Huatulco, Mexico!

Day 11 – 13 October 2026 – Huatulco, Mexico

 

This was our first non-touristy town in Mexico, and I was looking forward to a slow wander through town.  Richard and I had our usual slow morning, with breakfast room service in our room.  I’m slow in the morning, and this helps me get going and saves time.

 

This morning, there were several announcements that there would be a safety drill for the crew, since most of the guests were already in town to avoid the heat of the day.  Each announcement would begin with “this is just a drill, guests do not need to do anything.”  We continued with our breakfast, then shower, then dressing for a hot day ashore. 

 

However, my favorite was the announcement to passengers that this was a crew drill only, and to ignore any announcements. This was repeated twice.  And then after a pause, the same voice announced suddenly in a slightly hysterical voice “Abandon ship!!  Abandon ship!”  Just too funny!  That was when I took a photo of the “evacuated” sign on our cabin door.

 

Huatulco turned out to be a very pretty town, despite the fact that no one on the ship ever heard of the place!  We could see the lovely beach from our balcony, across clear aqua waters.  Definitely tropical!  Large fancy houses up on the hills, though we had no idea if these are for touristas to rent, or if there are wealthy Mexicans who own these mansions.  But definitely not the homes of we the working class types.

 

Once I wandered into town along the pier, I found all sorts of colorful market stalls with weavings, clothing, gorgeous ceramics, beautiful jewelry – all the usual items we find for sale in Mexico.  I noticed, though, that the embroidery and lace designs here were more geometric and less floral than most of the items we see sold as “Made in Mexico.”  I don’t know if this is a regional stylistic difference, or perhaps artists who have changed their personal style.  (I suspect it’s regional – we found regional differences in textiles in Guatemala, just a bit to the south, so it seemed these might be traditional styles that differ by area of the country.)

 

I loved all the colorful store displays: clothing and weavings fluttering in the breeze, or tables of ceramics, jewelry, leather items – on and on, beckoning tourists to come and browse.  Come and shop.  SO hard to not buy half the items available, because everything really was so enticing!

 

The town had a lot of murals.  I really liked the one about Huatulco being the heart of Mexico, the children with the plants and birds were just gorgeous.  However, the center was a way too realistic painting of a heart, as in biologically correct, looking like it had been surgically removed.  Yes, I avoided photos of it, that was just way too creepy for me.  Stuff of nightmares!

 

I wandered around one section of town – there were also quite a variety of marine animal-based murals, some with a large statue of a particular animal in its painted environment in the background like a giant diorama.  And the random sculpture of a marlin near the beach!

 

As always, I walked down the beach to dip my toes – very warm water!  There were lovely cafés and restaurants along the beach just opening at 11 AM, but it was too early for lunch for me. 

 

More wandering, and I got a bit turned around trying to find a postcard somewhere – but in my wandering I somehow found the larger tourist market all under one roof!  Also a very green and shady park in the center of town, with elaborate cast metal benches.  By this point, I was getting tired after a few hours of wandering; one can only browse through shops and souvenirs for a limited time before it just becomes overwhelming.

 

But I did find a man who was weaving in front of his shop.  He comes from a family of weavers that goes way back, and both the men and women weave.  We chatted a bit, and I looked around his shop.  Beautiful wall hangings, pillows, table runners, coasters – wonderful colors and interesting designs both modern and traditional.  I explained that we don’t have a permanent home, we travel – but that everything was just beautiful.  Sometimes not having our own permanent home is the only way I can convince myself NOT to buy all these gorgeous things!

 

And I finally found a postcard!