Mazunte

$25–50

Star of the Mazunte beachfront accommodations is Cabaña Ziga (no email, no phone, $30 d private bath, $25 d shared bath), just west of the Turtle Museum [2], with 17 rooms in three floors and a palm-shaded beach-view restaurant, just above the waves. The plainly decorated, spacious, and clean tile-floored rooms come with fans and mosquito nets. As of this writing Cabañas Ziga accepts no reservations. Show up before noon to be sure you get a room, especially during the busy winter season.

Another invitingly rustic lodging on the stunning, palm-shadowed Mazunte [1] beachfront is Posada del Architecto (at the far, west end of the Mazunte beach, tel. 958/583-8982, guidocco [at] yahoo [dot] com [dot] mx, reservations not accepted, $35 s or d, $4 per person dorm or camping), on Playa Rinconcito. Owners offer nine clean, palapa-sheltered cabañas with mosquito nets, fans, and private shower-baths. They also have dormitory rooms with bunks and a campground with palapa shelters and hammocks. Find it at the beach end of Calle Rinconcito, a block west of the bridge in Mazunte.

The fanciest accommodation in Mazunte [1], and sister to the Hotel La Buena Vista in Puerto Ángel [3], is the lovely hillside Alta Mira Bungalows (reserve via the Buena Vista in Puerto Ángel, tel./fax 958/584-3104, reservations [at] buenavista [dot] com, www.labuenavista.com/alta_mira [4], $50–60 d). Guests enjoy a beautiful ocean-view hillside setting with restaurant, the murmur of the waves, and a stepped path down to glorious Mazunte beach. The approximately 10 separate cabañas have comfortable rustic-chic decor, including handcrafted furniture, soft beds, hurricane lamps. Rentals include private shower-baths and mosquito nets. At this writing the Alta Mira’s main drawback was low-power (solar-panel) electricity, which results in weak fans and dim light bulbs.