Cipolite: A Lifestylers Paradise
Cipolite is a small beach community which lies on the Pacific coast of the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca, about three kilometers west of the village of Puerto Angel, which along with Mazunte, and San Martinillo are known as the “Riviera Oaxaquena”.
The name Cipolite comes from the native Zapotec language, meaning “beach of the dead”, so-called for its dangerous Pacific Ocean currents and riptides, which have taken numerous lives.
Cipolite: Adventure for Adult Couples
In the late 70s a group of hippies arrived to Cipolite for camping and expecting to watch a solar eclipse. Enchanted by the beach’s natural beauty and isolation, they stayed and began a small permanent community. Locals living nearby quickly reacted to this new source of income, so they offered simple lodgings and services and developed a small colony.
About an hour’s walk from the town of Puerto Angel, the beach’s isolation, complete lack of law enforcement, and fiercely independent and tolerant nature of the locals created an ideal location for traveling hippies seeking a simple lifestyle free of modern social conventions.
Nudity became common and fully accepted. Cipolite’s signature beach, the Playa del Amor (Beach of Love), generated a certain amount of fame in Mexico and among foreign travelers as a free-love paradise.
While not predominant, nudity remains common and up to date Cipolite continues to be one of Mexico’s only established and accepted nude beaches. Zipolite still retains its historical distrust for authority and live-and-let-live attitude, and continues to have an eclectic and liberal community.
By the late 90s, a fundamental demographic change began, as rising prices essentially drove out the predominantly low-budget, long-term hippie residents, who discovered that their money went a lot further on the beaches of Asia and Central America.
The Life-style Nature’s Paradise
If you are interested in rustic adventure travel, but more inclined to simplicity and a beach lifestyle than wild behavior, Cipolite is the place to go and enjoy Nature at its most.
A piece of advise: distrust the sayings of desperate hotels and businesses in neighboring towns about the reputation of Cipolite as a scandalous, drug-infested, and dangerous community, eager for a bigger slice of the Costa Chica’s tiny tourist industry.
Still a popular destination for backpackers, Cipolite caters to a younger crowd, including young couples and families, predominantly from Europe and Canada.
The beach is beautiful but dangerous for swimming, although since the establishment of a professionally trained and highly effective life guard program swimming accidents are now infrequent.
Nevertheless, extreme caution is advised when swimming; flags are routinely posted indicating where it is safe.
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