The tropical wonderland Huatulco (also known as Bahías de Huatulco) is a resort region, built for tourism in Oaxaca, Mexico.
Huatulco is very colourful and vibrant, boasting nine bays, 36 white sand beaches, and borders a national park! There are many things to do, like exploring ancient ruins, diving into emerald waterfalls, hiking canyons, visiting coffee and fruit plantations, white water rafting, snorkeling, and eating delicious authentic Mexican food.
Most of the tourism in Huatulco is domestic, as there is only one small international airport in Huatulco with most international flights coming from Canada or Chicago.
We travelled with Sunwing Airlines and purchased an all-inclusive package at a four-star resort, the Barceló Huatulco, for $2800. This was for two adults, roundtrip, for eight days.
The flight was about six hours,with one stop. Sunwing provided a shuttle from the airport to the resort, whichwas a 20-minute drive.
The Barceló Huatulco has six restaurants, four bars, several pools, a theatre, a spa, and is right on the beach. There are plenty of activities to do on the resort as well.
We spent the first day exploring the resort, spending way too much time at the pool bar, and lying on the beach. We found out the beach offered free snorkeling, kayaking, sailing, and the option to rent jet skis. During our stay we tried out everything the beach had to offer.
On our second day we booked a white-water rafting tour. We also bought tickets for the “Paradise Found Cruise.” Both excursions are part of many that you can purchase through Sunwing.
The white-water rafting tour wastwo parts – the first being rafting, and the second snorkeling along the coralreef. We didn’t know this when booking the tour but there are different levelsof rafting. We chose a leisurely route where our guide taught us the names ofanimals and plants that we passed. It was very relaxing and scenic, and I fellin love with the landscape. Combined with snorkeling we spent most of the dayeither in or on the water.
The following day was the “Paradise Found Cruise” (six hours long!), where we visited a few of the bays in Huatulco. They were all very beautiful, and we spent a lot of time swimming and snorkeling. We also got to try out some local food and took part in a volleyball game on the beach. On the way back, our captain took us out on the open ocean to try and spot whales, but we didn’t end up seeing any. We did end up spotting quite a few sea turtles, and we caught some great waves heading back to the Barceló.
That night we booked a reservation at one of the restaurants in the resort, El Agave, which offered traditional Oaxacan cuisine. We had the pleasure of being serenaded by a mariachi band and had the most delicious four course meal.
Our fourth day we decided to head out into the town, La Crucecita, to do some shopping and explore. Huatulco is one of the safer places for tourists in Mexico.
We shopped and picked up souvenirs, ended up trying to find a specific restaurant (it had the best tacos according to locals), and got ourselves quite lost. The further away from the shopping plaza we ventured, the more we realized that our knowledge of Spanish was simply inadequate. We did end up finding the restaurant, and it had fantastic tacos, but it was far outside of the regular tourist area. We ended up relying on Google Translate for most of the meal.
The next few days were spent soaking up the sun, taking full advantage of the unlimited alcohol, and trying out all the free activities the beach had to offer. We also caught one of the shows at the theatre in the resort and frequented some of the local nightclubs. All in all, we had a great time in Huatulco. The locals are friendly, the heat is glorious, and the ocean is crystal clear. If you’re looking for a vacation where you can be stress free, all-inclusive resorts are the way to go.
