Huatulco, Puerto Escondido and Zipolite
Back on the beach after snorkeling La Entrega or Carrizalillo, with a bare wrist
Coral and rock in the coves of Huatulco and Puerto Escondido, and open sea at Zicatela and Zipolite.
Whether a bracelet lost while snorkeling in one of the calm coves on this coast, such as La Entrega in Huatulco or Carrizalillo and Puerto Angelito in Puerto Escondido, can be found depends first on where it came off, over sand close to the beach or out over rock and coral. Next comes how closely you can place your entry point and the way you swam from it.
Ring Seekers is a lost ring and jewelry recovery service that connects people who lost a ring, wedding band, watch, keys or phone in Huatulco, Puerto Escondido or Zipolite with a metal detectorist who can search there.
Tell us what happened and where. We find a detectorist who can reach the beach, brief them with your map and photos, and tell you honestly if the odds are poor.
Retrace the swim from the sand
While you are still on the beach, drop a pin on the patch of sand you swam out from, then name the rock, point or reef you headed for and roughly how long you were out. If a boat took you round the Huatulco bays, list every bay where you got in.
Photos of the bracelet from any angle help, along with the time you last had it.
Places we cover in Huatulco, Puerto Escondido and Zipolite
- Huatulco: Santa Cruz Huatulco and La Crucecita
- Playa Santa Cruz and Playa Yerbabuena
- Playa La Entrega
- Bahía Chahué
- Bahía Tangolunda: Ventura, Manzanillo, Tornillo, Tangolunda and Rincón Sabroso
- Bahía Conejos
- El Arrocito
- Bahía El Órgano
- Bahía Maguey
- Bahía Cacaluta
- Bahía San Agustín
- Puerto Escondido: Playa Principal
- Playa Marinero
- Playa Zicatela
- Playa Carrizalillo
- Playa Puerto Angelito
- Playa Manzanillo, Puerto Escondido
- Playa Bacocho
- Laguna de Manialtepec
- The Lagunas de Chacahua
- Puerto Ángel: Playa del Panteón and the pier beach
- Playa Estacahuite
- Zipolite
- San Agustinillo
- Mazunte and Playa Mermejita
From the Huatulco bays to the Puerto Escondido coves
Calm coves with coral and beaches open to the sea share this coast, so the name of the beach matters.
Santa Cruz Bay and La Entrega
Santa Cruz Bay takes in the beaches of Santa Cruz, Yerbabuena and La Entrega. The main beach at Santa Cruz has the cruise pier, a boat landing and the Capilla de la Santa Cruz, with fine to medium sand, a gentle slope and calm waves. La Entrega is a closed bay between rocky points, with a coral reef and very calm water, and people come to it to snorkel.
Chahué and Tangolunda
Chahué Bay is sheltered by rocky points, with a shelf of rock in its middle, and holds the beaches of El Tejón, La Esperanza and Chahué. Tangolunda Bay is home to the main hotel zone, and its beaches, Ventura, Manzanillo, Tornillo, Tangolunda and Rincón Sabroso, have moderate waves. There is a coral reef at Tangolunda too.
El Órgano, Maguey, Cacaluta and San Agustín
El Órgano has fine sand and gentle waves. The beaches of Maguey Bay are very calm and busy with visitors. San Agustín is sheltered by rocky islands and stacks, and its many reefs make it a place for diving. There is coral at El Órgano, Maguey and El Arrocito as well. Cacaluta, a bay of fine sand with nothing built on it, is reached on foot through the national park or by boat tour from Santa Cruz, and its clear water is good for snorkeling.
Playa Principal, Marinero and Zicatela
Playa Principal lies at the eastern end of Puerto Escondido's main bay, with fine gray sand and a gentle slope. Marinero has the same sand and water as Playa Principal and suits people starting out in surfing. Zicatela is a long open-sea beach of fine gray sand with a steep slope, and its waves are ideal for surfing. People also watch the surfers from the sand.
Carrizalillo, Puerto Angelito, Bacocho and Chacahua
Carrizalillo sits between small rock formations, like a little bay, with fine white sand, shallow water and very calm waves. A footpath runs from Playa Principal to Puerto Angelito, which has white sand and shallow, calm water and gets busy at weekends and in the holidays. Manzanillo has moderate waves, and people swim and snorkel there. Bacocho is a long beach split into sections by rocks, with gray sand and moderate waves. Further west along the coast road, the Lagunas de Chacahua are a chain of lagoons and mangroves that people tour by boat, and the water glows on dark nights.
Puerto Ángel and Zipolite
Puerto Ángel is a small fishing and tourist port. At Playa del Panteón the waves are very calm and people swim and snorkel, and the pier beach has calm water where boats and kayaks go out. Playa Estacahuite lies in front of a coral reef. Zipolite, west of Puerto Ángel, is an open-sea beach of golden sand with a gentle slope, known for waves that suit surfing. Its village runs along the sand, and a white rock stands in front of the beach.
San Agustinillo and Mazunte
San Agustinillo is a quiet beach where the water sometimes suits surfing, snorkeling and swimming. Mazunte has a beach of golden sand with a moderate slope and clear, calm water for swimming, and people watch the sunset from Punta Cometa and Playa Mermejita.
After your first message
Read by one person
Whoever reads your first WhatsApp message also answers the last one, and keeps your whole account in view in between.
Handed on in your words
We pass on your own account of the swim along with your pins and photos, so the detectorist starts from what you remember rather than a summary.
Whether it looks workable
Once we know how deep the water was and what the bottom was like, we say plainly whether the spot looks workable, before anything is arranged.
Costs and plan together
We explain the costs before any search is booked, together with where the detectorist would look and what for.
Coral coves and open-sea sand
What we ask you depends on which kind of beach it was.
Rock and coral around the coves
Carrizalillo, Puerto Angelito and Manzanillo have clear, shallow water over a bottom of rock and sand, and there is coral at La Entrega and several other Huatulco bays. Tell us whether you kept over sand or swam along the rocks.
Open sea at Zicatela and Zipolite
Both beaches face the open sea. Zicatela slopes steeply and Zipolite gently. Tell us where your towel was laid out and whether you went into the waves from there.
Tides at Puerto Escondido
Puerto Escondido has two high tides and two low tides a day, of unequal height, so the hour you were on the beach helps a detectorist work out where the water line was then.
Questions about Huatulco, Puerto Escondido and Zipolite
My bracelet came off somewhere between the sand and the reef at La Entrega.
La Entrega is a closed bay between rocky points, with a coral reef and clear, mild water off a beach of fine, light sand. Tell us whether you went in near one of the rocky points or in the middle, how long you stayed out and whether you swam as far as the reef. Describe the bracelet, its metal and how it fastens.
The wedding band went missing somewhere between the Santa Cruz chapel and the reception on the sand.
A Huatulco wedding can take place at the water's edge or in the Capilla de la Santa Cruz, which stands on the beach of the same name. The sand there is fine to medium, with a gentle slope. Pin the spots used for the ceremony and the party, say how they sat in relation to the chapel or the cruise pier, and tell us whether anyone went into the sea afterward.
I sat on the sand at Zicatela watching the surfers, and my Oura ring was gone when I got up.
Zicatela is a long open-sea beach with fine gray sand and a steep slope, and people watch the surfers from the sand. Pin where you sat and say whether you walked down to the water at any point. Include the model, size and finish of the ring.
My phone dropped into the shallows at Carrizalillo while I was wading.
Carrizalillo sits between small rock formations, with fine white sand and shallow, very calm water. Tell us whether you were near the rocks at one side or out in the middle, and whether the water reached your knees or your chest. Add the phone model and the color of its case.
Which of the Huatulco bays should I name if an earring went during a boat tour of several?
The bays are quite unlike each other. Maguey has very calm beaches that are busy with visitors, El Órgano has fine sand and gentle waves, and San Agustín is sheltered by rocky islands and has many reefs. List each bay where you swam or walked on the sand, and when you last felt the earring in place.
We walked the length of Zipolite and came back without our keys.
The village of Zipolite runs along its beach through neighborhoods such as Los Mangos, Las Palmas and Roca Blanca, and a white rock stands out in front of the sand. Tell us which neighborhood you started walking from and where you turned back, and describe the key ring.
My ring was on when I went into the water at Mazunte and gone when I came out.
Mazunte has golden sand, a moderate slope and clear, calm water that suits swimming. Tell us where along the beach you went in, how long you stayed in the sea and whether you also swam at San Agustinillo that day, and send a photo of the ring.
Something went over the side on a night tour of the Manialtepec lagoon.
The lagoon is ringed by vegetation, mostly mangroves, and tours go out on it after dark to see the bioluminescence. Tell us where the boat left from, where it stopped, and whether you were aboard or in the water at the time. If it dropped from the boat away from the shore, it is a long shot, and you would hear that from us first.
Huatulco, Puerto Escondido and Zipolite
Send the cove, the reef or the stretch of sand
A screenshot with your snorkel route drawn on it is welcome.
Open WhatsApp and send us the beach name with a pin on the sand you swam from, plus a photo of the bracelet, earring or ring that is missing.