Blog post by Tina Winterlik
http://adventurezinmexico.blogspot.com
Mar 2/2011
With this big storm about to bare down on us in Vancouver, I think we could all use something to take our mind off things for a bit. So check out this video.
From Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Playa_Zipolite
Playa Zipolite is a beach community located in San Pedro Pochutla municipality on the southern coast of Oaxaca state in Mexico. It is located between Huatulco and Puerto Escondido and is part of the “Riviera Oaxaqueña” area.[1]
Zipolite is best known as being one of Mexico’s very few nude beaches and for retaining much of the hippie culture that made it notable in the 1960s and 1970s.
The name Zipolite, sometimes spelled Sipolite or Cipolite probably comes from the Nahuatl word sipolitlan or zipotli, meaning "bumpy place" or "place of continuous bumps or hills".[1]
However, some claim the name means “beach of the dead” in either Nahuatl or Zapotec because of dangerous underwater currents just offshore.[2][3][4]
The beach is currently popular with foreign tourists, especially backpackers, who stay in one of the many rustic cabins or camping spaces that line the beach.[5][6]Read More Here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Playa_Zipolite
Archeological finds at the east end of the beach shows that the area has a long history, but for the first half of the 20th century only one family lived here.[2] In the 1960s and 1970s, counterculture hippies began to congregate here in part due to the beach’s isolated nature. At the time, there was little law enforcement, and drug use became common.[3] In the 70s and 80s the beach gained a reputation in Mexico and among foreign travelers as a free-love paradise. Read More here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Playa_Zipolite
Zipolite is a nearly pristine about forty meters wide and two km long, with medium grain gold colored sand. The water is clear with tones of blue and green.[6]
This was one of the beaches featured in the Mexican blockbuster movie “Y tu mamá también.”[13] It stretches from a small isolate cove called Playa del Amor on the east side to the new age Shambala retreat on the west end which is partially sheltered by rocks.
Behind this is, sea cliffs rise. The beach is lined by palm trees and rustic cabins, hotel rooms and hammocks with a few more sophisticated lodgings on the west end.[10][17] This beach is part of the Riviera Oaxaqueño, which includes the nearby beaches of Puerto Angel and San Agustinillo.[1]
This beach is favored by foreign tourists, most of whom are backpackers and by the Mexican middle class,[5][6][13] especially during Holy Week vacation in Mexico.[4]
The beach’s appeal stems from being one of very few beaches in which nudity is tolerated, however it is mostly practiced on the sheltered far east Playa del Amor and the far west end.[10][12][17]
Rocks on the far east end with crosses on them Read More here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Playa_Zipolite
Swimming is practiced here but caution is strongly advised. Waves are strong in the afternoon, which is good for surfing and undertow is always strong. The ocean just offshore has strong currents that flow in circular patterns, some of which push swimmers toward shore and some which can pull swimmers out to sea.
These currents are strong but not very wide.[10][12][18] Swimmers have regularly drowned, prompting the creation of a volunteer lifeguard team and a flag system to indicate where and when it is safest to swim.[3]
The lifeguard team was founded in 1995 and trained by local charity Piña Palmera and U.S. citizen Joaquin Venado.
In 1996, drownings at this beach were cut in half.[18] The lifeguard service currently has ten lifeguards, an ATV, a jet ski, radios and other equipment provided by the state government.[11][15]
From 2007 to 2009, there have been no drowning deaths at Zipolite, a record, but there have been 180 registered rescues.[11][19] Read More here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Playa_Zipolite
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While were were there in the winter of 2008/9 they were filming a movie. It's World Premiere starts tomorrow, see this link!!
http://adventurezinmexico.blogspot.com/2011/03/world-premiere-of-mystico-fantastico.html
Mystico Fantástico! from anita doron on Vimeo.
