Last Updated on: 2nd December 2023, 11:45 pm
Puerto Escondido is quickly gaining popularity as the new, less-developed alternative to the Riviera Maya. Intrigued, I spent over a week in the area to experience it for myself. And what follows is a list of the top things to do in Puerto Escondido and its neighboring towns.
The name Puerto Escondido means ‘Hidden Port,’ which is derived from a local legend about a captive woman who escaped and hid here from local pirates. And while some travelers visit with the idea they’ll be able to hide from other tourists, that’s far from the case these days.
So while the secret may be out, Puerto Escondido’s rugged beaches remain some of Mexico’s most beautiful. And the area remains a great place to observe wildlife, including sea turtles, dolphins and humpback whales.
Following the list of top things to do in Puerto Escondido, be sure to check the end of the article for more on transport and accommodation.
Playa Carrizalillo
Having been to all of the well-known beaches in central Puerto Escondido, I can confidently say that Playa Carrizalillo is the best. Tucked away in a rocky bay, the scenery is here stunning. And unlike other Puerto Escondido beaches, the water here is also swimmable.
The waves, however, are strong enough to make it a popular spot with surfers, with the standard price for surfing lessons being $1000 MXN ($50 USD).
While fairly popular, Playa Carrizalillo is still laidback enough to the point where you can easily find your own spot on the beach and relax for a couple of hours.
Playa Manzanillo & Puerto Angelito
Not far away from Playa Carrizalillo are two well-known beaches that are connected to one another: Playa Manzanillo and Puerto Angelito. For whatever reason, they’re considerably more crowded than Carrizalillo, despite not being quite as scenic.
Another peculiarity is that Puerto Angelito always seems to be much more crowded than Playa Manzanillo – possibly due to the abundance of beachside restaurants there.
Out of all the beaches in Puerto Escondido, Playa Manzanillo has the calmest waters. Even if you’re short on time, you can still easily check it out after a visit to Playa Carrizalillo on the same day.
Dolphin Watching Tour
Dolphin tours are regularly touted as one of the top things to do in Puerto Escondido. And being a fan of dolphins, I couldn’t leave the area without trying one.
I arranged my tour with a company called Valfred (more below), and early that morning I was picked up by a staff member who drove me to Play Principal, Puerto Escondido’s central beach.
It was soon apparent, however, that Valfred was outsourcing the tour to another company called Deep Blue Dive. But as long as I was going to get to see dolphins, I didn’t care.
Boarding the boat with several other passengers on board (all Mexican but me), we soon made our departure. As the sun gradually made its ascent, we rode further and further out on the choppy waters until there was no land in sight.
As the waves grew rougher, the cheerful and chatty members of the group gradually grew silent as mild seasickness began to kick in.
Over an hour away from land, we finally got our first glimpse of a dolphin fin emerging out of the water. But just a split second later, it was gone again.
While Puerto Escondido is home to as many as five different species of dolphin, these were apparently just ‘common dolphins,’ recognizable for their gray color. And as we rode deeper out, more and more began to appear.
As I’d soon learn, photographing a dolphin from a moving boat is no easy task. One could suddenly emerge from anywhere on a 360° degree radius. But by the time you point your camera in that direction, it’s back in the water.
I would later have much better luck spotting (and photographing) dolphins in the Baja Peninsula’s Sea of Cortez. And if spotting marine life is one of your main priorities for visiting Mexico, you might want to head there instead.
While many tours around Puerto Escondido are advertised as both whale and dolphin watching tours, the humpback whales can only be seen from December to March. Visiting out of season, most tour operators will at least inform you not to expect them.
Aside from dolphins, however, we did see a turtle hitching a ride on a manta ray!
BOOKING A TOUR: Most of the premier dolphin watching tours in Puerto Escondido cost around $50 USD per person. Being on a budget, I went with a company called Valfred Tours, which only charged $450 MXN (less than $25 USD).
While the tour went smoothly for the most part, I was anticipating being able to swim near the dolphins, but it never happened. As tours like this one offer the chance to swim with the dolphins, it may be worth paying more if that’s something you’re set on.
Playa Principal
Back on the mainland at around 10:00 am, I decided to go for a swim at Playa Principal. While this is the most central of all of Puerto Escondido’s beaches, it’s not that hard to find a spot with no other people – at least in the morning.
For seafood lovers, it’s also along this beach that you can find some authentic restaurants selling freshly-caught fish.
Zicatela
From Playa Principal, one can walk further southeast down the coast to reach Playa Zicatela (otherwise, colectivos from the center are available).
Zicatela refers to both the up-and-coming suburb and the long stretch of beach in front of it. The area is quickly growing in popularity, and if travel blogs are anything to go by, it’s now the most popular place in Puerto Escondido to stay.
Much of the suburb seems to have been freshly built. And if you walk far enough past the modern developments, you’ll eventually reach empty lots. Clearly, Zicatela still has a lot more room to grow.
Without a doubt, it’s a much more attractive area than central Puerto Escondido. With that being said, it seems to have been entirely built up for tourism, and I hardly spotted a local in any of the restaurants I passed by.
Zicatela beach is massive, stretching out to 3.5 km long. But ultimately, I’m glad I didn’t stay in the neighborhood, as the beach is entirely unswimmable!
The only ones allowed in the water are surfers, as the waves are too large and harsh for a casual swim. Certain sections are watched over by lifeguards, while beyond that, much of the beach is completely off-limits, with ‘No Nadar’ signs placed throughout.
While surfers will be delighted to stay here, non-surfers may want to think twice before booking a hostel in the area.
Nevertheless, if you have some extra time, a walk through Zicatela could still be considered one of the top things to do in Puerto Escondido. But I’d place a day trip to Mazunte much higher on my list.
Mazunte
Looking for a change of pace from central Puerto Escondido, I spent a day at the beach town of Mazunte, about 70 minutes away (learn more below). And my first destination would be Playa San Agustunillo, about 20 minutes on foot from central Mazunte.
Earlier, I’d also been considering visiting the popular Playa Zipolite, about 15 minutes from Mazunte by car. But I figured it would result in too many transfers for one day, and so I settled on San Agustunillo instead.
Arriving at the beach, I realized I made a good choice, as I largely had it to myself for the time I was there.
As beautiful as the beach is, the waves were anything but gentle. It was at least a swimmable beach, but I ended up spending less time in the water than planned.
Leaving San Agustillino, I made my way back to Mazunte on foot, stopping by a local restaurant for fish tacos on the way.
Like Zicatela, this area seems to have been entirely built up for tourism. So while it’s a lot more peaceful and laidback than central Puerto Escondido, the ‘Hippy Paradise’ of Mazunte is not exactly authentic, if that’s what you’re looking for.
Next, I headed over to the Centro Mexicano de la Tortuga (Wed.-Sun., 10:00-16:30), an aquarium entirely dedicated to turtles. Entry costs around $40 MXN, which I found to be well worth it.
While the Oaxacan coast is indeed known for its turtles, the aquarium features turtles from all over Mexico and even other parts of the world. You’ll find turtles on display both indoors and out, while the edge of the outdoor area provides an excellent view of Mazunte Beach.
Having already gone for a swim at Agustunillo, I skipped the beach at Mazunte and headed straight for Punta Cometa, a rocky peninsula known for its views.
From central Mazunte, it’s about a 15-minute walk, and you can find an uphill staircase near the edge of the beach.
Punta Cometa is most known for its sunsets, but that’s also when it’s at its busiest. Visiting in the afternoon, I spotted only a couple of other tourists and several local fishermen down near the water.
The peninsula is fairly big, and by traversing the whole trail, you can get a view of the entire coastline from lots of different angles.
As you’ll soon discover, Punta Cometa is one of the most scenic parts of a region already renowned for its beauty. Simply put, a day trip to Mazunte is one of the top things to do in Puerto Escondido. Though many choose to stay longer than a day!
GETTING THERE: If budget is not a major concern, the easiest way to get to Mazunte would be with a tour like this one, which also includes stops at various other towns and beaches.
Otherwise, to reach Mazunte by public transport from Puerto Escondido, first head to a colectivo station called Transportes Delfines. It’s situated along the main road (Highway 200) just across from the ADO Station. There, hop on a van bound for Pochutla.
Later on, tell the driver to drop you off at the intersection in the village of San Antonio. From there, you’ll need to catch another ride further south to the coast. It may either be in the form of a colectivo taxi or a truck (pasajero). I hopped on the latter, and 15 minutes later I found myself in Mazunte.
From my experience, these short local rides in Mexico typically only cost several pesos. I was surprised, then, when the driver wanted 20. Thinking I misheard him, I asked again and he repeated the same price.
It was clear he was ripping me off, but I paid him to avoid wasting the remaining passengers’ time. (On the way back, a different driver quoted me 10 pesos.) While just a small amount of money, it’s this kind of behavior that plants seeds of mistrust between tourists and locals.
Baby Turtle Release
On one of my last evenings in the area, I headed to Playa Bacocho to take part in one of the nightly baby turtle releases. While I didn’t go there with particularly high expectations, the experience turned out to be a highlight of the week. And I’d even call it the very top thing to do in Puerto Escondido.
Before the event, I arrived at the beach early to have a swim. But frustratingly, while technically allowed, it just wasn’t possible due to the harsh waves. I must’ve seen around a dozen people try to enjoy themselves in the water before giving up after a few minutes.
While numerous turtle release tours are promoted around town and online, there’s no need to book one. Simply show up at the Turtle Release Center on Playa Bacocho before 17:00 and you’re good to go.
The releases are run by an organization called Vive Mar, and participants are asked to contribute $100 MXN which goes to the protection and conservation of the animals.
Baby turtles face numerous threats, among which are humans. Turtle eggs, it turns out, happen to be a popular traditional delicacy. Though it’s largely frowned upon today, poachers are still out there.
Another threat is development. During my visit, in fact, there were signs nearby in protest of a planned hotel complex on the beach. Given how long, flat and untouched Playa Bacocho is, it’s easy to see why developers would be interested. But building in the area would result in permanent damage to the turtles’ habitat.
To ensure their safety, members of Vive Mar regularly scour the beach for eggs and bring them to a protected environment where they can incubate in sand for a couple of months.
Perhaps the most fascinating thing about sea turtles is that they can remember exactly where they were born. And pregnant females manage to return to the same spot years later to give birth.
This is done thanks to a process called geomagnetic imprinting, which allows turtles to internalize their birth place’s magnetic field. And no matter how far they’ve traveled, they’re successfully able to find it later in life.
Obviously, a new high-rise hotel on the beach would disrupt such a cycle here for good.
After a short presentation, it’s time to line up on the beach and collect your baby turtle. Humans shouldn’t touch them with their bare hands, so the organizers first place them in little bowls made of coconut shells.
Gently placing your turtle on the sand, it will instinctively head toward the water. Some may take a little while to get going, though. After all, they just hatched that day!
As soon as I set it down, my turtle headed straight toward the water, and I was proud to play a part in this brief yet critical moment in its life.
It was also quite something to see these tiny turtles fearlessly walk into the harsh waters of Playa Bacocho – waves that even adult humans can barely handle.
Additional Info
If you look up lists of top things to do in Puerto Escondido, a night tour to the Bioluminescence Lagoon often ranks highly. While not unique to this region, the phenomenon, which involves special plankton that sparkles at night to create a neon-blue glow, is rare in the world overall.
The Puerto Escondido area actually has two lagoons where the phenomenon occurs: Manialtepec (closer to the city and where most tours go) and Chacahua (over 60 km away).
If you read reviews of bioluminescence tour companies online, you’ll find plenty of people complaining that they hardly saw any glow at all. That’s because it’s not a consistent phenomenon that happens all year. At Manialtepec, it depends on how open the lagoon is to the ocean, as well as other factors like rain.
Sadly, many tour companies will not tell tourists this. Even though they’re aware of the times when there’s hardly any plankton in the lagoon, they’ll keep this a secret and take people’s money anyway.
I was lucky to have contacted Robert’s Eco Tours and they were very upfront with me about the situation, telling me I’d see nothing at Manialtepec. While they were running tours to Chacahua at the time, they needed a minimum number of tourists for each group and had nobody else interested that week.
Rather than asking around locally, it’s probably safer to book a tour online like this one, as it allows you to read recent reviews before you pay.
While Puerto Escondido is indeed in Oaxaca state, many travel articles mention Oaxaca de Juárez (the capital) and Puerto Escondido in the same breath as if they were a stone’s throw away from each other.
Believe it or not, a coach bus ride from the capital takes more than 11 hours! This is partly because the bus first heads east to Huatulco before riding west along the coast to Puerto Escondido. But if a coach bus is what you want, this long, grueling journey is your only option.
While there is a quicker and more direct option (6-7 hours) in the form of minivans, it’s not for the faint of heart. Even those not normally prone to motion sickness often find themselves regretting the nausea-inducing journey through the mountainous roads.
Fortunately, a new highway is being worked on that is said to reduce the journey down to just a few hours. But it’s not yet ready at the time of writing.
Puerto Escondido, at least, does have its own airport with direct flights to and from Mexico City.
In my case, the next phase of my Mexico journey after Puerto Escondido was going to be Central Mexico – particularly the city of Cuernavaca. While a direct route between the two locations actually does exist, I read some horror stories online of highway robberies (as in armed men jumping out of the bushes and forcing the driver to stop) happening at night on the road connecting Oaxaca and Guerrero states.
Unfortunately, the direct Puerto Escondido-Cuernavaca buses only run at night, and I didn’t want to take any chances. So I decided to break up the journey in Acapulco. (Mexico can be mostly safe if you do your research and take normal precautions).
From Puerto Escondido, I caught a morning bus to Acapulco run by Alta Mar, which departs from a little-known bus station called Terminal Autobuses ETN Turistar to the north of the city center.
A number of other second-class bus companies also run out of this station. But as there’s almost no information about it online, very few tourists are aware. So if you’re looking for a route to or from Puerto Escondido that isn’t managed by ADO, you might be able to find it here (see map above).
I stayed in central Puerto Escondido in an Airbnb located near the main market, but I left with mixed feelings about the city.
Before my visit, based on everything I’d read online about Puerto Escondido being a laidback hidden gem, I was expecting something along the lines of Bacalar. But in reality, the vibe turned out to be more similar to that of Tulum.
My Airbnb was only a 15-20 minute walk from Playa Carrizalillo which, as mentioned above, turned out to be my favorite beach in the area. I could also walk to numerous other beaches, including Playa Bacocho where the turtle release takes place.
Furthermore, by basing yourself in the city center, you have access to the large Chedraui supermarket, local fruit markets and plenty of restaurants tailored to locals instead of tourists.
But while Puerto Escondido’s beaches are indeed beautiful, you’ll have to traverse the ugly city to get around to all of them. Puerto Escondido doesn’t seem to have any buildings of historical value and the city center is void of any charm (a big shock when coming straight from Oaxaca city).
With that being said, I’m still glad I stayed in the center instead of Zicatela, which has an unswimmable beach and is far from most of the top things to do in Puerto Escondido.
Some of the top-rated hotels in central Puerto Escondido include Hotel Suites Villasol (high-end), Suites La Hacienda (also high-end) and Hotel Costamar (budget-friendly).
Another option is Mazunte, which would be the best place to feel like you’re ‘away from it all.’ While a nice alternative to the hustle and bustle of PE, Mazunte also seems to be entirely catered to tourists, which can be off-putting to those who prefer a bit more authenticity.
Popular accommodations in Mazunte include Asperón and Villa Luna de Miel, to name a few.
In summary, there’s no perfect place to stay in Puerto Escondido, and it largely depends on your tastes. Staying in the center, however, is probably the way to go for most.