Mazunte

History

Until the mid-20th century almost nobody lived here. The coast was isolated and hard to reach, and only two or three families got by on fishing and small-scale farming. One explanation of the name links it to a Nahuatl phrase about laying eggs; older residents say it comes from "mizontle," a local word for a crab that was once abundant.

The village grew when a market developed for sea turtle meat and eggs. Turtle hunting started in neighboring San Agustinillo, and by the 1970s, with a slaughterhouse operating in the area, this stretch of coast was the center of the turtle trade in Mexico and the community depended on it almost entirely. Nesting numbers collapsed. Mexico banned egg collecting in 1971 and the whole trade in 1990, which left most families without income.

Government and private groups stepped in with alternatives. The federal government opened the Mexican Turtle Center, and an environmental group helped residents plan reforestation and ecotourism, building guest bungalows from palm and adobe beside family homes. After a 1993 visit by Anita Roddick, founder of The Body Shop, fifteen families formed the cooperative Cosméticos Naturales de Mazunte, selling their own products from 1996. Hurricanes Pauline and Rick wrecked the village in 1997, and festivals were created to bring visitors back. Turtle nesting has recovered strongly, and Mazunte was named a Pueblo Mágico in 2015.