Travel Guide Mazunte

For many years, the villages of Mazunte and San Agustinillo were dedicated to the exploitation and trade of marine turtles. Mazunte was the largest turtle slaughterhouse on the Mexican Pacific Coast. During the massive arrivals during the nesting season, up to two thousand turtles were slaughtered per day! The eggs and turtle meat were consumed by humans; the skin was used to make wallets, shoes, bags, belts, etc. This very prosperous trade nevertheless began to endanger the survival of the species, especially since only a very small percentage of baby turtles reach adulthood. Faced with this situation, the Mexican government decreed in 1990 a total ban on turtle fishing. Mazunte then knew a tragic impoverishment. The NGO Eco Solar proposed the implementation of productive projects for rural communities, focused on the recovery and conservation of natural resources, replacing the activities of hunting and destruction of resources. At the same time, ecotourism was promoted with the creation, in 1992, of the El Mazunte peasant ecological reserve and the Mexican Turtle Center. A successful challenge! Surrounded by an abundance of vegetation, the village of Mazunte began to receive more and more travelers in search of a true contact with nature, while the beach of Zipolite grew more and more. The beach of Mazunte is known to be less dangerous than the one of Zipolite