Beaches of Puerto Escondido

Kat´s Truth About Travelling

- In Chucks Around The World -

The beaches of Puerto Escondido. All together relaxed, very beautiful and yet all different from eachother. The one beach is more for surfers, at the other you’ll find more locals and at the next you can participate in a turtle liberation. And inbetween there are more or less frequented little bays and viewpoints. Really a lot of beach with a couple of cool things inbetween 😀 🙂

Playa Zicatela – Backpacker Area

Playa Principal – Central Beach of Puerto Escondido

Playa Angelito – small bay to the right of Playa Principal

Playa Bacocho – Turtle Liberation

Playa Coral – small beach accessible via Playa Bacocho

Playa Zicatela

Basic information

What: Beach
Where: Puerto Escondido, Playa Zicatela
Opening hours: 24/7 – the sunset at Surfer Bay is an absolute MUST!
Fee: free
Website: you don’t need it and it doesn’t exist

Playa Zicatela is – I think – the largest beach in Puerto Escondido. Playa Bacocho – where the turtle releases take place – is also very long, but Zicatela is…. Forever long. To be fair, I didn’t walk to the end of Playa Bacocho, so I don’t really know, but Playa Zicatela is and remains really damn long, regardless of which beach is longer. You lergely can’t see the end of the beach! 😀 It goes from the surfer spot all the way up the coastal road to Playa Marinero or Playa Pricipal, which…. is not a short distance. I tried to walk the whole beach once and failed. No joke. Walking on sand is simply exhausting 😀 Also, not every corner of Playa Zicatela is beautiful.

The parts that are extremely photogenic are the surfer spot, where you can – except at lunchtime – actually always see surfers, the middle section, where an incredible number of hostels, bars and restaurants is located and the last part just before Playa Marinero, where the viewpoint (Romance de Verano) is. During the day, the entire beach is bathed in glistening sunlight, the water sparkles and it honestly just looks like paradise. As the sand is honestly just too hot at lunchtime, thankfully it stays that way until the afternoon. In the afternoon then the sand has cooled down enough for you to even walk barefoot from a certain moment onwards again 😉 In the evening, the absolute highlight – in my eyes – takes place: the sunset. It really is…. Indescribably beautiful. But more on that in another post.

The vibe of Playa Zicatela is of course extremely relaxed and chilled because of all the backpackers and surfers. And it’s never overcrowded. Because the beach is so incredibly long. A huge advantage of Playa Zicatela. You really will always! Find a place to relax.
Playa Zicatela yes or no? In my opinion, you haven’t been to Puerto Escondido if you haven’t been to Playa Zicatela. Period. 😀

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Playa Principal

Basic information

What: Beach (Playa Principal + Playa Marinero + Bahia Puerto Escondido)
Where: central beach in Puerto Esconidos; accessible from the centre as well as from Playa Zicatela
Opening hours: 24/7 – although I would watch the sunset at Playa Zicatela and be back on the streets after dark, depending on the lighting
Fee: free
Website: you don’t need it and it doesn’t exist

The main beach of Puerto Escondido is – I would say – by far the most populated beach in Puerto Escondido. At the same time, it actually combines Playa Marinero, Playa Principal and Bahia Puerto Escondido in one. Don’t get me wrong, you can just walk along the sea in Puerto Escondido for a very long time and pass several beaches along the way. So… I’ll just talk about this bay in one.

If you come from the backpacker area (Playa Zicatela), as I did at the time, the first beach you pass is Playa Marinero. I assume this is the section with the stones. Very cool, because from here it is not very far to a small viewpoint (Mirador Romance de Verano), but at the same time you can take great pictures of Playa Principal and the whole bay from here, because you have a kind of overview meaning nice view.
As you walk on, you’ll run into lots of locals, pass vendors and stalls, see boats that are either being hauled in or pulled into the water or simply bobbing on the water and lots of Mexican families relaxing here. It is also one of the few beaches with a kind of skyline in the background. Others may find that stupid, but I thought it was a change 😊

Go or not? Personally, I think the beach is completely worth it. You see a different, somewhat more Mexican and therefore in some ways more authentic side of Puerto Escondido and what I particularly liked: you can see that the beaches in Puerto Escondido are relatively different, which in turn makes Puerto Escondido so special.

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Playa Angelito

Basic information

What: Beach
Where: Puerto Angelito
Opening hours: 24/7 – although I would watch the sunset at Playa Zicatela and be back on the streets before dark, depending on the lighting
Fee: free
Website: you don’t need it and it doesn’t exist

Puerto Angelito was one of the most beautiful bays in Puerto Escondido for me. There is a slightly curved strip of sandy beach, a few stalls at the edge and a few families sitting on the ground or on chairs under umbrellas. There are palm trees in the background and boats bobbing on the water. To the right and left, the bay is lined with rocks that are round and big enough to climb on, at least in large parts. For me, it was like the perfect, somewhat secluded paradise.
Of course, I also went exploring, which meant I got to see the less beautiful and rather polluted part of Puerto Angelito. The view of the bay from there was still great (looking out to the sea on the right along the path of stones).
I didn’t actually spend much time at Puerto Angelito itself because I mainly took photos and looked around a bit. But this bay with the boats was just really beautiful and well worth the trip!
Go or not? Well, I would say yes. The view of the bay from the side alone is absolutely worth it 😊

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Playa Bacocho

Basic information

What: Beach & turtle release
Where: Playa Bacocho
Opening hours: 24/7 (Playa Bacocho, but please only during the day), regarding the turtle release you have to inform yourself. We were there in the afternoon around 3/4pm (the sun was no longer very high, but was not yet setting)
Fee: free (Playa Bacocho); turtle release I don’t know
Website: —

Have you ever been to a turtle release? It’s honestly one of the sweetest and most beautiful yet cruel things I’ve ever seen. The explanation soon above. First, a quick visit to the beach. Playa Bacocho is really long! I’m still of the opinion, that Playa Zicatela is longer, but Playa Bacocho definitely does compete in it’s length 😀
When I was there for the first time, I just thought to myself ‘How can one place have two such beautiful beaches with perfect water and such a bright sun on the horizon?’ Because that’s Playa Bacocho. You are greeted by pretty much a white sandy beach, a sea glistening under the sun, endless beachsight (as far as the eye can see for sure), a small palm tree backdrop on the far left, where there also is a hotel, and a small stone bay bordering the beach on the left. And hardly a soul sitting anywhere. A few people walking up or down the beach, a few in the water, someone walking his or her dog somewhere…. That’s it. I don’t think we have such beautiful beaches in Europe that on top are so unpopulated compared to their length and size. And so clean! Honestly. Just wow! And I’m not really a beach fan, but Puerto Escondido just had me.

Back to the turtle release. A friend from the hostel had asked me if I wanted to come along. Personally, I hadn’t planned to go to one because I thought to myself ‘Well, they release little turtles and then they run off into the sea… I don’t think that’s like super cool.’ Well, far fetched.
Like yes it basically describes what happens, but… if you’ve ever taken part or been to something like this, you know what I’m talking about.
First of all, how cute are these tiny little things? 😀 And how adorable is it when they try to climb out of the bowl? And then you’re not allowed to touch them because otherwise they’ll have a hard time out there in the big wide world and you always have to hold the bowl so that they can’t escape…
As I hadn’t registered, I didn’t have my own bowl and therefore only took photos. But it was great anyways. A kind of barrier is set up behind which people kneel down to release the turtles into the sand. They face relatively straight out to the ocean so that they can’t miss it. A few of the locals stand in front and try to stop the birds from eating the little turtles. Because yes, that is literally their favourite food. And you don’t know how fast these creatures can dart down to grab one of these cute little turtles. Like for real…. Well, you stand there, cheering the turtles to get to the ocean and swim, while the little ones sprint for their lives and you hope with every wave that they get swept away just so that they don’t get eaten by a bird in the water. It’s…. Extremely cute and beautiful, but also really brutal when you see how these birds simply see the turtle release as a kind of feeding time and can hardly be shooed away – and don’t get me wrong, the Mexicans really try everything to keep the birds away.

Yes or no? Playa Bacocho as well as turtle release: YES! Because…. It’s a piece of Mexico. And you’re doing something good by helping to guide one more turtle into the ocean (not too many of them – I don’t know how many – turtles survive…). And Playa Bacocho is also really beautiful, so 😀

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Playa Coral

Basic information

What: Beach (Playa Coral + Posita Natural Julieta)
Where: Hire a bike and ride to Playa Bocacho at a time of day when it’s not too hot. From there, if you go all the way to the left to the stones, you can reach Posita Natural Julieta as well as Playa Coral
Opening hours: 24/7 – although I would go back to Puerto Escondido or the main beach bfore it gets dark
Fee: free
Website: you don’t need it and it doesn’t exist

This small stretch of beach is located to the side and/or behind the beach where the turtle release takes place (Playa Bacocho). Playa Coral is honestly not very big, especially compared to Playa Bacocho, but it’s like a perfect little bay. Not with palm trees and such in the background, but there’s something about this beach that gets to you.
I think the only/easiest way to get there is to drive to Playa Bacocho and then walk across the small stone cove (Posita Natural Julieta). Admittedly, it’s not a path that you can walk along ‘just like that’, but I personally find the bay of Playa Coral really beautiful! And there aren’t usually that many people here.
Go or not? As there are two beautiful beaches and an incredibly charming stone cove right next to each other, I think you have to. Not to mention the fact that the sun is reflected in the water in a completely different way due to the shape of the bay. It’s just really beautiful! 😊

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