07.10.21

The Bohemian lifestyle, Part I

Whether you do it for a day, a weekend, the week, or longer, the Bohemian lifestyle may appeal to you. It is not for everyone since there are some things that you will do without. Screens, sometimes missing. Wi-Fi? Iffy at best. Clothing: optional…

Yes, Zipolite is the only clothing optional beach in Mexico, so has something for someone who is looking for a totally laid-back atmosphere. The beach itself is only a little over a mile long and except for some lodgings along the sand there’s really not much to it. It is a long bus ride from Oaxaca, took me almost 10 hours with several stops along the way. The bus was comfortable, however, fully air conditioned, and reclining seats. There was a stop along the way for lunch since I took the early morning bus, and we finally rode into our destination, Pochutla bus terminal, about 7:00. I lost count of how many mezcal fields we passed, but it must have been in the hundreds, which makes sense since this state is the world capital of the fine agave plant.

Pochutla does not seem to have much going forward except it is the transit hub for the coast cities. My “plan” was Puerto Escondido, with a side trip to Zipolite and Mazunte, but it turned out the side trips took priority over the main destination.

My little beach bungalow was not much to speak of, just a few rooms and a restaurant out on the sand. The room was on the top floor, which included some treacherous stairs, but the view from the balcony was breathtaking. My room had hardwood floors, probably a smart idea since the roof was nothing more than thatch. The mosquito netting was there not just for show and for the first time ever in my life I slept under it.

I was woken up a little after 2:00 a.m. by lightning which was starting over the ocean. I got up and sat outside for 20 minutes trying to take video which required some heavy editing. The expression “capturing lightning in a bottle” seemed to fit, but I was able to piece together half a dozen shots to get 30 seconds worth. I went back in and tried to go to sleep but was restless, and just before 4:00 a.m. my door was literally blown in from the strength of the wind. The lightning was even more prominent, so I took that as a sign to go back outside and take some more video.

They say that you can always sleep when you’re dead, and this was a night where being awake was maybe more fun than the sleep that I missed! Listening to the waves crashing just a hundred feet from my room is not something we experience every day. The humidity was so thick that, to coin a cliche, you could cut it with a knife.

And 0430 the night went a whole new direction as the storm cell finally brought thunder. The lightning increased, the thunder rolled in, and it was very biblical. The rain really never started, but the lightning and thunder put on a wonderful audio/ video show.

The next night I had a room reserved in Mazunte, so went the 10 minutes down the road to stay there, but came back to Zipolite for my last night. Puerto Escondido will have to wait. After all, I’ve seen many large size cities; I’d rather enjoy the uniqueness of the beach here.

As I mentioned at the beginning, this is the only fully nude beach in Mexico, and people take advantage of it. The beach goers feel very comfortable in their skin, regardless of their bodies, and that is freeing in its own way. I know it is for me! One thing that was treacherous there were the rip tides, probably the worse I have ever been in. From one second to the other I was getting pulled out, in, left and right, and if I lost my footing it could be bad. The evening I got there I witnessed this first hand as I saw two young men literally being pulled out to the ocean as though they were on a conveyor belt. It was a blink of the eye. Fortunately, there were two lifeguards who hauled ass, grabbed the two guys, and brought them back to shore. Initially I thought they were kids, but they were strapping teenagers, so what does that say for a less strong person in that water?

I also found out afterwards that “Zipolite” means “beach of the dead,” and have drownings year-round.