Where the original Tulum vibe lives now
Barefoot, Oaxacan, and on the Pacific
Hey travelers,
There’s usually a very specific dream people are chasing when they book Tulum.
Barefoot, bohemian, a little wild, the kind of beach that feels like a real find even when it’s on every list. For a stretch, Tulum delivered it: low-rise boutique hotels in the jungle, the Caribbean a few steps away, long and relaxed dinners, somewhere that felt untouched by the traditional resort system. Gradually it became something different. Beach clubs with steep cover charges. Four-figure rooms at places that don’t necessarily deserve the price tag. A see-and-be-seen crowd that leans harder into the party than the peace.
And then there’s the thing the photos leave out. Sargassum, the brown, sulfurous seaweed that drifts onto Mexico’s Caribbean coast, has gone from a manageable nuisance to the variable that not so quietly defines the trip. Sometimes ankle-deep, sometimes thick enough to close the beach entirely. That dream of walking from your room across an uncrowded beach into clear blue water might not be the reality.
That trip still exists somewhere else: Puerto Escondido, on the Pacific coast of Oaxaca, Mexico.
Puerto Escondido is a surf town first and everything else second. Playa Zicatela, known as the “Mexican Pipeline,” is one of the heaviest surf breaks out there. The culture around waves like that is laid-back, unpretentious, oriented toward the water, and sets the tone for the whole place. La Punta, the calmer and more bohemian neighborhood at the southern end of Zicatela, is where the design-forward hotels and good restaurants have gathered, along sandy, mostly unpaved roads. There’s nightlife if you want it: mezcal bars, music that goes late, an eclectic crowd. But the nightlife doesn’t run the place. You can be in bed by ten and feel like you called it right.
The food is its own case for going. Puerto Escondido sits where Pacific coast seafood and mountain Oaxacan cooking meet: fresh-caught fish, mole negro made the way it’s been made for generations, tlayudas, and mezcal from small producers.
Since nothing worth knowing about stays a secret for long, the boho-chic town is growing faster than it was, which is why now is the right time to go.
The hotels here have distinct personalities, based on how barefoot you want your days to be.
Hotel Terrestre, a Grupo Habita project, sits about 30 minutes outside of town on a secluded stretch of coast: 14 off-grid villas by architect Alberto Kalach, solar-powered and self-sufficient, with slatted walls that let the ocean breeze through, and rooftop plunge pools overlooking the jungle canopy and Pacific Ocean. It's intentionally low-tech and genuinely unlike anything else.
Casona Sforza, also Kalach’s work, sits at the south end of town: only 11 rooms, where sun-drenched arches and vaulted ceilings meet contemporary bohemian flair, right at a private stretch of sand. Adults-only, sustainably built, and Wi-Fi that’s limited by design.
And in the heart of La Punta, Hotel Humano is one of the newest openings from Grupo Habita: 39 rooms around a palm-lined courtyard pool, a rooftop bar with sunset views, and energy that’s global, social, and a little sexy. The one to book if you want to be in the mix.
Getting to Puerto Escondido takes a little more intention than Cabo or Cancún, which is part of what keeps it the way it is. There are nonstop flights into Puerto Escondido (PXM) from Houston and Dallas, and the best window to visit is November through April. May to August if you’re looking for big surf.
Currently Obsessed
Something I can’t stop thinking about.
Hotel Wren in Twentynine Palms, CA, a 1940s motel reimagined into an adults-only desert retreat. I visited in March and it’s been in my recommendations ever since. Only 12 suite-style rooms that feel more like well-designed apartments than hotel rooms, each with a private patio, fire pit, and kitchenette. Minutes from the north entrance to Joshua Tree National Park, a pool made for floating and nothing else, complimentary light breakfast in the lobby each morning, and an on-site bodega called Windsong that’s stocked with local goods, wine, and snacks. Quiet, intimate, and a place you leave a lot more relaxed than when you arrived.
Worth Packing
One thing that earns its spot in the bag.
The square-toe Havaianas, not the standard version, are just elevated enough to go from the beach to lunch without a wardrobe change, they pack flat, and work for every trip you’ll take this summer.
If this got you thinking about your next beach vacation, I’d love to help make it happen. Gold Dust Travel is where to start.
If someone came to mind while you were reading this, feel free to forward it their way.
— Kelsey, founder of Gold Dust Travel