Playas San Agustinillo and Mazunte

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About a mile west of Zipolite, a wide, mile-long, yellow-sand beach curves past the village of San Agustinillo. On the open ocean but partly sheltered by offshore rocks, its surf is much like that of Zipolite, varying from gentle in the morning to rough in the afternoon, depending mostly upon wind and offshore swells.

Small village groceries and beachside palapa restaurants supply food and drinks to the occasional Zipolite overflow and local families on weekends and holidays. Fishing is excellent, either in the surf from nearby rocks, by rented panga, or your own boat launched from the beach. Beach camping is customary, especially in front of beachfront restaurants, and at a few rustic, hammock-hung roadside ramadas, such as El Paraiso, at the east (Zipolite) end of the beach.

Remnants of the local turtle industry can be found at the rusting former processing factories on Playa San Agustinillo (west end) and Playa Mazunte two miles farther west.

The half-mile-long, yellow-sand Mazunte Beach, like San Agustinillo, is semisheltered and varies from tranquil to rough. Fishing is likewise good, beach camping is customary (as a courtesy, ask nearby business owners if it’s okay), and local stores and seafood palapa restaurants sell basic supplies and food.

San Agustinillo and Mazunte people, including a group of European (mostly Italian) resident-entrepreneurs, have been renovating their houses and building cabañas to accommodate an increasing number of visitors. Signs along the road and at the beach advertise their lodgings and restaurants.

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