Puerto Escondido translates literally as “Hidden Port”, with the name supposedly coming from a local legend about a Mixtec woman who escaped from a pirate and became known as La Escondida.
La Punta. Our home for the week, and basically our entire social life. Sandy streets, surf shops, beach bars, late dinners and a lot of people who seem to have arrived for a few days and accidentally stayed for months & even years…
The blonde brigade!! These lovely girls are who I spent most of my time with.
Dinner at Chicama. Peruvian food and, remarkably, me eating seafood. I tried ceviche and I really enjoyed it. Obviously paired with mezcalitas, obviously maracuyá.
The power went out as we arrived (aparently a regular occurrence in Puerto), which made for a romantic candle lit dinner. Go if you ever find yourself in La Punta.
A 6am start for some dolphin watching.
The Pacific is home to several species around Puerto, including spinner dolphins, which are famous for launching themselves out of the water and spinning through the air. We got lucky enough to see them alongside the boat, they must have been sleepy as we didn't see much jumping unfortunately. We did see a couple turtles too though!
Peep Lana in the corner who impressively managed to fall asleep hanging onto the buoy on a speed boat.
Beach exploring.
First stop was Playa Zicatela. One of the reasons Puerto has become such a famous surfing destination. Powerful Pacific swells hit the steep underwater shelf here, creating huge, fast-breaking waves.
Playa Carrizalillo - a small, sheltered bay tucked between the cliffs. It's supposedly much calmer than some of Puerto’s bigger beaches. I still got absolutely battered by the waves.
Playa Bacocho.
Long stretches of sand, big Pacific sunsets and one of Puerto’s best-known turtle conservation projects.
We spent the whole day at Club Bacocho as the heat was unbearable and we needed a pool. Expensive but so worth it.
Puerto is a huge party destination so that did take up a majority of our time here to be honest. Don’t need the details of that in writing…
We may not have stayed for months or years but it felt like we had by the end of our 2-weeks. A well deserved break was needed (even a break after our break), but it’s pretty clear i’m not 18 anymore.