The two defining bases for an Oaxaca-coast elopement are Puerto Escondido and Mazunte, the lively surf town versus the tiny bohemian village. They sit an hour apart on the same wild coast and offer distinctly different experiences, and choosing between them, or combining them, shapes the whole character of the day.
Puerto Escondido: Lively and Dramatic
Puerto Escondido is the larger, livelier base: a real surf town with world-class waves, a range of beaches from the dramatic Zicatela to the sheltered Carrizalillo cove, the boho La Punta neighbourhood, and a growing scene of restaurants, bars, and mezcalerias. An elopement based here pairs the drama of the big Pacific surf with the energy of a vibrant town and the ease of better infrastructure, more accessible while still wild.
Mazunte: Tiny and Bohemian
Mazunte is the opposite: a tiny, off-grid, deeply bohemian village of dirt roads, eco-lodges, and wild beaches, with a spiritual, unplugged, back-to-nature soul and the spectacular Punta Cometa on its doorstep. An elopement based here is intimate, raw, and removed from the world, perfect for couples who want their wedding to feel like a barefoot escape to the edge of the wild Pacific, with the famous cliff sunset minutes away.
How to Choose
The practical decision: if you want a livelier base, more infrastructure, a range of beaches, and the energy of a real surf town, choose Puerto Escondido. If you want tiny, wild, off-grid, and deeply bohemian, with Punta Cometa at hand, choose Mazunte. Puerto Escondido is the dramatic, vibrant statement; Mazunte is its intimate, unplugged counterpoint.
The beauty of the Oaxaca coast is that the two are only an hour apart, so combining them is easy. Base in one and visit the other: the surf and town energy of Puerto Escondido paired with the wild beaches and the Punta Cometa cliff sunset of Mazunte gives a single elopement the full sweep of this extraordinary coast.
Destination Wedding Photographer
Vancouver · Medellín · Worldwide
