Huatulco ('Bahías de Huatulco', centred around the town of Santa Cruz Huatulco) is a tourist destination in Mexico. It is located in the southern part of the state of Oaxaca. Huatulco features different bays. Many luxury resorts lie on the shores of Tangolunda's bay. Camino Real, Gala and Barceló are examples of the most common resorts in the area.
Hautulco has 9 bays with more than 30 beaches. With the help of local guides or Dive Safari, a local diving business, one can explore in relative privacy the beaches and bays and snorkel or dive and see amazing fish and coral.
In addition to the beaches, one can explore and shop in small communities such as Santa Cruz, La Crucecita, Huatulco (the tourist zone), and old Santa Maria Huatuclo (the district municipality). When doing so, you are able to move between the communities, either on foot or using taxis. Women should use caution when walking at night and ask local women for the safer streets. The entire area has a 'small town' feel about it and is almost never crowded with tourists.
Huatulco is not well visited by foreign tourists because it does not have easy access by several airlines in spite of its own international airport just 20 minutes or so from the main resorts located on just one or two of its bays. However, it is visited by nationals and Canadians, usually from December to April.
Since May 2006, British tourists have started travelling to Huatulco following the introduction of a fortnightly direct flight from Manchester Airport operated by First Choice Airways.
Huatulco, Santa Cruz, and La Crucecita, are located in an 'ecological zone' which means much of the area is protected from future development, and the area is serviced by modern water and sewage systems so that nothing goes into the pristine bays.
