With so many attractive features, Puerto Escondido is ‘a little piece of heaven’
Playa Principal, Puerto Escondido
Number one reason, obviously, is that Puerto is a little piece of heaven. I discovered this my very first morning after walking along the Andador Escénico sea walk (a bit of architectural and scenic divinity in itself). As I came around the corner, I stopped short at my first sight of Playa Principal. A golden ribbon of sandy beach stretched out before me, ringed with a cheerful clutter of bright, beach-side buildings, leafy green trees, fishing boats moored in the harbour, and a happily haphazard rise of buildings on the hillside above. There was a gentle hum of activity: fishermen unloading the morning’s catch and families playing in the water. Surely I had stepped through the pearly gates of heaven.
Morning coffee on the beach is another reason to wake up in Puerto. I take my coffee seriously — a good morning coffee experience sets the tone for the entire day. How wrong can it go, sipping java on a hot, sun-drenched beach, the sound of waves washing over sand, and the sight of pelicans frolicking at your feet?
Then there are the colours of Puerto. Anyone with an eye for the aesthetic will appreciate the brightly-painted orange, yellow and purple buildings — many with multi-hued tiles or red roofs — perched amid walls of climbing pink flowers and lush greenery. The ocean is crisp blue, topped with sun-spotted whitecaps; and everyone seems to dress in happy colours, appropriate to life in heaven, I guess.
It would be extremely un-female of me at this point to not mention another eye-pleasing aspect of Puerto. This is one of the top-10 surfing destinations in the world, drawing hundreds of young surfers from all corners of the earth to navigate its crashing waves. A healthy number of these are young men. One might notice their strapping, bronzed appearance, but that’s not the point, of course. What I mean is that they all carry around some very nice looking surfboards.
Ambiance also sits high on the list. Puerto has the physical attributes of a superior visitor destination — sun, sand and surf — without excessive tourist trappings. It remains small and unpretentious; the people are friendly, helpful and accessible.
Another reason to visit is that there’s lots to do in this sunny little corner of heaven — so much, in fact — it can be exhausting merely trying to select an option. Best advice in this scenario is to succumb to the lull of the beach (this shouldn’t be difficult since there are eight to chose from), and alternate between roaming the shoreline, playing in the warm-water waves, taking a siesta in the sand, and drinking cerveza at a beach-side bar.
You could also meander through shopping areas like the trinket-rich Adoquín behind Playa Principal; or the more locally-oriented Mercado Benito Juárez.
Places to eat abound, serving up every type of food imaginable. And prepare to swoon over the uber-fresh seafood: it’s definitely food of the gods. Once again, it can be taxing trying to decide where to eat. Restaurant on the beach? Up higher, with a view to the sunset? Tucked away, mid-town?
But back to the activities. Somewhere between delightfully-indolent Puerto “things to do” and hyper-strenuous ones, are the many tour opportunities. To indulge in a tour, you do have to remove yourself from the beach and all those tequila-in-a-coconut drinks, but you needn’t exert copious amounts of energy.
The area also has a huge sea turtle population and via the various tours, you can witness almost every stage of their lives.
Up the coast, it gets even more heavenly for nature-lovers at Manialtepec Lagoon, where tours take you in open-air boats, canoes or kayaks to view the area’s rapturous flora and fauna. Here there are hundreds of bird species, such as jacanas, black-crowned night herons, parrots and egrets. Tours occur during the day, at sunset and even at night when — in some seasons — the bioluminescence is present. Gliding or swimming amid this glowing plankton as it sparkles and glimmers in the inky water is truly a celestial experience.
Topping my Puerto “to do” list the next time I trade warm clothes and slippers for a bikini is a visit to Lagunas de Chacahua National Park, 65 kilometres west of Puerto. There are five villages in the park, miles of open-ocean shoreline, islands where you can camp, plus jungle and lagoons. Like Manialtepec, it’s home to birds, fish and wildlife, but here you can add to the list crocodiles, which are being restored to the area via a hatchery. (Hopefully not on the camping islands.)
Appropriate to any piece of heaven, Puerto is home to a goddess, and Gina Macchoro, who runs the visitor information kiosk on the Adoquín, should be your first stop, no matter which tour piques your interest. Known as the “Information Goddess,” Gina can set you up with any tour your soul desires. She is a splendid guide and offers several of her own tours, such as a twice-weekly walking expedition where she imparts fascinating tidbits on everything from the area’s history to the types of plants growing on the roadside. She also organizes an archeological tour which visits nearby pyramids, plus an agricultural tour.
Undertaking any of these expeditions might require a recovery session back on the beach, or perhaps a “time out” at one of the area’s many spas.
But next up, you might want to rev up, because Puerto offers lots more to do. As a surfing Mecca, it’s the perfect place to learn the art of riding the waves. Lessons are available for all skill levels and, happily for the newbie, there’s a beginners’ beach that doesn’t put you in the middle of world class surfers and massive waves. Snorkeling is another option, or how about horseback riding . . . even skydiving? Puerto has fitness centres, but an easier way to keep fit might be running up and down all the stairs: stairs to scenic look-outs; stairs up, down and over the sea walk; and stairs to many of the beaches and back.
Amid all these ongoing activities are the seasonal ones, which are important to know about when you’re sitting up in Canada trying to decide which month to get a Puerto suntan. In November there’s the Fiestas de Noviembre, which include a world-class surfing competition (remember all those nice-looking surfboards), in January through March a boogie-on-the-beach music festival; and the annual carnival blasts into town in March.
The good news is, no matter which season you choose, or which activities you undertake, life is always golden in heaven. And that’s the best reason of all to visit.
Reprinted from the archives of El Sol de la Costa.
