For a pair of active, twenty-something year olds with
minimal Spanish-speaking knowledge, Puerto Escondido is the perfect base for a
Mexican retreat, especially if your priorities include surfing and keeping a
low budget.
Puerto Escondido has a few neighborhoods, all offering their
own benefits – since surf and cost were important to us, we spent our time in La
Punta. The first two weeks were spent at AirBNB, Casa Kei ($10/night). This
little compound is a great introduction to the beach bungalow life. Behind the
gates, there is a lush garden full of mango, lime, and papaya trees alongside
hammocks, an outdoor shower, and an
outdoor kitchen. Beautiful murals and colorful tiles grace almost every
wall. Not for the delicate, all accommodations are open-air. At night you can
hear crashing waves, and from the top room you can see the sunset
over the ocean. We took a few nights adjusting to the sounds of this working
class neighborhood – a rivalry of roosters, dogs, frogs like car
horns, and Mexican announcements being played on loudspeakers are orchestrated
at almost all times of the day… eventually, these sounds start feeling like
home.
After two weeks, we looked for longer-term housing. We
stumbled upon Casa Isabel (2,500p/month, Calle Michoacan) located closer to the beach and nightlife.
Hands down, this place is the best value of the many hostels and casas we
checked. Fan-only private doubles, multi-room suites, and air conditioning
rooms are available. The shared palapa terrace has an empty bar, cable tv, and
hammocks offers 360 views of La Punta. Perhaps you’ll spend time watching the
exotic wildlife – hummingbirds, iguanas, tarantulas, alongside stray dogs,
horses, turkeys and roosters.
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| The shared terrace at Casa Isabel. |
Most days are spent surfing, napping, and practicing yoga.
Your choices for waves are at La Punta – the far southeast
end of the town where the point surf break is a bit more predictable and tamer compared to it’s neighbor, Playa Zicatela. Playa Zicatela hosts more surfers
and is located at the most commercial strip of the beach.
We brought our surfboards from Florida, but in retrospect, I
would have purchased a board in Puerto. Summertime is considered low-season, so
there are plenty of boards on sale at reasonable prices. Or you can also
purchase a brand new board from world-reknowned shaper, Ody at Ody Boards in La
Punta.
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| @stular in La Punta, Puerto Escondido. Captured by @thecockandcarrot |
From Puerto Escondido, there are multiple first class buses and
minibuses to neighboring beach towns and mountain villages. If you don’t have
much time (or money) I would still try to make Oaxaca City and San Jose del
Pacifico a priority.
Casa Isabel: Phone Lupe & Luis at 954 136 2279
Casa Kei: Instagram, @casakei_airbnb
Photos: Rene Vincit - http://thecockandcarrot.com/ Instagram, @thecockandcarrot
Casa Kei: Instagram, @casakei_airbnb
Photos: Rene Vincit - http://thecockandcarrot.com/ Instagram, @thecockandcarrot
Gorgeous place, I just went here with someone. The venues in Houston were beautiful and spacious, the seats were comfortable and wide. From where I was sitting at least, the views were great. I think the music really did a great job of filling up the space.
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