FINDING ‘HEVEN’ AT ZIPOLITE
After a few days in Mexico City, we were all ready to hit the beach. This was the one stage of the trip that I had barely any knowledge of, as I had never visited to Oaxacan coast before. But I spoke to a few friends who had been down this summer and we settled on going to Zipolite. Zipolite a slightly smaller town than the neighbouring Mazunte or Puerto Escondido, famous for its hippy vibes and chilled out atmosphere… sounded like exactly what my parents needed.
We flew from Mexico City to Huatulco, which takes about an hour and cost around £50 for a single ticket. Huatulco is a beautiful new airport, with a huge grass roof, it felt like we had flown into a tropical paradise! We took a one of the ‘secure taxi’s’ from the apartment at a whopping $9000 pesos! The alternative was a colectivo from outside the airport without aircon, and that definitely wasn’t an option for my Dad (Mr Safety Conscious)!
After an hour on some seriously windy backgrounds we arrived in Zipolite. The town had been having bad weather prior to our arrival, so the road down to our hotel had been washed away mostly…. I had booked a hotel called ‘Heven’ but as my Dad mentioned on the road down, it felt like driving to hell!
Thoughts of hell swiftly disappeared when we were greeted at the hotel. I’ve never quite seen anywhere like it! It’s a beautiful, hand built hotel, set up on the cliff side with incredible views of the white rock out in the ocean. The hotel has a beautiful infinity pool, the views are simply breath taking. We had reserved a 2 bedroom apartment, which had a beautiful balcony facing down to Zipolite beach. Each room was designed differently, hand chosen tiles and beautiful sinks were are theme throughout the hotel.
Along with a beautifully unique hotel, comes an array of different pets; 4 hilarious dogs, Carlotta the basset hound was my favourite, and 3 wonderfully friendly cats. It’s a pet lovers dream, but if you’re not into pets it’s not an issue as they perfectly well trained and don’t bother the guests (unless you’re Simon, in which case the fluffiest cat just loved laying on his camera and leaving her hairs for him)!
The weather in D.F had been around 25 degrees most days, so the 35 degree heat sent us running straight for the pool! Eventually we tore ourselves away from the hotel and headed down the little twisty, jungle path to the beach. The beach itself is beautiful, wild and unspoilt! Dotted with various cabins, huts, bars and a few hotels, it has managed to avoid mass development so far. It’s indigenous Zapotec land, so hopefully it will stay unspoilt for years to come. The sea really was wild, with red flags up the whole time, and considering this beach has the highest amount of deaths per year than anywhere else in the world, my mum and I settled for cocktails whilst the boys tackled the sea under the beady eye of the life guards!
Zipolite has its fair share of restaurants and bars, although a few were closed due to it being out of season. And annoyingly the best restaurant in the town, La Providencia, was closed for some reason! Although we can’t say it was a problem as we ate at El Alquimista most evenings. The restaurant/hotel/spa has tables right down on the beach surrounded by candles and fire burners. It’s stunning, no other way to describe it. As hurricane Patricia was battering the coast just north of where we were, the sea had been too rough for fishing, but they still had a wide array of meals and prawns and lobster were still on the menu thankfully! This restaurant also serves fantastic steaks, some of the best I’ve tasted in Oaxaca, and the prawn and coconut curry was like no other!
Breakfast was provided by the wonderful hotel staff at Heven each morning. They offer a continental breakfast, but the Mexican Eggs were by far my favourite, served with a slice of local cheese, ham, and avocado. What more could you want!?
Our room worked out at around £16 per person, per night (including breakfast). I’m yet to discover anywhere else on my travels that offers such unique luxury at that kind of price. Victor (the owner), and the rest of the staff went out of their way to accommodate our needs. On one night a tropical storm rolled in, which meant there was no way to reach the town for some dinner. Not to worry, Victor rustled us up an absolutely delicious array of food; local cheese, frijoles with chorizo, fresh bread, and a soft cheese in fresh tomato salsa. We couldn’t thank him enough, it was so tasty!
We were so sad to have to leave, but after 4 amazing days it was about time to make the journey back to Oaxaca for the final leg of my parents stay. Victor had called to book us a place on the bus back to the city, and he kindly dropped us at the stop in the morning.
I can safely say we will soon be regulars at Heven, as I’m not sure how long I will be able to resist before we have to go back and visit!
