Huatulco bays boat tour

Huatulco's coast is nine bays, and several of the beaches in the national park have no road to them at all, so a boat is the only way to see them. The shared day boats leave from the marina at Santa Cruz and work along the coast past the sights the crews point out: a blowhole, a rock face called the Rostro Mixteco, an island shaped like a turtle.

The stops vary by boat. A common pattern is an hour or more at Chachacual, a protected bay inside the park, for the beach or snorkelling, then a long lunch stop at Maguey, where the beach restaurants do fish a la talla and stuffed pineapple. Much of the coral died in the 2023 marine heatwave, but the fish are still there. With hotel pickup the day runs around seven hours. Lunch, snorkel gear and the national park fee are usually extra.