Trip to Cacaluta, OAX, Mex!

[ChepoCDT]

Cacaluta Beach, Huatulco, Oaxaca, Mexico
26 december 2016 - 2 January 2017

Plan:
-Dec 25: Mexico City - Cuernavaca
-Dec 26: Cuernavaca - Puerto Escondido

• Stay in Hostel "El Lugar", very clean and comfy. Sue, the owner is always helpful and with a really nice smile!
• Link on Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/EGhzrzmBNUo
• Link on TripAdvisor: https://www.tripadvisor.com.mx/Hotel_Review-g153373-d7129852-Reviews-El_Lugar_Hostel-Puerto_Escondido_Southern_Mexico.html
• Remember, it's a hostel, not a hotel

-Dec 29: Puerto Escondido - Cacaluta (CAMP!)
-Jan 2: Puerto Escondido - Acapulco
-Jan 3: Acapulco - Cuernavaca - Mexico City

Location: https://goo.gl/maps/8b14BtNZPnH2

General route:

Checklist
Camp
-Tent x 2
-Matress x 3
-Chairs x 4
-Table x 2
-Stove
-Propane
-Kitchen stuff
-Hammock
-LED Reflector
-First Aid Kit

Truck
-Check engine levels
-Air up tires to 45psi
-Fill both jerry cans
-Fill water can
-Ax
-Machete
-Tools
-Hilift
-Extra Fluids (engine oil, brake fluid, etc)
-Recovery Stuff
-Ramps

Personal
-Sunblock
-Antimosquitoes stuff
-Solar charger
-Lantern

NOTES:
-The beach is located about 30-50 minutes from a city (Huatulco), so we don't need to pack everything (Water, food, ice, etc.) from home, we can buy everything there.
-There is no source for clean drinkable water, so we need to buy everything for 4 days...
-Good thing: as it is natural reserve, the law says we need to rent a portable WC or deposit everything in bags and take them to the deposit at the entrance of the park (we go for option 1).
-Shades: There are no trees and the only 4x4 going is the taco, so we need a tent for the kitchen and the common area.

 

[ChepoCDT]

Ok, so finally we arrived to Puerto Escondido! Almost 13 hours of trip with 1 hour for breakfast and 2 pit stops!

Numbers:
Moving time 11:57 hours
Distance: 675 kms
Average speed: 51.68 km/h

This is how we travelled, truck handled the weight very well:

Crew:

First stop: ACAPULCO!

Arriving to Puerto Escondido's Airport

Waiting for mom & aunt (They flew from Mexico City)

We stayed at a Hostel in Punta Zicatela (Puerto Escondido) named "El Lugar" (The Place)... It's a very simple, yet clean and comfy place to stay. Didn't take photos of the hostel, but you can find them in tripadvisor! The food is excellent!

 

[ChepoCDT]

PUNTA ZICATELA, PUERTO ESCONDIDO

So we arrived on the 27th to Punta Zicatela... There is no parking place in the hostel, but there is no problem there. As I am a city guy with a lot of bad experiences with stuff being stolen, I decided to take everything into the room...

Punta Zicatela is the best place to stay during hollidays, it's not so crowded, you can relax and the prices are lower than Zicatela and Puerto.

Here you can cook in the hostel or eat at a restaurant... We did both and it's not that expensive.

 

[ChepoCDT]

Cacaluta

Well, Cacaluta is the paradise on earth. This beach is located around 15 miles from Huatulco, and is part of a National Park/Natural Reserve. You can go and visit the beach at day, but need a special permit so you can camp.

Only 3 families (with 50~60 people per family) have been camping there for about 30 years. It was really great to have an invite to camp for new years!

During the day some yatchs go there so the people can have a great time, the beach is never crowded... you can barely count 200 people at the same time! It's great!

The water is crystal clear, not to cold, a perfect place to scuba dive or snorkeling! At night, you can see the bioluminescence and it's a perfect show!

Even though we were invited by a family, we camped far from them because all of our tents didn't fit in the small space that was left for us.

Good things: we rented a portable WC and a large tent. The tacoma has an A/C plug, so I plugged a reflector so we could cook at night. The taco was the only vehicle capable to get to our camp :) so we carried everything from the "parking spot" to the camp.

No moon, clear sky, somehow windy, not too hot made a perfect weather for our last days of 2016.

After buying groceries, propane, ice:

Arriving to camp:

Beach:

Random Pics:

 

[ChepoCDT]

What went OK?

• Timming... We got at the time we expected, the roads where ok, we didn't have to drive at night... (except for an accident that kept us without moving for 2 hours)
• Tools
• First Aid Kit (I had to use it a couple of times)
• LED Reflector
• Stove + Propane
• Chairs, Table, Kayak

What went wrong?

• Could have brought a RTT (didn't buy it at the time because I was told I couldn't park near the camp. Next year RTT it is!
• As we camped far from our other friends, we had one day without a large tent... Next time, we will call before going so we can have the tent ready for our arrival
• Food Storage: I brought another tent I always use for my bags and personal stuff... We had to use that little tent to store all the food and keep it away from animals. Have to buy a mosquito net tent for this!
• It was so windy that some tents almost flew away. Change the stakes, for a bigger and stronger ones!
• Water: Again, as I didn't know that the truck could park so close, I didn't care about building the water tanks for shower, hand wash, etc... Next year: two water PVC water tanks!
• Drinkable water: by the third day we ran out of water we need to calculate better the consumption per person.

What could go better?

• Buy another pair of traction pads: I had no problem with getting stuck, but the sand is very soft and can you can get stuck at any time.
• Bigger First Aid Kit, bring more stuff as we are a lot of people on the beach and people sometimes ask for something
• Lights: Yeah, as soon as I get the bed rack, I need to install the lateral and rear lights.
• Double Battery: Yeah, the light on the tent was powered by the truck's inverter... Need a battery only for accesories, if it runs out of power, I can still turn on the truck with no problem... This time I had to keep the truck on a lot of time...
• Need to install asap my new CB...
• More same size boxes... As I felt like playing tetris with all the stuff on the bed of the truck, I think it's going to be easier to have more of the same boxes and just label them with their contents. This way you only care about putting the heavy weight on the bottom.
• Mod the stove I bought for the trip: need to put some metal sheets around so the burners can work better
• Extra Clothes: yup, even though I tried to wash some clothes, the humidity was at 95%, so everything kept wet...

 

[Dark Path]

Beautiful Pics!!

 

[montyPR]

Thanks for sharing, I would love to make a trip of this fashion.

 

[ChepoCDT]

Thanks for sharing, I would love to make a trip of this fashion.

Do it! Its a great experience and something you will never forget!