Our group of 12 (7 adults, 5 kids) rented this house and the one next door for a two week family reunion at Christmas and New Years. The owner, Dale, was very helpful and easy to work with in advance, and it was great to see that the photos and description of the property matched what greeted us on arrival. While we've stayed at all-inclusive resorts and in more touristed areas in the past, we were looking for a more relaxed, affordable family vacation on a beautiful part of the Oaxacan coast and were not disappointed!
The home is located in a gated condo community that is still under development, though that was not at all a problem for us. There is a wonderful pool situated on the cliff-side overlooking the Pacific, and it gets lots of shade in the afternoon. Sunrises are beautiful from the front deck (yes, they heat up the house, but with the sliding glass doors open things were just fine, and the air-con in the bedrooms made for a nice retreat...and if you don't like heat, you shouldn't go to Oaxaca's coast anyways!), and it was a lot of fun to watch the local boats, schools of flying manta rays, and huge moon rises from the patio.
We spent most of our days at the beach or the pool, but the house is well-equipped with dvds, cards, games, books, etc. Do bring extra dvds if you get easily bored; there is internet service, though it was slow and reception spotty from time to time, but my wife was quite glad since it meant our teen age son and I unplugged from the world except for me checking e-mail once a day! The house cleaners do a great job of cleaning (twice a week), the kitchens were well-stocked, and we were very happy to have laundry facilities in-house.
It is easiest in this part of Oaxaca if you have your own car. However, taxi service can be arranged, and it would not be a hassle if you are flexible or used to this sort of travel. We had cars and so took day trips to Puerto Escondido and to the mountains, visited the many beaches (be sure to go to Mazunte and to the Ventanilla nature preserve), and to get to the Bodega Aurera (WalMart) 20 minutes away in Pochutla. We never did find the mythical pizza joint of El Alquimista! That aside, the kids actually loved walking down the steep mountain side to the little beach, La Mina, a 10 minute walk down, and 15 back. There, they passed several days collecting shells, swimming, throwing the frisbee, snorkeling, and jumping off the huge rock in the bay. Lots of great memories from this trip!
