Before the mid 20th century, it had nearly no human population, but that changed when a market for sea turtle meat and eggs developed.

[2] The trade in turtle meat and eggs was banned by the Mexican federal government in 1990 causing most families to lose the primary source of income.

[4][5] The community was also assisted by an environmental group known as Ecosolar in Mexico City and developed plans to educate about the environment, reforestation, and ecotourism.

By the end of 1993, these groups along with Accion Forestal Tropical planted about 6,000 trees, and bungalows for guests made from traditional materials, such as palm fronds and adobe, were built.

This effort also resulted in the creation of Cosméticos Naturales de Mazunte, a cooperative of fifteen families that produce and sell their own line of cosmetics in 1996.

[7] The community has declared itself a "Reserva Económica Ecológica Campesina" (Peasant Ecological Economic Reserve) as it has stopped hunting turtles and their eggs and work towards preserving them.

[8] In 1997, Mazunte was devastated by Hurricanes Pauline and Rick, which caused widespread destruction and economic collapse.

[10] Mazunte is a small village wedged between a wide, one km long beach and the Sierra Madre del Sur.

Parallel to the beach is the Avenida Paseo del Mazunte, the main street, which connects the village with others nearby.

[7] Guido Rocco is simply called “the Italian” or “the architect” and is well known and respected for building many of the eco-friendly cabins and other buildings here, which he calls “bio-architecture.” These structures consists mostly of palm fronds, adobe, bamboo, shells stones coconut shells and wood, designed to blend in with the landscape.

[5] Cosméticos Naturales de Mazunte is a community enterprise dedicated to making high quality make-up that is 100% environmentally friendly.

This began a decade ago with the sponsorship of British company The Body Shop,[13] and the Mexican federal government.

[4] This and other projects were also supported by non-governmental agencies such as the embassies of Canada, France and England as well as universities such as Stanford, National Polytechnic Institute and National Autonomous University of Mexico, which helped with industrial design, knowledge of local products and cosmetics making.

These “camionetas” connect Mazunte with nearby La Ventanilla to the west, and San Agustinillo, Zipolite, Puerto Angel and the city of Pochutla eastward.

Thousands of olive ridley sea turtles arrive en masse to lay their eggs in nearby Escobilla Bay.

[2][6] In 1997, The Centro Mexicano de Tortuga counted the arrival of about 900,000 sea turtles to La Escobilla beach alone.

When females come onto the beaches at night, generally just after a full moon, they are measured, tagged and their eggs collected for incubation at the center.

[2] The far west end of Mazunte beach is bordered by Punta Cometa (Comet Point), which is a small peninsula or mountain that juts out from the shoreline.

It is the southernmost point of the state of Oaxaca and an important stopping place for migratory birds and marine mammals such as whales.

During the colonial period, the area was a stronghold for both Spanish forces and pirates who used Punta Cometa's location to survey the seas at 180 degrees of visibility.