Though Chahue is a massive bay centrally located in the developed area of Huatulco, it has not been an important part of Fonatur's
development plans to date. Consequently, it has suffered from a kind of benign neglect for years. Visitors tend not
to frequent it because it doesn't have the restaurants and amenities of other beaches, while not having the remote tranquility of other empty
beaches. Between the Chahue Marina breakwater and the Club Chahue facilities at the west end, Playa Chahue is a long, clean, and quite nice beach
that is a great place for morning or evening strolls or runs. The Club Chahue is one of the only facilities on the beach, with a restaurant, bar, and swimming
pool, and is a quite nice place to dine, have some drinks, and pass the time. At the east end of the beach there is a public parking area, and you can walk
out to the marina breakwater from here. Due to its proximity to many of the nightclubs in Chahue, the beach is a favorite place for amorous couples and
late night partiers to wander off to in the wee hours of the morning. Since the discos go strong til five or six in the morning, many a clubgoer
has watched the sun rise from the beach at Chahue.
On the east side of the marina as the headland winds out toward Arrocito, there are two
beautiful secluded beaches accessible by hiking trail or boat, Playa Esperanza and Playa Tejon. Presently you can drive to Esperanza by taking the second road on the right past
the Chahue Marina (heading toward Tangolunda) and following it til you're above the beach. From there you can park and hike a short trail through the
woods down to the beach. Roads and infrastructure have been put in on by Fonatur on this dramatic and beautifully undeveloped headland, and a luxury
neighborhood like Conejos is slated for it. In the future there will likely be no more free public access by land. Playa Tejon is a little more of a challenge
to get to by land and is better accessed by boat or quite easily by kayak from Playa Chahue. Unlike Esperanza, the completed road out to it has been kept closed by Fonatur
to this point. Fonatur is pumping an enormous amount of
money in 2008 into the already well developed Chahue Marina, the Sector O neighborhood nearby is bustling with construction, and the new
neighborhood of Sector N across the road from the marina is being cleared for development now. Within a few years the fields of dirt and
pleasant benign neglect that mark the area will probably be a thing of the past. where this would be of greater concern in some of the bays, Chahue has
always been slated for development. Most of the development around Playa Chahue should improve the look of the area and cut down on the clouds of dust
that blow around on windy days. It will be a shame to see the headland above Esperanza and Tejon made into another exclusive enclave, but unfortunately
developing that has always been part of the Huatulco master plan.
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