We’ve spent a lot of time in beach towns along the Pacific Coast of Mexico, and I think we’ve come to realize that Puerto Escondido provides everything we love about relaxing along the coast. There is a bay to visit for whatever your activity; from calm waters to surfing the waves. We’ve discovered Rinconada is our favourite area, quiet and calm, most residential and great restaurants. Not only that, it is a great walk to Playa Bacocho.
Playa Bacocho, 2 km long and a fantastic morning walk. These waves and undertow can be treacherous, so watch the waves for 10 minutes or so before getting in. We enjoyed swimming and bobbing in the waves every day here.
Playa Carazalillo is perfect for playing in the water – safe and entertaining with snorkelling around the rocky areas, where turtles are often spotted. This is also a great place for learning to surf or boogie boarding. A popular spot with both locals and tourists, the entire bay is lined with palapa restaurants.
It is difficult to figure out when it is going to be a “day off” in Mexico, but when it is the beaches are full of locals. It is so much fun to watch the families arrive by the bus load, or truck bed, carting food and drink, swimming in clothes and generally having a fantastic time. They laugh as they bob in the waves and their joy is contagious. Who wouldn’t love to be hanging out on this beach?
La Punta ….. a great beach for watching surfers, boogie boarding or body surfing. Not for the faint of heart or weak swimmers. Find a nice shaded palapa and relax with some guacamole or tacos while you are scanning the horizon for dolphins or whales. We were treated to quite an amazing dolphin show here, with them leaping out of the water and playing for an hour or so. I so wish either my camera or my skills had been able to capture that!
Zicatela is the primary surf beach, and on a high surf day the waves will be packed with surfboards.
Our home in Puerto Escondido was amazing. We loved staying at this small 6 unit complex with truly magnificient ocean views.
Take a peek at those ladders between our pool and the beach view …… The “ladder rep” wandered the streets with this push cart selling ladders. Seems unlikely, but we watched that ladder carrier go from maximum capacity to these few over 2 days!
Right across from our gate at Las Turquezas was a path winding down to the beach at Playa Bacocho, every day started with a trip down that path for a morning walk and bobbing in the waves.
Okay, well maybe we didn’t manage to get Vivi out of her hammock EVERY day …
Going local …. we had use of a wash machine so instead of taking our clothes to the lavanderia we washed them and hung them on the rooftop clothes line. Now, that is my idea of laundry heaven.
Sunsets were amazing here, so colourful and while the colours lasted for a while, it is always surprising how quickly that sun goes from just above the ocean to dropping off out of sight.
Puerto Escondido is a prime growing area for sesame seeds, peanuts and mango to name of few of the crops. I’ve never seen how sesame seeds grow before so that was fun!
Gina, the “information goddess” has a tourist information booth in Puerto Escondido, and she can organize pretty much any tour you’d like to take. We did go on an agricultural tour with her, and while it was informative and entertaining, it was probably a bit overpriced at 600 pesos per person.
One of the people we met on our tour is Gallo …. He runs a sanctuary for critters, everything from iguanas to turtles, to crocodiles and birds. It was amazingly clean and well organized. For years he did this on his own, from his own pocketbook, but is now partially subsidized. Here he is, explaining that the reason he looks like Zapata is because that was his great uncle … or great great great uncle …. some things get lost in translation!
Almoraduz Cocina Mexicana de Autor – OMG …… we ate here twice it was so good. last year I also had back ribs here that I still dream about.
Turtle Bay Cafe was also a real winner, this sesame crusted tuna was out of this world, and so were the prawns with saffron aioli.
After day at the beach you just know you want a popsicle ….. we tried the lime, the strawberry with slices of kiwi and mango, and the fresh grated coconut popsicle, all were simply refreshingly perfect!
I know, I know, the crowds are quite bothersome …..
Thinking of this moment at home …. remembering the feel of the sun and the sound of the waves ….
The nightly crib match kept Grant and Wilson competitive right to the trip home.
Need a pick me up? Juice water …. I love them all, from this pineapple water, to my all time favourite, green juice.
Normally we eat at Mexican places ….. but the aromas drifting out of El Sultan finally dragged us in, and we had their chicken schawarma pita twice! They make their own pitas fresh daily (about 4 times a day!) and it was fantastic.
In many areas of the Pacific coast this is the time of year turtles come ashore to lay their eggs in droves. We’ve participated in helping at sanctuaries, when the baby turtles are ready to make their journey to the sea, but this is the first time we have been around when the turtles make their way onto shore to begin that process. It is pure magic. Just take a moment to sit and watch the waves, and a turtle will suddenly appear, then another, then another.
This entire beach is covered in mounds ….. how many turtle eggs are under those mounds is anybodies guess. Each turtle lays between 80-150 eggs.
With a determined pace they make their way up the beach.
This same beach can see 2500 turtles appear on one night ….. and no, I didn’t take this particular photo, our driver had taken it on an earlier morning trip out there. We went at dusk to watch them coming in.
These poor mama turtles work so hard to get up the beach, dig the hole with their hind flippers, drop in their eggs, cover them back up with sand and tamp the sand down. It was amazing for us to watch the whole process, and listen to the sound of the weight she uses to tamp it all down.
The eggs dropped out in singles and doubles until the hole was filled. Once done, she makes her way back down the beach to return to the sea.
We are usually in Mexico for the Revolution day parades, and they are so entertaining!
Those dancers knew that Vivian and Wilson were tapping their feet, so they pulled them right into the street with them.
Ahh, Puerto Escondido ….. love these beaches, the sunshine, the amazing food and I just know we’ll be back.
Hasta la vista Puerto Escondido ……
The ever present ball court …. maybe we find them so fascinating because of the soccer similarities … you can use any part of your body except your hands. Authorities are divided on whether the loser or winner was sacrificed ….. it is a great honour to be sacrificed though so I guess it is all depends on your point of view.
Yes, more ceilings …. how on earth did they do this?
Once upon a time San Pedro Cholula was a city with evident boundaries … now it is hard to tell where Puebla ends and Cholula begins. The largest pyramid (by land mass) was only discovered after the Spaniards decided to build a church on top of the best vantage point. During construction they found artifacts suggesting previous inhabitants of the land ….. sure enough, the whole hillside is a pyramid. The church remains, but it is now possible to go in through tunnels and come out the other side. Interestingly enough for me, on another of my visits to this area I discovered my little brother Bruce is afraid of heights! And this wasn’t even from a high vantage point, ha ha. Still love you anyway Bruce.
The ex-convent is a beautiful spot to tour also, huge grounds and so peaceful inside.
This large stone goes around the rocks to crush them (in this case the blue stones) and once it is a fine powder they add the water to get their colour. This stone is now powered by electricity but for years it was by a donkey going in circles. Poor guy.
This guy attentively dips every single piece into the glazing. We couldn’t believe how quickly it dried onto the pottery. After this it is ready for another firing.
First painting – then more firing. The firing changes the colour significantly – the light blue turns very strong, and the orange turns yellow.
Enchiladas tres moles. Means, enchiladas served with the 3 traditional Mole sauces – the red is Colaradito pepper sauce, the black is mole negro, made typically with leftover tortillas cooked until they are black and ash like and chocolate. The green is a pipian mole, made with pumpkin seeds. That sounds simplistic and it certainly is not a simple sauce. Each one has many many ingredients, and every cook/chef is very protective of their recipe.
Mixiote (pronounced misheeote). Really fabulous meat dish cooked low and slow in parchment paper, in this case lamb. The flavour is out of this world. In days gone by the parchment paper would have been ant larvae, but now they settle for parchment.
Tinga. Sounds easy, and looks kind of boring, but one bite and you will wake up. Honestly, so frickin delicious.
Yes, that really does say we walked 15.89 km in one day. At that rate we can eat and drink whatever we want!!
So, needless to say in Mexico, that means Churros. This place had a line up every night and it was easy to see why. Delicious, no really really delicious.
Finally made it to the front of the line.
The best …. sorry, photo is blurry.
Taken through the window, this guy works incredibly hard hand stirring this massive pot of churro dough – SUPER impressive.
If you haven’t done enough walking in a day, there are always other snacking options too ….. every street will have vendors selling fruit or vegetables. Our favourite is jicama and cucumber, sprinkled with salt, lime squeezed over and lightly drizzled with hot sauce.
Puebla is a beautiful city, in fact probably one of the cleanest and home of the most courteous drivers! They stop for yellow lights and pedestrians…. amazing.
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