The 104km Barranca Larga-Ventanilla highway radically reduces travel time to Oaxaca's beautiful and bohemian coast, but are local communities prepared for it?
The Oaxaca Coast has long been a dream destination of mine ever since a friend came home from a year in a yoga centre with tales of full Moon circles and plant medicine ceremonies held right on the beach.
Last December, after living in Oaxaca City, the capital of the eponymous state, for five months, I finally made it this beautiful Pacific coastline to watch waves pummel Playa Zipolite, Mexico's only official nude beach; admire the sun set on a sea cape that's said to be home to buried Aztec treasure; and try neo-shamanic healing in the bohemian town of Mazunte.
But getting there was no easy feat. Oaxaca's peaceful, fragile and largely undeveloped coast is sheltered by the Sierra Madre del Sur Mountains and was at that time reached by a famously vomit-inducing mountain road with endless hairpin turns from Oaxaca City. Taking seven to eight hours by car – or 10-12 hours by bus – the journey was hard to fit into my work schedule. My only other option was an expensive flight to coastal city Puerto Escondido. I went with a night bus, whose nonstop twists and turns left me feeling like I was riding an out-of-control rollercoaster.
Now, just a few months later, a quick weekend trip to the beach is entirely possible. A new 104km "superhighway" connecting Oaxaca City – named the best city in the world by Travel & Leisure in 2023 – to Puerto Escondido, the gateway to almost 600km of glorious coastline, finally opened in February 2024, 15 long years after its inception. It has radically reduced travel time to just 2.5 hours.
"The new highway is a game-changer for people who want an easy commute from the city to the beach," said Colleen Palmer, an American I met who was travelling with her husband. "People were buzzing about the highway when we left Oaxaca City and even more so when we arrived in Puerto Escondido."
I spent a little under two weeks on the so-called Oaxacan Riviera, though I could have easily spent two months. My visit was limited to a small string of villages: the sleepy, hippie town of Mazunte; the fishing village St Agustinillo; and the LGBTQ-friendly Zipolite. Decidedly unplugged, they're the type of places where ATMs are out of cash for a week and stable Wi-Fi is pretty much non-existent. Bouncing between the crystal healings of Mazunte and the lively beach bars of Zipolite hit the sweet spot.
But there is so much more to the coast. I could have headed south from Zipolite to hit up the nine bays, 36 beaches, coral reefs and lowland jungle of Huatulco National Park, or ventured inland into the mountains to cool off in the magical Copalitilla waterfalls.
Or I could have explored surf city Puerto Escondido, whose 20ft waves have earned it the title "Mexican Pipeline". Once here, it's a matter of taking a bus, taxi, ollective (shuttle), boat, tour or private transportation for an hour or two to get to other destinations. For example, a few hours north of Puerto are the remote, biodiverse lagoons of Chacahua National Park, one of the least-developed destinations in the area. Fifteen minutes west from Puerto is Laguna de Manialtepec, which brims with rare birds, crocodiles and bioluminescent plankton.
Besides making it much easier for tourists to get here, the local government says that the road will increase trade between inland areas and the coast and make it easier for people in remote communities to access services like healthcare and education.
The more than 13bn pesos (around £609m) into the project reflects the government's growing investment in trade and travel infrastructure in Oaxaca. Other projects include the upcoming expansion of Puerto Escondido airport, which will allow for direct international flights to the coast, and the ambitious Interoceanic Corridor, which aims to rival the Panama Canal.
But as is typically the case when travel becomes more accessible, the highway is a double-edged sword.
Take the highway
The 104km Barranca Larga-Ventanilla highway is an impressive feat of engineering and offers a smooth, quick ride to the coast. It has two traffic lanes and 15 on-and-off-ramps for surrounding communities.
While some construction is still going on, the road is now in use. It's free for everyone to use until September 2024, when a toll will go into effect for international and domestic tourists not from the state of Oaxaca.
Travellers can rent a car in Oaxaca City or take a bus or minivan. They can also support Coatlones indigenous community affected by the highway by booking one of the vans offered by Ruta Coatlones Costa.
On the one hand, a tourism boom could help Oaxaca, one of the poorest states in Mexico, "rise from the ashes, giving people better jobs and a better life, with more opportunities," said Nef Noyola, who was born on the Oaxaca Coast and now lives in Oaxaca City. Others I spoke to believe that coastal communities will benefit from access to services in Oaxaca City and overall improved connectivity between regions.
But gentrification across Oaxaca has people on edge, and as coastal communities grow in popularity with expats and long-term visitors, rising costs are driving residents away. Pollution threatens the pristine landscape, and even the surf itself is changing due to development.
A lack of government investment in infrastructure such as sewage treatment facilities means communities and the fragile environments they live in aren't prepared for hordes of tourists. Some Oaxaqueños feel abandoned by the government's lack of investment in service infrastructure to match that which was poured into the highway.
"Everyone is talking about this," said Nayola. "In many countries, governments will make sure everything is ready to receive more people before they build a road somewhere. In Mexico, they build stuff first and then they deal with what they were supposed to do before."
Meanwhile, the road has fuelled tensions between a local Indigenous group and the government. Members of the Coatlones community say they ceded their land and cooperated with the government in the building of the highway for 20 years, with a promise that they'd have exclusive rights to operate transport. That promise wasn't upheld, inciting the community to block traffic within 24 hours of the road's inauguration.
"The quality of the life here is different if you are a white person or if you are Indigenous," said Isabella Matt, an Afro-Indigenous artist, activist and Puerto Escondido native. "In Puerto Escondido, we have a clear view of this. We have two different Mexicos: The real Mexico, and one the tourists know."
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For those travelling to the region, being mindful and aware of the issues people face is essential, as is spending money in conscious ways, like opting out of resource-heavy accommodations (think beachfront resorts and high-rise hotels) in favour of ecologically responsible ones. Choosing simpler, more affordable accommodations may also help stop inflation.
"Just because you can pay for something more expensive doesn't mean you should," said Guzman. "Maybe you are here for a couple of weeks, but we stay here having to live under those prices with limited options."
Travellers should also try to travel sustainably by buying from small, locally owned businesses; minimising waste; and avoiding plastics. Being very mindful of water use is especially important in drought-stricken Oaxaca.
As the highway opens up the coast like never before, it's even more clear how precious and vulnerable this ecologically and culturally rich region is. While travellers like myself might rejoice at the prospect of a fast, convenient highway, it's essential to respect the wellbeing of the land and the people who live there by travelling lightly and consciously.
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