Zipolite Beach
Did you know that one of the largest nudist festivals in the world is held at Zipolite Beach on the Oaxaca Coast of Mexico every year?
Zipolite Beach is Mexico’s first and only fully legal nude beach, used as an unofficial nude beach for over 40 years, but legally designated as a nude beach in 2016. It is a kind of rare bubble of Mexico culture where traditional conservative tendencies are replaced with more of a “live and let live” attitude that feels refreshingly bohemian. The beach is about 1 mile long and you can be nude along the whole beach, a nice long walk starting at Shambala Beach on the western end, with magnificent sunset views, and stretching to Playa de Amor a nook on the eastern end cradled by seaside rock formations.
Each year, on the first weekend in February, THOUSANDS of naturists from Mexico and from around the world gather for a celebration of body freedom and togetherness. It is surprising how many people come from various parts of Europe, Australia, Asia, Canada and the USA. The upside is that the energy is contagious and there are a lot of pop-up naturist events happening around the beach or at private venues. The downside is that lodging options become pretty scarce and prices go up for the festival.
To get there, you can either fly into Puerto Escondido (PXM) or Huatulco (HUX) and then catch a 1.5 hour taxi (or bus) ride from the airport to Zipolite Beach. There is “a range” of prices for the taxis, somewhere between $40 US dollars and as high as $100 US dollars if you don’t look for a better deal. We flew into HUX, which was a small airport, easy to navigate, easy to find a taxi.
As you are planning your trip, you’ll find many options for lodging, ranging from affordable hostels to full service hotels. Generally speaking, most lodging options don’t provide AC, but the weather at Zipolite is similar to Southern California, where it can be warm during the day, but cool in the evening. If you want to be in the center of the party, and don’t mind late nights and the sounds of music, then staying on the beach offers many options including Shambala, El Alquimista, Naked Zipolite, Hotel Nude, Budamar, etc. Many of these hotels are clothing optional in the pool or bar areas, but some do have rules that you wear clothes in the hallways of the hotel, etc. On any given day of the festival there are spontaneous beach volleyball games that get organized in front of the hotels.
If you prefer a quieter setting to sleep, then there are some really nice lodging options a short walk from the beach. We wanted a quiet setting, with breakfast, AC, and a view, and most options were sold out, but we luckily snagged the last room at Casa Kalmar which really exceeded out expectations. On this trip we met up and spent much of our time with some friends we know from Bare Oaks Family Naturist Park near Toronto, Canada, and had the pleasure of meeting the owner Stéphane Deschênes who also happens to be the creator of The Naturist Living Show and newly elected President of The INF. And, as luck would have it, they were all staying at the coolest bohemian hostel in town, CAMP, which was founded by our friends Anthony and Maybel who we know from many FYN Bashes over the years and in addition to creating this awesome space, they also helped to establish the annual Nudist Festival. Anthony is an architect and has designed an amazing space that is clothing optional but also thoughtfully designed with elements that create a sense of peace and tranquility. CAMP offers private retreats as well as public events, the most popular being an ecstatic dance gathering every Friday evening, with what may be the most amazing tribal trance DJ we’ve ever heard. If you’re looking for “cool vibes on a budget” this is the place to stay, but even if you’re not staying there, be sure to check out the Friday dance event!
The Zipolite Nudist Festival has a large tent set up and for 4 days offers various activities out of that area, including body painting, dancing, music, yoga classes, various workshops, meetings, etc. If you like to socialize and meet people from around the world, this is the central hub of the festival. But, to be fair, the thousands of naturists who visit can’t all fit in and around the tent, and tend to occupy the entire town more than being necessarily focused at the event tent. Most of our time was spent exploring the beach, the town and the surrounding areas. There was a group shot near the end of the festival, which was a cool creative way to capture the spirit of the festival in an artistic way.
The town of Zipolite itself is NOT clothing optional, though a sarong will suffice. The “main street” (Avenue Roca Blanca) is where you’ll find most of the restaurants and shopping available in Zipolite. There are lots of seafood options, as well as traditional Mexican food, Italian food, Thai/Japanese food, Middle Eastern, Vegetarian, etc. (We did not find Indian food). Our favorite dining experiences included Falafel Shalom, a delicious middle eastern vegetarian restaurant. We also enjoyed the food at Xhuba, which also offered delicious vegetarian options along with many seafood dishes, with dining on the beach for a sunset view. Alessandro's offers some delicious pasta dishes midway along the main street. Mao Mau offers some amazing Thai and Sushi in a setting that transforms at night, great energy, great food, great service. And finally, 3 De Diciembre offers some less-than-amazing pizza, BUT, allows guests to dine nude during the festival, so of course we had to eat there, and the live music was a plus.
Along the main street in town there are a few grocery stores where you can find snacks, drinks, water, sunblock, etc. We were even able to find some soy milk. One spot worth checking out is a bakery called Panadería Pan de Vida which offers many yummy creations including croissants, bread, pastries, pie, etc. , but go earlier in the day before they sell out of all the best stuff!
Around sunset, the street begins to transform, the warm glow of the lights become prominent and various artists begin to set up tables along the street, selling a whole variety of things such as jewelry, paintings, clothes, seashells, textile creations like turkish towels, edibles, pipes, etc. It’s a fun place to just wander as you digest your dinner.
The beach itself is a fantastic beach for walking, and wading, grabbing a drink at the bar, or lunch/dinner along the various hotel fronts, and you can do ALL of that without ever having to get dressed, which makes it kind of a naturist paradise, festival or not. It IS a nude beach, legal, but definitely more of a mixed beach, meaning at any given time about 50% of the beachgoers are nude, the others are wearing swimsuits, but it’s not creepy, just more of a hippy vibe. What Zipolite is NOT so great for is swimming, because of strong rip tides. The old nickname of this beach is “The Beach of The Dead”. The ancient Zapotec people used to bring their dead to this beach and offer them to the sea, which wound with it’s strong rip tides, take them out to their eternal resting place. The beach still has an appetite because dozens of people still drown at Zipolite Beach every year, despite adding a lifeguard presence. So, do NOT underestimate these waters.
Probably the most magical part of the beach is the western end at sunset, The sun sets between two rocky peaks and the lighting is magnificent. People gather on the beach and wade into the water’s edge and that combined with the orange glow as the sun goes down really creates something that feels magical and timeless. It’s like watching a painting.
As mentioned above, Playa de Amor is on the eastern end of the beach (up and over the stairs), and as the name might imply this beach is an unofficial hook up beach, though we didn’t witness any sexual behaviors. The beach seemed to attract gay men, and about 80% dressed, it was pretty crowded I guess because of the festival. It did offer a nice area to the left that had water calm enough to swim in. There was also a beach bar with food/drinks. Whatever happens after sunset is none of our business, but depending how you define romance, it’s probably not the place for roses, wine and a sunset stroll.
Near the end of our week at Zipolite, and because we were hanging out with our fun Canadian friends, we were invited on a nude boat excursion. This was a fun and unique way to see the local coastline, we got to snorkel, swim up to a remote beach to go exploring, saw sting rays jumping, did some whale watching, stopped for lunch and had a fantastic time with friends. It was definitely one of the highlights of our trip!
Sadly our week with warm sunny beach weather had to come to an end and we all had to fly back to our respective homes in colder climates. We think Zipolite Beach is a PERFECT winter escape with it’s warm tropical climate, picturesque and huge nude beach, good food, good people, good vibes. We can’t wait to go again!
Below are some resources to give you more information about Playa Zipolite!
Our friends Nick & Lins are the famous creators of Naked Wanderings which, if you have not discovered yet, is the most comprehensive travel resource for naturists on the internet.
Our friend Stéphane Deschênes may be the most recognized name in naturism, and the dedicated author of The Naturist Living Show, a Podcast dedicated to exploring topics that matter to naturists. Celebrating 15 years in production, you will find so much to learn about naturism here!
“Along Dusty Roads” is a beautifully designed travel blog who visited Zipolite and posted A Traveler's Guide to Playa Nudista that includes A LOT of detail about the eb and flow and all the things to know about Playa Zipolite.
