The story goes that a pirate and his crew once kidnapped a young Mixtec woman many, many years ago. Whilst the young woman and her captor were camped out on one of Mexico’s Southern Pacific Coastal bays, she decided to make her escape. Naming her ‘La Escondida’ the pirate and his crew continued to search the bay for her for years to come. Legend has it that this is how the town of Puerto Escondido, or ‘Hidden Port’ came to have its name. Whether this rings true or not, Puerto still harbours many treasures, some hidden, some not.
Although the area has inhabited indigenous people for centuries, its people fishing off the rich coastline, the towns international roots originated with the exportation of Mexico’s world famous Pluma Hidalgo coffee during the 20’s. However, what really put Puerto on the map was her unforgivingly big, sand bottomed, barrel waves, otherwise known as the ‘Mexican Pipeline’. Originally, international surfing came to Puerto during the early 70’s with American surfers such as Tom Hinkle and Casy Higdon coming south of the border in search of fresh waves. From then on Puerto has consistently produced some world class surfers, from Oasis’ own Roger Ramirez to Coco Nogales, and continues to host surfers from across the globe; whether they are surfing for fun or competively in one Puerto’s annual big wave competitions.
Coffee and Surf aside this seaside town continues to draw people in and has something for everyone. Straddling a coastline with a cluster of bays, Puerto has some incredible beaches, for surfers and non-surfers alike and is home to a wealth of marine life.
Or, if your time is more tummy led then Puerto has some of Oaxacan’s finest- try the incredible smoked fish tacos at Juan’s or Café Nopal’s mouth watering vegetarian breakfasts.
Whether it’s morning swims at Carri’, sunsets at Bacocho, eating your way through town or
dancing all night to salsa; say you’re going to stay for a few weeks? I bet it’ll become months!