$25–50

Star of the Mazunte beachfront accommodations is Cabaña Ziga (no email, no phone, $30 d private bath, $25 d shared bath), just west of the Turtle Museum, with 17 rooms in three floors and a palm-shaded beach-view restaurant, just above the waves. The plainly decorated, spacious, and clean tile-floored rooms come with fans and mosquito nets. As of this writing Cabañas Ziga accepts no reservations. Show up before noon to be sure you get a room, especially during the busy winter season.

Another invitingly rustic lodging on the stunning, palm-shadowed Mazunte beachfront is Posada del Architecto (at the far, west end of the Mazunte beach, tel. 958/583-8982, guidocco [at] yahoo [dot] com [dot] mx, reservations not accepted, $35 s or d, $4 per person dorm or camping), on Playa Rinconcito. Owners offer nine clean, palapa-sheltered cabañas with mosquito nets, fans, and private shower-baths. They also have dormitory rooms with bunks and a campground with palapa shelters and hammocks. Find it at the beach end of Calle Rinconcito, a block west of the bridge in Mazunte.

The fanciest accommodation in Mazunte, and sister to the Hotel La Buena Vista in Puerto Ángel, is the lovely hillside Alta Mira Bungalows (reserve via the Buena Vista in Puerto Ángel, tel./fax 958/584-3104, reservations [at] buenavista [dot] com, www.labuenavista.com/alta_mira, $50–60 d). Guests enjoy a beautiful ocean-view hillside setting with restaurant, the murmur of the waves, and a stepped path down to glorious Mazunte beach. The approximately 10 separate cabañas have comfortable rustic-chic decor, including handcrafted furniture, soft beds, hurricane lamps. Rentals include private shower-baths and mosquito nets. At this writing the Alta Mira’s main drawback was low-power (solar-panel) electricity, which results in weak fans and dim light bulbs.

© Bruce Whipperman from Moon Oaxaca, 5th edition