The Best Beaches in Huatulco: 9 Bays, Which Are Reachable by Land and Which Aren't | KORU

Huatulco is organized into nine bays that add up to 36 beaches along the coast of Oaxaca. That structure is what sets it apart from Puerto Escondido or Mazunte, which are towns with beaches lined up along a single stretch: here, each bay is its own compartment with its own access, its own surf, and its own level of services.

And here's the fact that almost no guide puts up front, even though it should be the first thing you know: several of those bays have no road access. They can only be reached by boat from Santa Cruz bay. Planning Huatulco without knowing that is the most common way to lose an entire day.

Road and trail access can change depending on road conditions and the status of the National Park; confirm in Santa Cruz before heading out

The fee for Huatulco National Park is 125 pesos per person per day, open from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. every day. Inside the park, mountain biking, hiking, diving, and snorkeling are allowed. It is prohibited to use flash photography with wildlife, to remove coral or shells, to make campfires, to use conventional sunscreen, and to leave the designated areas.

An honest clarification: the park's official fact sheet does not explicitly mention motorized vehicles, and we were unable to extract the full Administrative Rules of the Management Program. If your plan includes riding a motorbike or ATV within the park's boundaries, ask at the access booth before entering instead of assuming.

The dominant form of transportation in Huatulco is the taxi, with unionized, standardized fares that are practically non-negotiable, and there is no Uber or Lyft at the destination. That has a clear consequence: short trips are cheap —the in-town fare costs around 8 pesos and Santa Cruz to Maguey around 80— while long or repeated trips add up fast.

Public rate sheet from a local Huatulco operator. Typical deposit of 3,500 MXN; they ask for official ID, a license or passport, and recent riding experience

The detail that makes Huatulco a different case is the block-based structure: here you rent for 3 or 5 hours, not for a full day. It makes sense, because the land route between bays doesn't add up to eight hours of driving. Compared to a taxi, the 3-hour block at 350 pesos is the point where renting starts to win out: it's equivalent to a little more than four Santa Cruz–Maguey trips.

Notice the contrast in that last point: a two-and-a-half-hour guided ATV tour costs almost three times as much as a motorbike for 24 hours. It's not that the tour is overpriced —it includes a guide, equipment, and route— but if what you want is to get around on your own rather than be taken somewhere, self-drive rental is a completely different economics.

They're two destinations on the same Oaxaca coastal corridor, separated by just over an hour's drive, and they suit different kinds of travelers. Huatulco is planned: orderly bays, a hotel zone, an airport with international flights, and a strong Canadian presence in winter. Puerto Escondido is organic: surf, a town feel, street life, and lower prices.

The short answer: Huatulco if you're traveling as a family, want to swim in calm water, and value infrastructure. Puerto Escondido if you're traveling for surf, budget, or atmosphere. And since they're just over an hour apart, the best decision is often not to choose at all: do both on the same trip along the Federal 200.

“Huatulco can't be fully explored by land, and knowing that before you arrive is the difference between nine bays and four.”

— KORU RENT

Huatulco reached 68.1% occupancy in week 34 of 2025, above Los Cabos and Puerto Vallarta, and in the first quarter of 2026 it kept the best occupancy rate in all of Oaxaca at 72.52%, despite receiving 1.94% fewer visitors than a year earlier. Its high season is the first quarter, with a significant Canadian component arriving on direct flights during winter.

If you're looking for fewer crowds, the May-to-October window offers lower prices and noticeably emptier bays, in exchange for heat and the Pacific rainy season. The new highway, which brought Oaxaca City to about three hours from the coast instead of six, has clearly increased domestic weekend tourism throughout the corridor.

KORU RENT operates in Puerto Escondido, just over an hour from Huatulco along the same highway. It's our home base and the corridor we know best. We don't yet rent in Huatulco, so the prices we cite are the public rate sheets of local operators, with their source. If you're planning to do the full corridor, the most common plan among our clients is to rent in Puerto Escondido and head down the Federal 200.

The classic mistake in Huatulco is renting a vehicle thinking you'll cover all nine bays, only to discover that several can only be reached by boat. The plan that works combines both: a three- or five-hour motorbike block for the bays with road access, plus a boat trip from Santa Cruz for Cacaluta and Chachacual. With that, a weekend is enough.

KORU Team · Guide to the beaches of Huatulco · Updated on July 26, 2026