Thursday, May 10, 2012
About Puerto Escondido
About Puerto Escondido
The town of Puerto Escondido was established in 1928 as a port for shipping coffee, although the area has been inhabited by indigenous populations for centuries. In the 1960′s it was connected to other coastal towns by Highway 200. Tourists began to discover the town and surfers found its beaches. Its importance as a port diminished as coffee shipments began going by truck instead of boat. The port does continue to support commercial fishing activity.
Today, Puerto Escondido is a home for fishermen, surfers, vacationers, and an ecletic expatriot community. The large waves of Zicatela beach put it into the top ten surfing destinations. It does not cater to the high end tourist as much as Huatulco to the east. Its sprawling beaches host numerous small to mid-size hotels and restaurants.
There are three main beaches, Playa Principal, Playa Marinero, and Zicatela, close to the main part of town, as well as several other smaller beaches. Avenida Perez Gasga is a pedestrian only street known as the Adoquín that parallels Playa Principal, where you will find the Information Goddess. The Andador Escénico Sea Walk begins at Playa Principal and winds along rocky oceanside cliffs. Up the hill from the Adoquín is the coastal highway 200 and on the other side of that is the downtown business district where you can find banks, the mercado, etc. Playa Zicatela is a long straight beach on the east side of the bay and can be seen from Playa Principal. Zicatela is where the strong waves are that make Puerto Escondido a world class surfing destination.
Playa Principal is the main beach in town and runs parallel with the adoquín or pedestrian area of town. Restaurants, boating, swimming, snorkeling.
West of the lighthouse is a small cove with beaches Playa Manzanillo and Puerto Angelito. Very calm for swimming and snorkeling but watch out for boats that come and go. There is a restaurant with restrooms at Puerto Angelito. You can get there from Playa Principal by boat or go northwest on highway 200 for 1/2 mile and turn left on Calle Miguel Hidalgo at the old airport. At the billboard turn left again and go down the dirt road to the beach.
Also northwest of town is a pair of small beaches called Playa Carrizalillo. A small stream enters the ocean at the smaller beach and locals wash their clothes here. Good swimming, snorkeling, and scuba diving, lots of coral and fish. To get to these beaches, take highway 200 northwest for 1/2 mile, turn left at Avenida Miguel Hidalgo. The area is under development, so it would be best to stop at one of the shops or restaurants and ask directions from here. There are now steps (167 of them) leading down the cliff to the beach.
One of the world’s best surfing beaches is Playa Zicatela. The 2-mile long beach has several restaurants and hotels. Not good for swimming, extremely dangerous. To get there, walk southeast along Playa Principal or take highway 200 southeast and turn right at Bungalows Villa Marinero onto a paved road which leads to Hotel Santa Fé and continues south along the beach.
Past Zicatela to the east is Playa Barra de Colotepec extending 1-1/4 mile to Río Colotepec. Heavy surf, dangerous for swimmers. Turtles lay their eggs at this long beach and volunteers from the Campamento Tortugas aid in their survival. Turtles, which had been fished to the brink of extinction, are making a comeback.
Playa Bacocho is northwest of town past Playa Carrizalillo. Take highway 200 northwest toward the airport and follow the signs to the Best Western Posada Real. This is one of the longest beaches in the area. There is a restaurant. Swimming may be dangerous due to heavy surf and undertow.
Just past the lagoon at the southeast end of Playa Principal is Playa Marinero. Restaurants, swimming, boogie-boarding, and snorkeling, but watch out for currents at the southern end of the beach. To get there, walk down Playa Principal to the southeast or walk down past the end of Avenida Alfonso Pérez Gasga.
Surfing in Puerto
Surfing in Puerto
The surf in Puerto is seasonal, varying from small to medium in size during the dry season (November to April), and from small to big during the rainy season (beginning in early May). We like to operate in the dry season, which is the perfect time to learn, and there are still plenty of waves to satisfy the beginner to more experienced surfers.
Between the three main breaks, Carrizalillo, Zicatela and La Punta, it’s usually no problem to find somewhere for surfers of any ability to find some waves.
It’s also a lot more fun to come at this time of year – the temperature is hot – high 20s and low 30s (°C) but nothing like it is in the summer – when highs can reach the 40s. Tourism also drops off in the summer, so the bars are less lively and there’s less people to meet. That being said, you won’t be waiting outside a bar at any point in Puerto.
Our Surf School Program
We have theory first, then some time on the simulator and lessons in proper paddling techniques before we get you into the water. Unlike some schools, where you get a quick beach lesson and then they throw you to the waves, we make sure you have a solid foundation so you can get the most out our your short vacation!
We run the lessons in pairs, you can choose to do it with your travelling companion, or, if there is a large difference in ability, we can pair you with someone more advanced – it’s up to you.
Learn Spanish in Puerto Escondido
http://www.mexicosurfschool.com/surfschool/learn-spanish/
Learn Spanish in Puerto Escondido
We’ve teamed up with the Puerto Escondido language school to provide top-notch Spanish instruction
while you’re in town. The school is located on Playa Zicatela, just a block from the beach and you’ll have
a chance to either take classes in the school, or out at one of the palapas on the beach – your choice!
There will be a total of 10 hours of instruction provided per week, but if you’d like more, it can certainly be
arranged.
You’ll have the same instructor the whole time, to ensure continuity of your lessons, and it’s always private,
one-on-one instruction.
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Road Trip: Playa Agua Blanca, Iguanario, National Turtle Center, Playa San Agustinillo, and Ventanilla Lagoon
Road Trip: Playa Agua Blanca, Iguanario, National Turtle Center, Playa San Agustinillo, and Ventanilla Lagoon
Posted in Animals, Mexico, Travel on April 30th, 2012 by Lisa
We saw an amazing variety of land and sea turtles, large and small, as well as tropical fish.
The day was hot and a dip in the ocean imperative. We stopped at nearby Playa San Agustinillo, a beautiful bowl-shaped beach with high waves plyed by local boogie boarders.
It was an interesting experience being in the water here because the waves strike both coming in and, after bouncing against the sand bowl of the beach, going out again.
Standing at the right place in the water, Ty and I were hit by waves and reflections of waves, their interaction creating a huge fountain of water that blasted me into the air about three feet when the waves were particularly high.
Every once and a while a set of enormous waves rolled in, tumbling the boarders over and over, before shooting them out the other end.
Last stop on the beach-hopping tour was a trip to the Playa Ventanilla Eco-Center about five minutes drive north. On this thirty five km deserted beach is another turtle sanctuary, one restaurant, and a couple of camping spots.
Here we took a lagoon tour in a boat rowed through the mangroves by a local guide. Laguna Ventanilla is an estuary that supports a whole community of people who in turn are striving to conserve the ecosystems there. The community consists of about twenty families, all related and working together to protect their area, who offer tours in lanchas done with oars only, so as not to damage the estuary and plant life there.
Just as we were getting going, the guide pointed out the massive head of a crocodile resting against the embankment – wow!
He whistled and the head slowly slid down the bank and turned our way; not only did the head turn our way, but so did the entire beast, making its way through the water towards us as the guide paddled the boat away.
Although we did not see its body, our guide told us that the croc is four meters long. He also pointed out a couple of other smaller crocodiles as we proceeded. Their primary food source is dogs, so he said … yikes, not a pretty mental picture!
As we paddled farther into the lagoon, we saw an incredible number of birds, including white ibis, fly catchers, turkey vultures, herons, tiny finches, egrets, king fishers, and spoonbill ibis.
The sounds they made were incredible. One area was full of nesting ibis – we saw some babies in a couple of the nests. Two types of mangroves grow here, white and red.
The red mangroves are enormous and cruising slowly through the forest of their roots and trunks was fabulous. Wow, what an incredible way to end our day trip!
Once back in the car, we headed back towards Puerto as the sun, a glorious golden-red orb, was starting to set. Unfortunately, we found out that said car had no lights; even though the dashboard lit up, the road did not. Pissed off at our dark ride, someone coming from the other direction on our side of the road almost ran us off the pavement – shit! Luckily we rolled into town without further incident just as it got completely dark. Many thanks to Miguel for the fantastic tour!
For more info about the Turtle Museum, click here.
For more info about Ventanilla Lagoon, click here.
For more info about the South Pacific Coast of Mexico, click here.
For more pics, click here.
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Puerto Escondito
Puerto Escondito
Aqua Lunacy
A Mexican base for Aussies – if you surf and thoroughly enjoy litre Coronas, you’re probably staying at Aqua Luna. We got the hot tip from Chong and a arrived to a pretty epic setup
Frostbite in Mexico
The last 3 days, icey offshore winds were so strong in the morning you need a jumper as soon as you wake up. The 1st day frosted the water up so much, everyone was scrambling for any neoprene they could find
Mex storming
As the swell started to die after a week, the afternoons were lashed with some pretty incredible storms.
Beans and barrels
In he last 8 days in Puerto we were treated to some ridiculous surf. 7-10ft and offshore everyday – best waves of the tour so far
Busing to burritos
Antigua to Guatermala City to Tapachula to Puerto Escondito, Mexico – 26 hours of bus travel. Greeted with the beginning of a new 7ft swell building to 10ft in the next 2 days
Karate in Norway
It seems like these posts are finding a bit of a trend – not that we weren’t getting 1 or 2 surfs in a day, but its like there’s a vibe in the Mexican air that drives us to get on it.
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