A Perfect Beach Day at Playa Cacaluta, Huatulco

I haven't been to Cacaluta for a few years.  It isn't the quickest and easiest beach to get to when I feel the need to swim but it's worth the trip on special occasions like Rowena's birthday.  I don't know how old she is but she's still quite young.

There's a sign at the trailhead with dos and don'ts, some of which shouldn't be necessary, like don't leave your trash behind, but you'd be surprised.  One of them is a recommendation to only enter the woods in a group.  While you probably wouldn't be attacked, there are wild animals in there and a lone person is much more tempting prey.  I've come across packs of wild dogs myself.  They didn't attack or even growl but it might have been a different story if I'd been alone.  There are snakes, crocodiles (or alligators, I'm not sure) several species of snakes and wildcats.

A few years back,  I came across a young couple, tired, hot, dehydrated and completely shaken, stumbling along the road from the trail.  There were on vacation from Mexico City and had wanted to visit the site of "Y tu mama tambien".  They hadn't packed enough water.  However much you think you're going to need, double it.  This unfortunate pair hadn't even made it to the beach when they'd been chased by an aggressive giant snake, probably a python.  They can grow to an intimidating size, length and width.

After a 25 minute hike through the forest, the beach is always a welcome sight.

A friend had told me that morning that the beach had been steep on the previous day but that had been on the other end.  It couldn't have been much better on Saturday for us.

Life doesn't really get much better than this.

Here's our birthday girl, sitting with Lupita.

These two daredevils decided to jump off the rocks.  I declined. 

Just so nobody puts this on their to-do list, look at how close they came to hitting rocks beneath the surface.  It's also worth mentioning that you can't get a cellphone signal at Cacaluta and the beach is usually deserted.  Your best option, if you suffer a debilitating injury, would be to wait for a tour boat and signal for help.  Wave your arms and scream loudly.

Will, Romeo and I took the big swim to the rock island.  It was Romeo's idea and I didn't jump at the idea at first.  I was concerned about cross currents but a passing tour boat operator who knew what he was talking about, convinced us that the currents ran deep below and wouldn't affect us unless we were diving.

You have to approach the rock beach with caution.  The only way to do it is to crab walk backwards.  When a wave comes, plunk your bum down and hang on tight.  Move in between the waves.  Don't try to stand on the wet rocks and move slowly on the dry ones because they're not stable. 

The waves make a beautiful cracking sound when they shake the rocks but it sounds a bit sinister, like breaking bones, when you're trying to move on or off the beach.  Will gives a good demonstration of how to do it on the video.

Good times.  It was the sort of day when you have so much fun, you don't even realize how busy you were until you feel your aching muscles the next day.

Finally, for those who have never seen Y Tu Mamá También  ,
someone has posted the scene where they wake up and discover the beach they've been looking for for the first time.

A Day at Cacaluta

     I haven't been to Cacaluta in such a long time but friends persuaded me to move my lazy self and meet them there a coupe of weekiends ago.  We used to go to the opposite end but there's a new-to-us trail through the woods that leads from Maguey to this side.  The original idea was to go together but they like to start off way too early.  Breakfast with lots of coffee is a huge priority on my Saturdays.

    I got lost.  Somehow, I went off the trail.  Maybe I was fooled by a patch of sunlight.  Hard to say for sure but there came a time when I was confronted with nothing but dense brush.  I didn't panic.  I thought about my options.  In a worst case scenario, like an attack by a wild animal, I could probably crash through that brush.  I could already hear the ocean ahead.  It coudn't be far.  I chose to backtrack instead while I still remembered the landmarks.  I was on the beach in another ten minutes.  Those tiny figures way down there are Mike, Rowena and Yulma.

    There's Mike standing in front of a big school of very excited fish.  A word of advice.  When the fish are jumping like crazy as they are here, get out of their way.   Months back, I was enjoying a night swim at Santa Cruz when one of them smacked me in the face.  It was like getting punched.  It snapped my head back.  I swam to shore  and pulled a piece of fin out of the corner of my eye.  Blood was pouring down my face.  A doctor at the maternity hospital pulled out some smaller pieces and gave me some antibiotics

Road to Cacaluta

Tuesday was the first of the pandemic days. I found a message on my phone that morning from the night before. Cacaluta. 8:30. The idea was inspired. The time was a tad ambitious. I had breakfast, packed all my things and was on the road by 10:30ish. It’s not good to wait too long. The sun gets intense.


Cacaluta is quite the beach but we rarely go there because it isn’t the easiest to get to. Once you get to the park gate just down from the fork to Playa Maguey, it’s another 3 km over a rough road through the woods with a fair bit of beach sand to spin your tires on. That’s why most visitors arrive on ATVs or get dropped off by boat.

For me, the toughest part of the trek was the first major hill. I didn’t even try to tackle it. I just got off and walked the bike. It was way too early in the day to grunt my way up a steep mountain and this was the kind of trip that made you wonder if 2.5 litres of water was going to be enough.

I’d heard that Cacaluta was pegged for hotel development. The proof is there. Road improvements have begun. It’s only smooth dirt for now but the road has been doubled in width. Big concrete pipes for drainage are lined up on the side. That doesn’t mean it’s all going to happen overnight. It could be years ahead.

I came close to a serious wrong turn when I saw the sign that reads “Tanque Cacaluta”, pointing to the right.
I almost took it but it didn’t feel right. I came this way back in 2002 by taxi and it didn’t feel the same. Besides, I didn’t know what “tanque” meant. I still don’t. I was heading for Playa Cacaluta; close but not quite the same. My instincts were right. Just down the next hill was the fork was the fork for Maguey and Cacaluta. This was what I remembered. Don’t forget this if you ever pass this way.


The gate isn’t much further ahead.
Fortunately for me, there is a man working there in the shade behind a shack. Saul advised me to hop off the bike and take the trail straight through the woods instead of the 3 km. I was a bit dubious. Sure looked jungley in there. Saul assured me there were no snakes , which I didn’t believe for a second. I almost stepped on my first snake at UMAR last week, right on a red brick walkway. There are snakes in these woods. Whether or not they’re timid skinny yellow things like the one that ran for its life from me or twelve foot Mexican South Pacific rattlesnakes like the one stuffed in attack mode at the ROM in Toronto is all that really matters. I took Saul’s assurance to mean my chances of dying were slim. Much as I prefer 100% guarantees, I took the trail. I can be a fraidy cat but I try not to let it stop me from doing things. I took this pic of Saul before stepping in, possibly the last person I would ever see.


In I went.


If a snake wanted to get me, there was very little I could do about it. There were a lot of coiled and twisted vines, branches and roots in there, many of which looked like huge motionless snakes. This one was my favourite.
I approached it carefully, waiting for any sign of movement.

Besides the rustle of salamanders in the dry leaves and the music of the birds, I heard a larger animal crashing through the brush. Not moose or bear large, maybe something knee-high, probably with claws and teeth.
It was only a ten minute hike, fairly easy going with only the occasional stump or fallen tree to lift the bike over. Just before breaking out of the woods, there’s an old barb wire fence just a few more steps away from a wide open field and a small house. From there, you pass through a mango plantation and rejoin the road that others would have taken from the gate near its end.






I knew my friends were there. I’d passed their scooters back a bit but Cacaluta looked deserted. Way down by the rocks, I finally spotted some very tiny people playing Frisbee. They had set up camp between some rocks for shade.



Cacaluta feels like the end of the earth, especially when no one else is there. These pictures show less than half of its convex spear shape.