Oh, Zipolite… From the moment our toes touched the warm sand on your nude beach we knew that we were going to like this place. A lot!
Initially, we had planned to stay about 10 days in town, after busy California and rushing through central Mexico we felt that we needed a couple of days off. To relax on a laid back beach, have some beers, let the days pass by, and catch up with writing new blog posts. Eventually, we stayed for about a month in Playa Zipolite (or “Zipo” as the locals lovingly call it). Never before had we spent such a long time at the same spot. Especially not in such a small village. The fact that we could be naked on the beach most of the time probably has something to do with it. But there’s certainly more.
And let’s face it, what is Zipolite anyway? It’s a town with two and a half streets stocked with bars, restaurants, and hotels. Probably not more than 500 people are actually living there. It’s basically impossible to swim in the sea because of its currents. Yes, it does have Mexico’s only public nude beach but would we cancel our plans for the next 2.5 weeks just for a stretch of sand where we can be naked? We’ve been around you know, we’ve been to the most magnificent nude beaches all over the world. What’s so special about this one?
Is it truly magic?
We were not the only ones who got enchanted by Zipolite, some stay for months, others for the rest of their lives. We heard a story about a girl who had thrown her third going away party a week ago and was still around. Rumour has it that in a month or two she will probably throw her fourth. When Kelly and Sherry from Casablanca Guest House discovered Zipo they bought a piece of land during one of their first stays and started building their own place. And in order for us to eventually be able to leave, we had to buy two expensive non-refundable plane tickets and promise ourselves that within a year we would be back. Only then we could let go.
Some say that the reason why Zipo has such an attraction on people is rather materialistic. Food and drinks are cheap, even compared to Mexican standards. There are accommodation options for every kind of budget and mind-expanding substances are not that expensive either. Well, what did you expect? This used to be a hippie village.
We tend to believe that it’s more than that. We believe that it’s the whole atmosphere that casts a spell on its visitors. Some call Zipo a “nude beach”, but it’s certainly not the kind where textiles are frowned upon or chased away. Others call it a “clothing optional beach”, but also this doesn’t project its true value. We like to go for “free beach”. You can be whoever you want to be, you can look like whatever you want to look (if you like to be clothed, that’s fine, if you like to be naked, fine too, if you like to dress up as Peter Pan, nobody will care) and more especially: you can be your true self. There’s no judgment.
Oh and just for the record: These are not before mentioned substances talking.
Oh and just for the record: These are not before mentioned substances talking.
Where to eat in Zipolite?
Really everybody we met who has ever been to Zipo told us to have breakfast at Orale Cafe. This is supposed to be head and shoulders the number one when it comes to your morning food. Unfortunately, because we were there during the low season this place was closed so we don’t know (yet). But do share your thoughts if you’ve been there. The places where we liked to have our breakfast were Le Castelet (great crepes), Nice Place On The Beach (great eggs), and La Mora in San Agustinillo (great everything).
We don’t usually have lunch so there’s little we can recommend to you but a decent sandwich can be had at pretty much every restaurant on the beach.
For dinner, we do have quite some tips. If you’re traveling on the cheap we can certainly recommend Nicole Tacos on Roca Blanca but since all food is reasonably priced you may as well have the delicious fish in white wine sauce with mash potatoes at El Mare (about 5 dollars). Tres de Decembre is a good veggie place that also has decent pizzas but the best pizzas can be found in San Agustinillo at La Termita. Nothing beats the vegetarian pizza with pepperoni. The best burgers are supposed to be found at Sal y Pimienta but we were not convinced.
For top-notch food go to either La Providencia (reservation needed) or El Navigante in San Agustinillo.
For dinner, we do have quite some tips. If you’re traveling on the cheap we can certainly recommend Nicole Tacos on Roca Blanca but since all food is reasonably priced you may as well have the delicious fish in white wine sauce with mash potatoes at El Mare (about 5 dollars). Tres de Decembre is a good veggie place that also has decent pizzas but the best pizzas can be found in San Agustinillo at La Termita. Nothing beats the vegetarian pizza with pepperoni. The best burgers are supposed to be found at Sal y Pimienta but we were not convinced.
For top-notch food go to either La Providencia (reservation needed) or El Navigante in San Agustinillo.
Where to sleep in Zipolite?
There are accommodations available for every budget in Zipo. On the east side of town are a couple of campgrounds for those who are really traveling on the cheap, but if you want a good budget minded room, Brisa Marina is where you want to go. Decent standard rooms, some with ocean view and private bathroom, for a very low price.
The most known place among the nudist community is probably Hotel Nude. It was the first clothing-optional hotel on the beach and has very nice cabaña style rooms. Even nudists who stay at other places tend to hang around Hotel Nude during the day.
We found the most comfortable place for a decent price at Casablanca Guest House, it’s about a 15-minute walk from Zipolite beach but less than a minute down to Playa Camaron. A small beach where nudity is also allowed.
Other clothing-optional places in Zipo can be found on the Zipolite Mexico website.
The most known place among the nudist community is probably Hotel Nude. It was the first clothing-optional hotel on the beach and has very nice cabaña style rooms. Even nudists who stay at other places tend to hang around Hotel Nude during the day.
We found the most comfortable place for a decent price at Casablanca Guest House, it’s about a 15-minute walk from Zipolite beach but less than a minute down to Playa Camaron. A small beach where nudity is also allowed.
Other clothing-optional places in Zipo can be found on the Zipolite Mexico website.
What to do in Zipolite?
There are several things to do in and around Zipolite but we would strongly advise you to take it easy, at least for the first days. Get a nice tan, read a good book, refresh in the ocean, drink some cocktails or Coronas, let the hours pass by and get soaked up by the place.
Another small beach called “Playa de Amor” (beach of love) can be found at the east side of town, but beware that there’s a reason why they call the beach like that. We probably don’t have to draw you a picture.
Next to A Nice Place On The Beach is a small surf shop and we asked one of the instructors whether you can take naked surfing classes. Guess what… You can. If that’s something on your bucket list, bring a pen to cross it out.
Another small beach called “Playa de Amor” (beach of love) can be found at the east side of town, but beware that there’s a reason why they call the beach like that. We probably don’t have to draw you a picture.
Next to A Nice Place On The Beach is a small surf shop and we asked one of the instructors whether you can take naked surfing classes. Guess what… You can. If that’s something on your bucket list, bring a pen to cross it out.
Around Zipo are the busy fishing village Puerto Angel, the amazingly nice beach of San Agustanillo (nudity is not allowed but topless sunbathing is) and the “pueblo magico” Mazunte. A great half-day trip is the lagoon of La Ventanilla where you can take a boat and check out the great scenery with lots of birds, iguanas and crocodiles. There’s another amazing beach east of Puerto Angel, we don’t recall the name but ask at Casablanca for the magnificent beach where they took Nick and Lins and they’ll understand what you mean. We don’t know about the high season but during low season it was perfectly possible to be naked there as well.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: Every year in February Zipolite hosts an annual nudist festival. Thousands of national and international nudists get together for a couple of days of music, activities and nudity of course. We haven’t been there, but it’s certainly on our bucket list!
How to get to Zipolite?
We wanted to call this “How to get to and away from Zipo” but who would ever want to know how to get away from it? That’s something you’ll figure out when you really really have to go.
There are two airports near Zipolite, both at about an hour drive from town. The smaller one is at Puerto Escondido which has flights to Mexico City and a couple of other cities in the country. The other one is at Huatulco, which not only connects to Mexican cities but also to several Canadian ones including Calgary, Vancouver and Toronto.
If you’re not Mexican or Canadian, our tip is to check Jetradar.com for the best connections via Mexico City.
There are two airports near Zipolite, both at about an hour drive from town. The smaller one is at Puerto Escondido which has flights to Mexico City and a couple of other cities in the country. The other one is at Huatulco, which not only connects to Mexican cities but also to several Canadian ones including Calgary, Vancouver and Toronto.
If you’re not Mexican or Canadian, our tip is to check Jetradar.com for the best connections via Mexico City.
Summary
We believe that Zipolite is more like an experience than it is a destination. And the only way to know how the place really is, is to get your naked ass over there and see for yourself. Unless your idea of the perfect holiday is a huge five star all-inclusive hotel, we can promise you that you won’t regret it.
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Zipo is huge on our bucket list too! Especially the Annual Nudist Festival;)..So take us with you in Feb if you go lol.
Nicely said… summed up very well indeed. And I know you could have easily written ten times as much and not covered it all. 🙂
Looks really good, I would like to go there.
Looks really good, I would like to go there. I have never said it before, but this website is beginning to upset me. First it says you can subscribe without making a comment, but then you have to make a comment or it will not allow it.
That’s weird… did you try to subscribe by clicking on the word “subscribe” in the sentence “You can also subscribe without commenting”?
We just tested it and here it works fine…
Hey Dan; So glad your buying the great resort has turned out to be world famous,we miss you at Blacks Beach.ps I still have 2 gum ball machines of yours ? RON THIEL
Zipolite stole my heart and can’t wait to go back. Also this is not paid but I stayed at Heven Zipolite and definitely recommend you to check it out next time you go there.
My wife and I were there January 2019.. We loved it. We will be back in 2020 for a whole month.
Just returned from Zipo (I think we left the day you arrived!). We stayed a bit out of town, so we had the problem of being at a nude beach and having to haul around clothes, money and phone – it really takes some of the fun out of being clothes-free! But hang on, there is a great solution. Up and down the beach there are cabanas, which are little rooms built of wood and thatch, elevated above the sand. The thatch roof and breeze keeps them cool, they all have front porches as well as beds for that afternoon, well, nap. And completely clothing optional! So we arrived in town in the morning, walked down to our cabaña at La Habana, dropped our stuff in the room, locked it up and hid the key and voila! We headed out with nothing but our hats and sunscreen. The cabañas are cheap – $20 USD per day. Most people spend the night in them (some even stay in them for months), but for us they were the perfect daytime location on the beach, for less than it would cost to rent an umbrella and two chaises on a beach in Italy. Check it out!
That’s definitely not a bad idea at all. Of course, with the upcoming festival, all the cabanas are probably booked by now. And they certainly will this weekend.
We go to the beach with a small bag to keep our clothes and some valuables.
Have you tried all the beaches in Zipolite by yourself? As well the Playa de Amor? I have checked the reviews of the different beaches from Zipolite and also the pictures of the reviews to Playa de Amor and it looks like that there are a lot of voyeurs in this area of the beach. You can find a lot of nude bodies on the pictures on the Google reviews. For the other parts of the beach (besides of Playa de Amor) you can find not so many comments on Google ratings. If I see the ratings for Playa de Amor then it doesn’t seem to be a good place to be if you don’t want to see pictures from yourself in the internet. Just wondering if this is normal there?
Yes, we’ve been to all beaches. Nudity is allowed on the whole stretch of the Zipolite main beach but is most common at a zone in the west end of the beach called “Shambala” and at the secluded east end called Playa de Amor. We’ve been to Playa de Amor several times and during the daytime, there’s a really good vibe and most people will be naked. Around sunset, the crowd tends to change towards people with “less genuine intentions”, so to speak.
See here for more info: https://www.zipolite-mexico.com/zipolite-nude-beach/