Puerto Escondido

To avoid a seven-hours bus ride over the hairpin turns of the Sierra del Sur mountain range I took a 13-seat Cessna from Oaxaca de Juárez to Puerto Escondido. This “Hidden Port” is a small port and beachtown on the Oaxacan coast. It is not as well known as other beach resorts like Cancun or Acapulco because there are only domestic flights going to it. It caters mostly to surfers, backpackers and Mexican families.

The main attractions of Puerto Escondido are its beaches. For 3 days I walked the several bays and beaches enjoying the beachlife (and fish tacos!). Most famous beach is 3-km-long Zicatela Beach. It hosts major surfing competitions and the large waves make the sea here not suitable for swimming.

I stayed in a hostel in the west side of town near the beaches Playa Carrizalillo, Puerto Angelito and Playa Bacocho. The first one was my favorite because it’s on a small bay (perfect for swimming) and there are no vehicular roads leading to the beach (so less crowded and few vendors). On Playa Bacoche I enjoyed watching the baby seaturtles finding their way to the sea.

From Puerto Escondido it was about 1,5 hours to the remote beach of Zipolite. There I stayed for a week before coming back to Puerto Escondido and taking a flight back to Mexico City.