Visited La Ventanilla again in February with a friend. Took the camionette from Zipolite and walked in from the main road. It is a very pleasant walk. I noted quite a bit of development in the several years since I was last there. There are two different groups offering tours of the mangrove swamp. There is a kiosk at the corner manned by the red shirt team. Their tour does not include the island in the middle of the swamp, restricted to boating through the mangroves. The white shirt team is located near the beach; their tour includes the swamp and the island in the lagoon with various wildlife on display. I suggest taking the tour with the original white shirt group; ask for Lalo, who speaks English very well. The cooler hours of the morning are the best time to go. The mangroves are home to many birds, several varieties of iguanas and crocodiles. Aside from the chatter of thousands of birds, the boat ride through the lagoon is very peaceful.

In the tiny, peaceful town of La Ventanilla, we were very happy with our 3 night stay at the "cabañas" run by Servicio Ecoturismo (the guys in the white shirts, as the previous reviewer mentioned), the organization that has been working for many years to rehabilitate the lagoon and its crocodiles, as well as the sea turtles.

The cabaña facility consists of three small two-story buildings, situated around a treed courtyard. There was a pleasant second floor thatched-roof balcony between the upstairs rooms. Some of the cabañas have shared bathrooms. Ours had its own full bathroom. The room was light and airy, and had a good fan.

The cabañas also have the bonus of a good WiFi service. The personnel were lovely, and the place was clean and very quiet.

The town is tiny, with about three restaurants - our favourite was the one run by Servicio Ecotourism. There are also a few very small tourist oriented shops. You can buy water, snacks and souvenirs, but little else. The beach is beautiful and long - getting to it meant briefly wading through the lagoon water. The sand closest to the lagoon consists partially of iron and magnesite and is naturally black. We swam in the lagoon (near the mouth, well away from the crocodiles!) but never did find out whether it's safe to swim in the ocean there.

The popular tourist town of Mazunte is about 15 minutes away by camionetta, collectivo or taxi. We enjoyed going there for a day, but were happy to be stationed in the tranquility of La Ventanilla.

To get there, take a bus from Puerto Escondido or Pochutla to San Antonio. From there you can get a collectivo or taxi.

We were staying in Zipolite and decided to take a late afternoon trip to Playa Ventanilla. We stumbled upon the crocodile ecotour, which is well worth it (I think it was 65 pesos/person). We were 2 and had an English-speaking guide who took us to the lagoon to see the crocs. After a 5-10 minute walk, we reached the boats, got in and started exploring the small lagoon. To our surprise, there were many birds, including species that have been declared endangered in Canada, including the acadian flycatcher, which I helped protect when I worked for the Canadian Wildlife Service - what a treat that was!

The guide was very helpful with bird identification - he would spot them in the most hidden spots and knew all the species names. We got to see several crocs, including a massive female that was being checked for an eye problem. There are animals to check out on a little island that is also part of the tour - horses, caimans, spider monkeys, deer, etc. A hoot for kids.