Mexico / Oaxaca
Playa Zicatela
Playa Zicatela is a 3.5 km-long sandy beach facing west-south-west, 1.4 km north-west of Brisas de Zicatela (Oaxaca, Mexico). The sea averages 30.2 °C in August, its warmest month, and 28.0 °C in January; it stays at 21 °C or above all year.
Average sea surface temperature by month. Current month outlined.
Month by month
October at Playa Zicatela
Beach-day index 8.4/10 · Mexico median 8.4
| Measure | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sea °C | 28.0 °C | 28.0 °C | 28.0 °C | 28.4 °C | 29.3 °C | 29.8 °C | 30.1 °C | 30.2 °C | 29.8 °C | 29.6 °C | 29.4 °C | 28.6 °C |
| High °C | 28° | 29° | 30° | 31° | 30° | 27° | 27° | 27° | 26° | 26° | 27° | 27° |
| Low °C | 16° | 16° | 17° | 19° | 20° | 20° | 20° | 20° | 20° | 19° | 17° | 16° |
| Rain mm | 3 | 2 | 6 | 10 | 55 | 220 | 142 | 199 | 217 | 125 | 13 | 3 |
| Cloud % | 24 | 19 | 23 | 27 | 57 | 78 | 74 | 77 | 82 | 63 | 34 | 24 |
| Wind m/s | 3.4 | 3.2 | 3.2 | 3.1 | 2.9 | 2.7 | 2.4 | 2.4 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.9 | 2.9 |
| Daylight h | 11.3 | 11.6 | 12.0 | 12.5 | 12.9 | 13.1 | 13.0 | 12.7 | 12.2 | 11.8 | 11.4 | 11.2 |
| Record high/low | 33°/11° | 33°/12° | 35°/12° | 35°/14° | 35°/15° | 33°/17° | 32°/18° | 33°/17° | 31°/17° | 32°/12° | 32°/11° | 32°/11° |
| Beach index | 9.7 | 9.8 | 9.7 | 9.7 | 9.0 | 7.5 | 8.1 | 7.6 | 7.4 | 8.4 | 9.6 | 9.7 |
Long-term monthly averages: air from NASA POWER (2001–2020), sea from NOAA OISST (1991–2020); records are the extremes of 2001–2020. How the index works.
When to go
The beach-day index peaks in November–April; February scores 9.8/10 with highs of 29 °C, sea at 28.0 °C and 2 mm of rain.
In February that is 0.6 points above the median of the 345 beaches in Mexico covered by this atlas.
Across the year the sea averages 29.1 °C, warmer than 97% of the coastal beaches in the atlas.
June is the wettest month (220 mm) and February the driest (2 mm); the yearly total is about 1,000 mm.
Daylight runs from 11.2 hours in December to 13.1 hours in June; in mid-February the sun rises at 06:53 and sets at 18:31 local time.
Orientation, sun and shore
The shore faces west-south-west (250°). Open water fills about 47% of the horizon close by, which makes it an open stretch of shore.
The sun sets over the sea in every month; in mid-June it goes down at 19:00 local time on a bearing of 295°.
Straight out to the west-south-west there is open water for more than 2,000 km, so the beach is exposed to long ocean swell.
About 1 km offshore the sea is roughly 14 m deep and 24 m at 3 km. Behind the beach the ground is about 18 m above sea level 500 m inland and 64 m at 1.5 km.
Within 1 km, the land is 42% built-up land, 28% tree cover and 16% grassland (satellite land-cover map, 2021): an urban beach. Water makes up 56% of that circle.
- Built 42%
- Tree 28%
- Grass 16%
- Bare 13%
Land cover: ESA WorldCover 2021 (10 m). Orientation from OpenStreetMap land polygons sampled in 36 directions; depths and heights from the GEBCO 2020 grid (about 450 m cells), indicative only.
OpenStreetMap shows no lifeguard station within 1 km. Seasonal lifeguard posts are often unmapped, so check on site.
Photos
From above
Facilities within 1 km
- 58Restaurants, cafés & bars
- 2Public toilets
- –Showers
- 1Drinking water
- –Car parks
- –Lifeguard stations
- 70Hotels & guesthouses
- 1Campsites
- 3Grocery shops
- 1Pharmacies & clinics
Food and drink mapped within 1 km: 39 restaurants, 7 cafés, 11 bars and 1 fast-food outlet. Accommodation: 70 hotels and guesthouses.
Counted within 1 km of the beach (bus stops 1.5 km) from OpenStreetMap features and Overture Maps places, release of 2026-10. Unmapped does not mean absent.
Around the beach
Campsites
- Hamacasutra camping relax beach club 980 m SE
Getting there
| Airport | Code | Distance | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Puerto Escondido International Airport Puerto Escondido | PXM | 5.4 km | north-west |
| Bahías de Huatulco International Airport Huatulco | HUX | 85.1 km | east |
| Xoxocotlán International Airport Oaxaca | OAX | 133 km | north |
Straight-line distances from the beach; road distance is usually 20–40% longer.
3 towns and villages of 1,000+ people lie within 10 km (about 40.9K residents); within 30 km there are 9 (about 54.6K).
Reference
Playa Zicatela has an article on the ES Wikipedia: Playa Zicatela.
Wikidata item Q6078541.
When people look it up
The ES Wikipedia article was read 4,267 times in the 12 months to August 2026. Interest peaks in March (535 views), 2.0× the quietest month.
Map and nearby beaches
Loading map…
Open in OpenStreetMap · Directions in Google Maps
- Playa Bacocho5.1 km NWCompare
Data on this page
- Air temperature, rain, cloud, wind, humidity: NASA POWER climatology 2001–2020, 0.5° grid.
- Sea temperature: NOAA OISST v2.1 monthly normals 1991–2020, nearest ocean cell 8.5 km away.
- Beach outline, surface, rules and public facilities: OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), feature w192166819; restaurants, cafés, bars and lodging: Overture Maps places (CDLA-Permissive-2.0).
- Water body, status and length: Wikidata (CC0).
- Towns and time zone: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Airports: OurAirports (public domain). Sunrise and sunset: NOAA solar equations.
- Photos: Wikimedia Commons, author and licence under each image.
- Satellite view: Copernicus Sentinel-2 (ESA), scene S2B_14PQC_20260211_0_L2A.
- Orientation: OpenStreetMap land polygons (ODbL). Depth and terrain: GEBCO 2020 grid.
- Settlements: GeoNames places with 1,000+ inhabitants.
- Land cover: ESA WorldCover 2021, 10 m (CC BY 4.0).
- Search popularity: about 40.5K Google searches a month for the name (KeywordTool, October 2026).
Data compiled 2026-10-13. Something wrong? Report a data error.