised if you're prone to travel sickness, so we opted for a cheap and short flight instead. Unluckily we hit a six hour delay at the airport and were stuck there for most of the day. It wasn't all wasted time as we managed to catch up with some friends back home, send a few emails and just stop. Sometimes whilst travelling, backpacking, exploring, whatever you want to call it, you rarely find the time to just slow down and stop. Well we didn't have a choice with this delay. We managed to dodge the airport food by walking out of the airport grounds and find a few street food vendors serving stuffed chilli tacos, beers, and other authentic delights to taxi drivers, I was quite happy relaxing in the air conditioned airport complete with its palm leaf woven roof.
The 40 minute flight to Oaxaca city felt even shorter probably thanks to the six hour build up. We experienced some epic views as the sun set over the huge green mountainous Oaxacan landscape, which seemed to reach as far as we could see. The thoughts of all the delights that were growing amongst it got us thinking about the abundance of rich ingredients of this region - the coffee, chocolate, chillies and of course agave to produce mezcal. By the time we had landed in Oaxaca city it was dark, and we could see the entire city lit up with lights surrounded by mountains. We were excited to be here, and of course hungry...
Tiny airport at Huatulco with palapa roofs... not a bad place to get a delay!