Puerto Escondido on the West Coast of Mexico is THE place to be at the moment, and it’s easy to see why…
Start your day with a hearty plate of chilaquilas at El Cafecito, lounge on the sugary sand of Playa Carrizalillo with a coco frio before flocking to the beaches of Zicatela or La Punta to watch the sunset whilst sipping on happy hour mezcalitas. Sounds tempting eh?
This surfer town’s relaxed atmosphere, pristine beaches and excellent restaurants, bars and nightlife tend to captivate backpackers from the get go making it a hard place to leave.
Before I arrived in Puerto Escondido, I had NO idea how big and spread out the area is. I naively thought it would be a small hub of dusty roads and a beach – boy was I wrong! Puerto Escondido is pretty vast for a beach town and is made up of four main areas, each of which offer something different. During my last 2 weeks here (I told you it’s hard to leave), I’ve stayed in most of the areas, so have compiled this guide to help you choose where’s best for you to base yourself!
La Punta
Starting at the most Southernly point of the beach you’ll find the bohemian surfer hub of Puerto Escondido – La Punta. This long stretch of beach is great for surfing and tends to draw a younger, backpacker crowd.
The main sandy street in La Punta is compact and lined with trendy (but mostly affordable) bars, restaurants, cafes and shops. Walking down the street in the day you can’t help but be charmed by the thatched dry palm roofs and lush overgrown foliage dotted with brightly coloured flowers.
After sunset, La Punta is the place to go to enjoy live music. Whether it’s bands, open mic night or karaoke, you’ll always find a cacophony of music drawing you into different places. Enjoy a cocktail or three whilst listening to a Latino brass band or try out your salsa moves in a live salsa class. There’s so much here to keep you entertained until 11pm when everything closes down and the party animals head to Zicatela to continue the night…
Where to stay:ย Casa Punta Hostel
Where to eat/drink: La Chula Taqueria, Fish Shack La Punta, Cafe Ole, Casa de Burrito, Lychee, Pepe’s Fish Tacos
Zicatela
Zicatela is a 30 minute walk or 5 minute taxi/collectivo ride from La Punta and feels more polished than the other areas on this list. It’s renowned for being the place to party, so tends to be a bit deserted in the daytime – on my first day on the beach I was so confused that I had the whole stretch of sand to myself other than a few skydivers floating above my head. It’s empty in the daytime and then everyone reemerges at sunset in time for happy hour.
Zicatela is quite holidaymaker-y and I found it drew more of an influencer/cliquey crowd but it does offer some nice bars, cafes and restaurants worth checking out.
Where to stay: Selina, Huitzilin Hostal
Where to eat/drink: El Cafecito, Spirulina (also great for yoga), Elephant Garden, Brad’s Split Coconut, Finca Las Nievas, La Mariinera (get the fish tostadas – I had my best meal in Mexico to date here)
Rinconada
Rinconada can be found just below Centro and is close to the best beaches in Puerto Escondido. Playa Manzanillo, Puerto Angelito and Playa Carrizalillo (this is by far the prettiest beach in Puerto Escondido) are all nestled in alcoves so have bluer, more tranquil water ideal for swimming.
Playa Bococho is a vast stretch of beach a bit further North and is where people flock to every evening at 5pm to release baby turtles into the wild. These releases are run by The Vive Mar project, a non-profit organisation ran by volunteers, and costs 150 MXN (approx ยฃ7).
I really enjoyed staying in this area. It was in the perfect spot to explore the different beaches each day and has a bit more of a sleepy, expat feel to it than Zicatela and La Punta. If you stay in this area, there’s also a fantastic sunset spot called Mirador Las Tortugas worth visiting.
Where to stay: Vivo Escondido
Where to eat/drink: El Cafecito, Smoked Fish Tacos El Viejo, Al Dente
Centro
If you want to experience the undiluted Mexican side of Puerto Escondido, make sure you stay in or visit Centro. This area is about a 15/20 minute walk North of Rinconada and is a more natural representation of Puerto Escondido pre-tourists (it’s also a lot cheaper).
Like most cities in Mexico, you’ll find a busy market (Benito Juarez), street food stalls and lots of shops, restaurants and bars. You might run out of things to do here quite quickly, so I would recommend staying in Rinconada and walking here for a morning or afternoon to explore.
Where to stay:ย Puerto Dreams Hostel, La Escondida Puerto Dreams, Tower Bridge Hostel
Where to eat/drink: Benito Juarez Mercado, The JP Bunker, Cafe N’duva
Overview
During my time in Puerto Escondido I stayed in all of these areas except Centro (however I did visit the market here for a morning). If you have time to stay in multiple places, I would recommend staying in La Punta for a few nights and then Rinconada โ this will give you the chance to visit all of the above areas and get a proper feel for the many different personalities of Puerto Escondido!
Top top: to get around Puerto Escondido you can hop on a collectivo (pick up trucks with a plastic roof), which shuttle up and down the main road all day for a bargain 10 MXN per ride.
