Legend has it that a pirate named Andrés Drake kidnapped a young Mixtec woman from the village of Santa María Huatulco.
While the pirates were camped out in the bay of what is now Puerto Escondido, she escaped and hid from her evil kidnappers.
The pirates referred to her as “La Escondida” and every time they returned to the bay they looked for her. Afterwards the bay became known as Bahía de la Escondida.
Welcome to Puerto Escondido
Puerto Escondido is a relaxed beach town on the Pacific side of Mexico. To us, it was an unknown until one of Yim’s childhood friends mentioned it to her and told her she should visit. So we did some research and decided, yes we should.
Puerto Escondido is known for its surfing and has managed to avoid large scale development and all-inclusive resorts, except for one well hidden secret, which we stayed in. And while it may not be the most remote place on Earth, it’s also not the easiest to get to. Getting here takes a little extra effort and that’s something you may want to consider before going.
We flew into Huatulco and then took a three hour shuttle to the hotel. A few other Canadians piled into the shuttle and we all enjoyed the drive and got to see a lot of the countryside but others may be not be that patient after a five hour flight.
That said, the off-the-beaten-path location is part of what has prevented it from exploding as a tourist destination sooner.
Our hotel was located on the far north end of town and it sure looked nice when we arrived…
Posada Real
Posado Real is located on a cliff, which means it also has a wonderful view of the ocean and beach and for this hotel, that meant a 3 KLM stretch of absolutely stunning beach called Bacocho. The hotel itself is very welcoming, painted in warm reds, yellows and umber tones with beautiful tile-work throughout the resort. There is a beautiful deep blue tiled lap pool up on the cliff along with the main dining room, Coco’s.
A steep but gorgeous walk down a staircase through lush gardens brought us to the lower level, which featured another restaurant, La Hacienda, a beach bar, and a large lounging pool, right on a stunning beach.
On the nights when we were at the resort, we would grab a drink and watch the sunset from the upper meadows where they had stationed 30 or more adirondack type chairs, where you could simply sit and watch the sunset while socializing with other guests. It was all quite civilized.
Above I have featured a few shots of the grounds and the beaches located right at the foot of the property.
Surfing
Over the years, Puerto Escondido has built a reputation for being the Mexican surfing mecca. I decided that I should try that at least once…
So while doing my research to find out if I would like it, I discovered that Puerto Escondido is one of the few places in the world where professional big wave surfers and beginners can both catch waves within the same surfing area. In fact, Zicatela, one of the main breaks in Puerto Escondido, is also called the Mexican Pipeline, due to its massive barreling waves. However, that kind of swell only occurs on a few occasions during the summer months, from June to August.
I found out that any beginner heading down to Puerto Escondido in the winter, during the low season, would be able to have a very pleasant time by hiring a board or getting a lesson with a surf school and seeing what it really felt like in the ocean.
So, I signed up for lessons at Oasis Surf Shop.
After showing up at the school, they sized me up, gave me a surf skin and sold me some zinc for my nose then bundled me in the back of a truck and we headed off to Zicatella Beach.
Once there, the instructor had me lay on a board on the beach to learn the paddling technique, followed by doing pop ups onto the board and where to place my feet when I did. After about 20 minutes, he asked if I was very comfortable in the water, which I was and off we went, paddling through the waves. For the next hour and a half, I tried to ‘catch’ every wave I could and this guy stayed very close by so I was impressed with his attention.
It was very humbling, and a lot of fun and I did manage to get up once or twice for seconds at best.
On the last wave, I managed to stand on the board the longest but when I crashed, the board came back up out of the water and hit me in the ribs and that was it for the day.
No regrets. I was thrilled to give this a try and if I was ever back here, I would certainly try again.
Turtle Release
One of the things I wanted to do more than anything else while we were in Puerto Escondido was to take part in a Turtle Release.
Prior to our visit, I had scoured Google, trying to find the best tour available and finally settled on one which would pick us up at our hotel, take us to ‘The Turtle Sanctuary’ and include the ticket fee to release a turtle. The cost was 500 Pesos ($40.00 Canadian) per person. That’s what we paid for our Turtle Release Tour
But here’s what we discovered. It’s a bit of a story…
While at the hotel, we had talked to several other guests about the Turtle Release program WE were going to. It was something we were really looking forward to and we told them that OUR tour was going to include a tour of the facilities prior to the release.
On the day we were going, we had been told to wait at the front gate for our tour guide to pick us up while the other guests at the hotel had said they were going to walk down to Bacocho Beach, where we were told, also had a turtle release going on. But OUR tour was going to show us the Sanctuary, it claimed.
Well, the Tour Guide arrived ten minutes late and we get in and find our seats and he drives us 2 minutes down to Bacocho Beach and lets us out where the other guests are standing. What?!?
Yim and I look at each other then at the tour guide and we say; “Excuse us but your site claimed it was going to take us to ‘The Turtle Sanctuary. WE could have walked down the beach if your website wasn’t so decepetive and why would you even offer to pick us up if we were five minutes away on foot??!’
He was caught off guard and kind of stood there stunned but he was definitely ‘caught’. We were a little irritated at first and then decided to simply laugh it off but we did make him drive us back up the hill back to our hotel after we were done. We were not going to walk back to the hotel just on principle.
My point is, be careful who you book tickets with for this tour, when you can pay the money directly to Vive Mar. Even if you are in Zicatella, a taxi ride will only cost you $6.50 Canadian plus the $7.50 for Vive Mar rather than what we paid or what most of the “tours’ are offering. Or you could go for a nice walk along the beach. At the end of the day, Yim and I had a good laugh about it with the other guests that night. We got a lot of ribbing about “Our Turtle Sanctuary”.
How to release baby turtles in Puerto Escondido
Once you’ve paid, you get to learn a little about these amazing sea creatures from a small talk, held in English and Spanish. Then it’s time for the baby turtle release.
Every person gets a tiny turtle in a small coconut shell. Some are incredibly energetic while others are a little sleepier. It was obvious that the baby’s instincts to get to the ocean had kicked in the second they hatched as each of the turtles we had were squirming wildly to get out of the shells. You’re not meant to touch them, so we had to keep turning the shells to keep them in until the release. Touching them can introduce human microorganisms to the turtles, which can then cause them to spread diseases in wild turtle populations.
As you release your little pal onto the sand, you watch as it scurries off into the harsh Bacocho waves.
It’s interesting to see how some of the turtles know exactly where the sea is, while others have a slightly harder time figuring out which way to go. This is the time in a turtle’s life when they are at their most vulnerable. For us humans, it’s only a 20-metre walk to the ocean, but for these tiny turtles, it’s like running a marathon. In the sea, they feel at home, but out on the shore, they’re easy targets for birds and crabs.
We were not allowed to cross a roped off area, so in other words, we could not help the turtles as they imprint their rush to the beach in order to return but what we could do was stand there with fistfuls of sand to throw at the crabs who popped up out of the sand looking for a meal and at the seagulls as they swooped down. Yim’s little turtle made it straight to the beach but mine got turned over by a wave and I was frantically trying to throw sand in its direction until it righted itself and disappeared beneath the waves.
Phew.
Pregnant turtles return to the beach they were released on to lay their eggs as adults, so we will come back in about 10 years when they reach mating age and see if we can spot our little ones all grown up.
VIVE MAR’s Role in Turtle Conservation
Turtle eggs are consumed as a delicacy in Oaxaca. During nesting season, poachers search the beaches at night for nesting mothers to steal their eggs and sell them. Vive Mar is a conservation organization that works to protect beaches from poachers by patrolling these same beaches at nighttime. Any turtle eggs they find get safely taken back to Vive Mar where they are incubated in the sand for about 60 days until they hatch.
They charge 100 MXN ($7.50 Canadian) per person to release a turtle, which includes an informative 10-minute talk about the importance of turtle conservation and then they facilitate the entire turtle release process. The release starts promptly at 5 PM.
Bacocho Beach
Playa Bacocho is the longest and one of the most idyllic beaches in Puerto Escondido. This long white sand beach is incredibly beautiful. In the mornings after breakfast, Ym and I would come down and walk the entire length of the beach before heading out for our days.
It’s ideal for long walks and sunbathing, but not so much for swimming as the waves never stopped while we were there in January. Never. Along the open sea area, the currents can be strong and the waves will pull you right into the ocean so be prepared and don’t swim alone if you do try and swim.
A path toward the southern end of the beach leads around the rocks to Playa Coral, a little cove where you might find friendlier waters for a dip.
Playa Bacocho is undoubtedly one of the best places in Puerto Escondido to watch the sunset. Every night was a dance in the skies by Mother Nature.
A little bit about the girls in the photo above. A group of us were sitting on the beach when I spotted these 6 young Mexican girls wandering down the beach and they were silhouetted by the sun so I walked down and explained to them what I wanted to do for a photo and they were all game for it. Once I had broken the ice, all the other guys on the beach rushed down with their cameras to take part in the fun.
Zicatela
Playa Zicatela is the longest stretch of beach located on the east side of Puerto Escondido. It is the main surfing area for Puerto Escondido, attracting surfers from all over the world, and is the site of annual surfing competitions in August and November. It’s also a bohemian little part of town with several good restaurants and a good gym right in the centre of town.
We spent a morning watching surfers here, which was a lot of fun. I can only imagine what it is like during Surf Week.
Mercado Benito Juarez
Located in the heart of Puerto Escondido’s city centre, Mercado Benito Juarez is the largest market in the area. Stepping into this bustling marketplace is like stepping into the soul of Mexico. The market is conveniently situated, with ample parking spaces available for those traveling by scooter or car but we took a taxi and then walked home. As you stroll through the market’s aisles, you’ll find yourself surrounded by vibrant stalls filled with local produce, handmade crafts, and traditional clothing.
One culinary experience I did see that I did not try was the Oaxacan delicacy of roasted and salted grasshoppers, known as chapulines. Maybe next time…
We spent a considerable amount of time just wandering around town and all the owners of all the stores we visited were very friendly.
Bahia de la Escondida (Bay of the Hidden Woman)
Walking is definitely an option to getting around in Puerto Escondido and depending on where you decide to stay, most destinations can be reached via walking in less than 60 minutes.
For example, we could easily walk to Zicatela in an hour along beautiful beaches and past the downtown core (above) where there was always a ton of activity going on. Fresh catch coming in off the ocean, families out enjoying the surf, beach bars and shops. All very accessible and we found that if we got tired, we just wandered up onto the street and hopped in a taxi, which were nearly always $40 Pesos ($3.00 Canadian in 2018).
An option for getting around Puerto and something that is highly recommended to experience while here regardless, which is the Colectivos. Colectivos, pronounced (kohl-ect-eevo), translates to collective bus. They are an economical way of getting around due to the fact that they are shared by many so that the price is a lot less than a taxi. They are usually privately owned so there is no timetable for when and where they’ll be however they are aplenty in Puerto so you’ll normally see one on the main road every couple of minutes.
There are two types of Colectivo In Puerto Escondido and the price depends on where you are traveling. If you are traveling locally, the standard price for a Colectivo is 10 pesos. For this reason, I recommend carrying around loose change for when you don’t feel like walking. These Colectivo’s usually have a blue canopy as seen in the image earlier in this post.
We walked because everywhere we went, we saw something new and were simply delighted by the town but these seemed like something others may want to know about.
So there you have it. My travel post on Puerto Escondido. Yim and I loved this place.
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