The day had finalllyyy come to head to the beach! We woke up soo excited. While we love the mountains and the landscapes we had been exploring there’s nothing quite like the feeling of a cool ocean breeze. Especially after being on the road for almost three weeks and escaping the harsh winter in NYC.

The drive from San Jose Del Pacifico to the town we stayed in called Estacahuite was a little over 4 hours. Google maps gave us a 3 hour estimate, but at this point we had learned that when you’re driving through mountains in Mexico you should always add an extra hour to whatever drive time Google says.

As we approached the coast the excitement within us grew. We listened to some Biscuits and drove through the windy roads in awe of how much the landscape was changing as we went down in elevation and the trees switched from pine to palm.

We arrived at our lovely studio airbnb that we found for $60/night right before sunset. It was on a really cute little property directly in front of the ocean with a few bungalows throughout it and a safe place to park the Suba.

The next morning we woke up and visited a town called Pochutla located a bit inland from Estacahuite. On Mondays in Pochutla there is a huge open air farmers market, so we went shopping for groceries. One of the ways we try and budget throughout this trip is by cooking for ourselves whenever we can. Pochutla also has multiple stores where you can buy everything from snorkels, to bathing suits, skate shoes and knock off ray bans. It’s the place to go if you need anything.

We made it back to Estacahuite in time to spend the rest of the day at the beach and make ourselves a lovely vegan vodka sauce pasta dinner and a salad.

The next morning we decided to visit a beach Keith came across called Riscalillo. The drive there was sooo much fun. You have to take a super bumpy unpaved dirt road for about 45 minutes, but when you get there it’s totally worth it, because there was basically no one else there and the beach was perfect for swimming and snorkeling. There was also a restaurant run by a nice man named Irvin and his family where we had lunch.

We had the best day hanging out on this beach and felt incredibly grateful to be on a trip like this.. Driving really makes you appreciate what makes up a community because it encourages you to understand how and why people live the way they do.

The next day we decided to hang out in Estacahuite and enjoyed the picturesque beach directly in front of our airbnb. Estacahuite is a small fishing town in Puerto Angel and unlike many of the other beaches nearby to Puerto Escondido, it’s not as touristy so you get a more authentic Mexican beach town experience. The beach felt very safe and was filled with families and doggiees enjoying the amazing weather.

Our last morning we checked out of our airbnb and made our way to Mazunte, a cute little hippie beach town with organic markets, vegan restaurants and yoga studios. Mazunte is about a 25-30 minute drive from Estacahuite and we decided to come here to get some laundry done! We found a lavanderia (laundromat) here where we could drop off 2 weeks worth of dirty laundry. It was much needed considering we’re both living out of a duffel bag for six months. So, we dropped off our laundry, stopped at a little market where we picked up some locally brewed kombucha and organic fruits & veggies for our next few days, had some lunch and checked out Mazunte’s beach. The beach here was huge and a bit more touristy but still very laid back. There were some vendors walking along the beach selling handmade crafts and beach wraps. It was a perfect little errand day and way to wrap up four lovely days on the beach.

Our laundry was ready around 4 so we picked it up and made our way to Bahia De San Agustin where we camped at an overlander beach site…

Miles Driven: 3,176 (5,140 Kilometers)

Days on the road: 18 – 22

Next Stop: Bahia De San Agustin, Huatulco National Park, Oaxaca, Mexico