Tourist Guide Bahías de Huatulco
Nestling in the Oaxacan coastline, with average temperatures of 28ºC and
clear days nearly all year round, the nine bays comprising this tourist complex
have azure waters, fine white sand and an unusual landscape that creates privacy
and gives each one a distinct personality.
The surrounding vegetation ranges
from low, deciduous forest to gallery forest and mangrove swamps that provide
refuge for skunks, raccoons and armadillos as well as herons, pelicans and falcons,
particularly during the rainy season. The complex covers an area of 35 km by
7 km of spectacular landscape that allow you to commune with nature, particularly
in the virtually unspoiled beaches of Chachacual, Cacaluta, El Organo and Conejos.
The name Huatulco comes from the Náhuatl word cuaúhtolco, meaning
"the place where the wood is adored," since legend has it that the
great civilizing god Quetzalcóatl left the inhabitants of the bay and
port of Santa Cruz a wooden cross.
The seat of the refined Zapotec culture,
the region witnessed the movement of Spanish boats and violent pirate raids.
Hernán Cortés used it to distribute the produce of his farms along
the coast, which turned Huatulco into an extremely active port. This attracted
pirates during the second half of the 16th century, including Drake himself
and the famous Thomas Cavendish, causing the local inhabitants to flee. Thereafter
the place was a fishing village, until the Mexican government began developing
it as a planned tourist complex in 1983.
