We really were looking for somewhere to relax and enjoy some quiet time, after a whirlwind week in Mexico City. I had heard good things about the state of Oaxaca but we had never visited. I didn’t want to go to another big city after being in Mexico City, so we settled on the small town of Puerto Escondido. Here is what we did during our 17 days relaxing in Puerto Escondido Mexico.
Where is Puerto Escondido
Located on the Pacific Coast in the Mexican state of Oaxaca, it’s 246km from the city of Oaxaca and you can drive it in about four hours. However, a new highway will open soon and will cut that time in half. We flew from Mexico City on Viva Aerobus. The flight was about 50 minutes.
History of Puerto Escondido
Though pre-hispanic peoples lived in this region from time to time, the area was not really settled permanently until the 1930’s due to lack of fresh water. The word Escondido means hidden, and refers to an ancient story of a captive Mexican woman escaping and hiding in the jungle from her pirate captors.
Today it is one of the most popular beach and surfing destinations for both Mexicans and international travelers. But prior to tourism the mountains around the town were known for coffee growing and the port was used to ship coffee.
Surfer’s Paradise
We found the area home to the surfer crowd, much younger than us. We had no interest in surfing or partying, but there is a lot of that going on. Since the crowd is young, there is plenty of inexpensive lodging and dining available too. Parts of the area are very rural…sometimes I felt like I was in Southeast Asia, and sometimes it even felt like third world Africa. But we always felt safe and finding our way on foot with Google maps always worked. There are plenty of taxis too.
We noticed a lot of construction of condos and mansions being built on rough dirt and nearly impassable roads. We learned Europeans are coming here in droves and buying or building second homes because it is so inexpensive. Like in so many places, this is displacing locals and causing them to move further from town.
Villa Tortuga
We found a beautiful villa through Airbnb called Villa Tortuga located several miles from the actual town of Puerto Escondido and 2 miles to the small surfing village of Zicatela. The villas were beautiful, comfortable and with a view. Our villa included daily housekeeping and our housekeeper Mary also did some shopping and cooking for us and did our laundry. However, we found on the weekend even Villa Tortuga attracted a younger (and noisier) crowd. Listening to other people’s loud music doesn’t fit into my fab fifties life. We really loved the lap pool and the larger pool at the beach about a five minute walk from our villa. The waves are really big so we didn’t swim in the ocean, but sitting ocean side by the pool was our favorite thing to do. Airbnb $150 USD before tax.
A Couple Things To Do
Since our goal was to just spend time relaxing in Puerto Escondido Mexico we really didn’t do much else. However we did take an informative and delicious Food Tour with Puerto Food Tours – cost $60 USD per person.
Our favorite activity was a Mezcal Distillery tour we took with Puerta Mezcal Tours. Owner Antoine was excellent and shared his enthusiasm for Puerto Escondido and Mezcal with our group of six at Ruu Piiil Distillery in Zicatela. I learned so much and we tasted eleven different Mezcals! $59 USD per person.
We found it safe to run in the morning although most of the time we were on dusty roads. One time I had to wait while the goats (and a very small goat herder) took up the entire road.
We also walked to lunch in Zicatela at Savanna one day (about 2 and half miles from our villa) and took a taxi to another popular restaurant called Agua Sala. We had great meals at each – neither have websites.
We walked to tiny shops and tortilla stand close to our villa to get simple supplies for cooking at home. We walked one day to the Zicatella Mercado about 2.5 miles. We picked up some produce and had a nice coffee and croissant with a view.
Relaxing in Puerto Escondido Mexico
There is more to do here if you are so inclined…hiking, shopping, lots of street food and restaurants. There are cooking classes and surfing lessons and snorkeling tours, as well as whale watching. A popular activity is releasing baby turtles into the wild that have been hatched in a turtle nursery.
It’s a sweet place with a quaint vibe and awesome weather. We paid more than we needed to for our Airbnb, but generally everything else is dirt cheap. I can see why the young people love it…and it’s not too bad for us oldies either. There are many options to stay busy or pursue our goal of relaxing in Puerto Escondido Mexico.
Looking to chill? I recommend relaxing in Puerto Escondido Mexico. Muy Bien.
See last week’s blog post about Eating My Way Through Mexico City.
Check out our YouTube video about Eating Local Mexico City.
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Please Note – No Travel Friday blog for the next two weeks. We wish you a pleasant and safe holiday wherever you are and however you celebrate. Hoping for a joyful and safe 2022 with less strife and fewer travel restrictions. Thank you for your continued support. Stay safe. All the best!