Mazunte

Mazunte
Town
Mazunte and Punta Cometa
Mazunte Location in Mexico
Coordinates: 15°40′03″N 96°33′13″W / 15.66750°N 96.55361°W / 15.66750; -96.55361
Country	Mexico
State	Oaxaca
Municipality	Santa María Tonameca
Elevation	30 m (100 ft)
Population (2005)
• Total	702
Time zone	CST (UTC-6)
Area code(s)	958

Mazunte is a small beach town on the Pacific coast in Oaxaca, Mexico (15°39′53″N 96°33′14″W / 15.66485°N 96.55388°W / 15.66485; -96.55388). It is located 22 km southwest of San Pedro Pochutla on coastal Highway 200. Mazunte is located some 10 km to the west of Puerto Angel and just about 1 km from San Agustinillo and 264 km south of the capital of Oaxaca. There are two etymologies for the name. Some sources state that “Mazunte” is derived from a Nahuatl phrase, “maxotetia” which means “please deposit eggs here.” However, older residents of the community state that it is from the word “mizontle,” used by locals to refer to a crab species that used to be very abundant in the area.

Mazunte is famous for sea turtles. Before the mid 20th century, it had nearly no human population, but that changed when a market for sea turtle meat and eggs developed. Due to the many turtles that come to Mazunte to lay eggs, by the 1970s, Mazunte was the center of sea turtle hunting in Mexico, with its own slaughterhouse. Concern over the declining number of sea turtles eventually led to an absolute ban on turtle meat and eggs in Mexico, and deprived most families in Mazunte of their main source of income. To replace it, ecotourism based on the conservation of turtles and natural cosmetics developed. The main attractions of Mazunte today are the Mexican National Turtle Center and the Cosméticos Naturales de Mazunte.

In 2012, Mazunte was heavily damaged by Hurricane Carlotta.

Up until the middle of the 20th century, very few people lived in this area as it was isolated and inaccessible. Only about two or three homes belonging to families who made a living by subsistence fishing and agriculture were here. The population began to rise with the establishment of sea turtle hunting, which began in nearby San Agustinillo. In the 1970s a turtle slaughterhouse was built in Mazunte, making the area the center of sea turtle exploitation, and the town became almost wholly dependent on the trade of turtle meat and eggs, the latter considered to be an aphrodisiac. Legally about 30,000 animals a year were butchered, but some environmentalists believe the illegal take may have been more than twice that.