10 Best Wedding Venues on Oaxaca Coast (Puerto Escondido & Huatulco) - photographer’s perspective
Destination weddings and elopements are increasingly loved by our couples, and the coast of Oaxaca has recently become one of the hottest spots to get married in Mexico.
After 9 years of living here, and having covered over 170+ weddings as a professional photographer, I decided to sum up a short list of the best venues I could recommend to couples who are deciding on a place to get married in Mexico, and specifically, on the beaches of Oaxaca.
Planning a wedding in Mexico and deciding whether Oaxaca beaches are a good fit for you (or a beach wedding in general)? You’re in the right place.
DISCLAIMER: This is not The Ultimate List, and there is also no “BEST OF THE BEST” venue. Every couple has their dreams of their perfect wedding. Also, I’m a person with my subjective opinion, and add to that photographer’s “eye”. There are some wedding venues that I have not worked at yet, also new and remodeled ones, and some of my “bad” past impressions might change over time. Thus, I’ll do my best to be constantly updating this list.
Table of Contents - Best Wedding Venues on Oaxaca Coast 2025:
Dreamy wedding at Hotel Escondido
The criteria were:
Overall style and comfort: architecture, amount of light, size, spaces, sea view, vegetation (= how beautiful is the place?).
Management and organization (how easy is it to plan and execute a wedding there?).
Logistics and privacy (I tried to give options for both IN town and OUT OF town).
Winner 1. Private villas in Casa Wabi area (Casa Orgullosa, Casa Malandra, Las Marianas, Casitas By The Sea and others).
Amazing Aundrea at her bridal portrait session at Casa Bacana. WP: Pechef
I absolutely LOVE these houses recently built around Casa Wabi (30-40 min away from Puerto Escondido). They are a heaven for a photographer: beautiful architecture and design, vegetation, and most of them are ocean front, on a remote beach with few people (=privacy). They’re a great venue fit for a small wedding or for a beautiful elopement.
Full Gallery Examples: Check out this amazing elopement at Casa Malandra and this intimate wedding in Casa Orgullosa / Casa Bacana
Winner 2. Villas in Rancho Neptuno and Costa Cumana (Casa Gaby, Mar y Mar, and others).
Amazing view behind Ali at her bridal portraits session at Rancho Neptuno. WP: Azul Bonito
Another awesome option for a mid-sized wedding. The areas Rancho Neptuno and Costa Cumana are full of private, more traditional-styled villas, some of which are regularly rented out for events. Most are designed similarly: a house - pool - garden - beach. Thus, most often you’ll get ready at the villa, have the beach ceremony and then the reception on the grass in front of the house.
Beautiful Sabrina walking down the aisle for her ceremony at Rancho Neptuno. WP: Pechef
“First Touch” of Ale&Garry at Casa Gaby. WP: Diamond Weddings
Quick Tip: Some restrictions have also been put in 2022 on the volume & timing of the receptions in this area, so worth checking that in advance, too :)
Hard to come up with just 1-2 leaders, but check out these weddings we had in the Rancho Neptuno area:
Full Gallery Examples: This wedding at Casa Gaby and this wedding at Casa Uno
Winner: Hotel Escondido & Hotel Terrestre.
Sunset walk at the couples love session after the ceremony. WP: Pau Cirigo
This is one of the venues where I’ve worked numerous times and love very much: beautiful spaces, lots of wood, nice “palapas”, running doors that allow heaps of light in the rooms…and a huge semi-private beach for any type of ceremony and reception. And all the privacy you need.
Quick Tip: Hotel Escondido fits about 40 wedding guests max, but the recently built Hotel Terrestre right across the road can fit a lot more. From what I’ve been informed, starting 2022 some restrictions were put on the party time (time limit, max volume etc) - check that in advance if you’re a big party goer :)
Full Gallery Example: Check out this wedding blog of a gorgeous wedding at Hotel Escondido
Winner 2: Casa Yuma
Stunning beach wedding of C&I at Casa Yuma. WP: AzulBonito
This venue just opened in 2024 and immediately gained attention from both the interior design media, and wedding couples.
Why?
Architecture & Design. Ooooooh, I’m in love with those stairs! And the lobby. And the firepit! (reminder: you’re in a photographer’s blog)
Great Location. Yuma is located almost exactly at the entrance to the new highway that connects Puerto Escondido and Oaxaca. Some 25-30 min from the closest airport.
Privacy - the area is still building, and it’s outside of Puerto = low chances of some strangers walking in on your beach ceremony.
Accommodation - as of Jan 2025, they have 25 rooms (up to 50pax to stay and up to a 100pax to visit your wedding).
Restaurant & bar on site.
Human factor - the staff is amazing. A venue that treats both guests and vendors with utmost respect will always have extra points in my heart.
Quick Tip: It’s a hotel and books out quickly - check in advance to ensure Yuma is fully available for your dates.
Winner: Posada Real (Cocos Beach Club)
Gorgeous first kiss at the wedding of A&T at Posada Real beach club. WP: Pechef
Also one of the wedding locations in Puerto Escondido I’ve most worked at. The hotel is located in Bacocho, right on top of a hill, and has its own beach club right below (they are connected through stairs). This makes it a huge advantage as you can both stay at the hotel and fit like 300 of your guests, have a gorgeous oceanfront corner room, later have a ceremony at their beach club Cocos, and stay in the same area for the reception.
It also has a cool garden upstairs which works well for the wedding party or family pictures.
Full Gallery Examples: Check out this wedding at Posada Real.
Winner: Secrets Huatulco Resort & Spa.
This is the only venue in Huatulco that made it to this list, and there are a couple of reasons for that:
Huatulco has a very specific “all-inclusive” vibe, and most of the couples that reach out to me, normally seek a different one. However, of all the all-inclusive resorts, to me, Secrets is the most well-adapted for weddings.
Conejos Beach which Secrets has direct access to, is one of the best ones for those beautiful sunrise or sunset photos (and if you want a beach wedding, then most probably you want a pretty beach for it, right?)
The resort is big enough to fit a big wedding, but also not too big to feel like Disneyland (you know what destinations I’m talking about).
Secrets is very pretty and has lots of beautiful corners for photography: be it a getting ready or a couple’s session or the reception sites.
Quick Tip: if you’re under 50-60 people, consider the lawn in front of the SPA for your ceremony instead of the beach. Breathtaking view and easy logistics.
Full Gallery Example: Check out this gorgeous celebration of A&D at Secrets (February).
Winner 1: El Origen Beach Club.
At this first dance at El Origen wedding, fireworks were a great add-on
If you want a beautiful and large coast venue, with a “private” huge beach, nice pool and heaps of space - El Origen outside of Puerto Escondido is your choice. It’s about 15-20 min away from town, and fits everything and everyone. They are also constantly building more rooms, so housing for you and the closest ones is also an option. And as far as I know, no restrictions on your party time or guests number :)
Full Gallery Example: Check out this wedding of A&P at El Origen.
Winner 2: Mazul
Drone photo of a beach wedding at Mazul (Oaxaca, Mexico)
This venue just opened in 2023 and has several pros for both intimate and large weddings:
It’s remote = close to 0 wandering tourists on the beach during your ceremony or session.
Beachfront & everything is in a close walking distance.
Has rooms for your closest ones.
No curfew (as of end of 2024).
Quick Tip: Keep in mind that the flip side of these pros is: more logistics involved for bringing yourselves and the guests in (it’s 40 min from Puerto with a dirt road involved, and the accommodation capacity is limited); some more walking over sand (if you have guests with possible walking challenges).
Example full gallery: Check out this wedding of I&A we captured at Mazul (March)
Well…none of them. Each one is beautiful and each has its pros and cons. The question is - what are your personal “Why”s?
When choosing your “Dream Venue”, just pick your Top-3 priorities and stick to them.
As I mentioned, this is not an exhaustive list of the best of the best wedding venues and locations here in Puerto Escondido and on the Oaxaca coast, but I hope this gives you some visual idea of what options there are here.
Are you planning a destination wedding in Mexico and have questions, or would like to see more ideas and inspiration? Feel free to check my portfolio or say hi here in the contact form for references and wedding packages:
Thanks for reading! Now let’s capture your special day :)
Alex Krotkov
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