Puerto Escondido

From Oaxaca City we took a night bus around the mountains to the coastal town of Puerto Escondido (which translates 'Secret Port'). 

Its one of the larger beach towns in Oaxaca, the main beach Zicatela stretching 4km. Unlike the carribean coast this beach has waves and is famed for its surf. However Zicatela beach has a strong current and strong rip and is not recommended for beginners so we gave it a miss. 

Our hotel was nicely situated close to Carrizallio Beach, a beautiful inlet ideal for lounging and swimming.

Although Puerto Escondido is a touristic town it is far less developed than any of the places we visited in Yucatan and as a result was far more pleasant, and cheap. There is more of a laid back vibe, the kind of atmosphere that backpackers and surfers bring. This is not a town that attracts wealthy Americans. Puerto is also hotter than the carribean coast, days hitting up to 34 degrees Celsius while we were there. The sea however was colder but very refreshing given the heat. The coldness of the Irish sea had become unimaginable! Being on the west coast we were now in the perfect position to watch Mexico's stunning sunsets from the beach. 

We only spent five days in Puerto and did very little other than eat swim and learn some Spanish. My teacher was a multi lingual, bubbly Mexican, would wear her mask on the walk to class but take it off for our classes. She warned me that masks had just become obligatory in the town in public places, just for the month. We mused over the pandemic, she found Europe's approach baffling and laughed at how paranoid and depressed the lockdowns were making people in Europe. 'My friends and I think it's because of your climate, if you had sun you would be happier!'

There was a sense of pride amongst her and her friends that people were fleeing to Mexico to escape lockdowns in their own countries. 

'Mexicans know that life is too short!' she told me. 

On Playa Bacocho you can visit a turtle reserve where you can release a baby turtle into sea. Although most will get eaten once they make it to the sea it's incredibly adorable to watch them wriggle their way across the sand.

On our last day in Puerto we also did a day tour to Chacahua. We boated through mangroves and were left for several hours in what can only be described as a shanty town close to Chacahua. We could see Chacahua's beautiful stretch of beach dotted with surfers and it certainly looked amazing. Once night fell we took a boat back through the mangroves in search of bioluminesants but unfortunately due to the almost full moon they weren't visible.

To compensate for the disappointing tour, we had an evening of mescalritas and live Jazz! The thrill of live music still hadn't gotten old!