Inspired Vacations in Puerto Escondido

I’ve heard Tracy speak about the beauty of Puerto Escondido so often and learned more when we began to build tours, so when the opportunity presented itself to visit, I was very excited to see it firsthand!

There are many ways to get to Puerto Escondido but we chose to fly into Huatulco and drive the 60km. I have been on many flights over the years, but have never disembarked onto the tarmac so I got to feel the sun and warm air right away!  And because it’s a small airport, security and customs was simple.

The drive was a bit twisty as we made our way through the mountains before the landscape stretched into fields of mango, papaya and pineapple. The small houses littered along the way were full of color and different architecture! So vibrant!

Our hotel, Casa Soliz was perfectly situated on Zicatela, the main surfing beach and I learned it’s one of the top surfing beaches in the world. One side of the street is hotels and shops, the other is restaurants and the beach. Soliz is a simple hotel – really clean with super comfortable beds! We stayed in three different styles of accommodations to test them all out. All had air conditioning in the bedrooms but not the common areas as they’re open to the outdoors. The pool was located in the middle of the two buildings and nice and private.

We tried several restaurants during our stay. My favorite on Zicatela was Fresh. The food was amazing and the drinks were the very best we had the entire trip! I love mojitos and it would be tough to find another as tasty as Fresh creates. We also visited a neat spot that put a different spin on dining… if you don’t know what you want to eat there are little stations all surrounding the bar with different types of food – traditional tacos, onion rings stuffed with cheese, Italian and even Japanese. We ventured “upstairs” at this outdoor restaurant to lounge on the couches under beautiful lights.

We work with a couple fantastic guides down in Puerto Escondido and tried out some of the tours we have created.

Dana’s favourite was the Manialtepec Lagoon Bird watching tour.  We spent the morning viewing beautiful birds and learning about mangroves. We explored the sandbar between the ocean and the lagoon – it is pretty crazy that  sand is all that separates the two. The stretch of beach we were on was so quiet…. just us and the waves…..amazing!

The Mazunte tour was another highlight. Our “bird watching” was at the village of Ventanilla and Crocodile Island. We spent more time watching for crocodiles than we did birds. We didn’t see many crocodiles as our guide thought we were too scared so didn’t point them out! We did see one sun bathing when we stopped on the island and that was too close for comfort for some of us!

Crocodile Island is a government protected sanctuary where vets and biologists help preserve its natural beauty and the animals that are taken there to rehabilitate.  We saw rescued animals such as parrots, monkeys and deer that would be released to the wild. We met two sweet monkeys; one would be returned to Costa Rica and the other will stay at the sanctuary as he was too dependent to survive in the wild.  The full grown white tailed deer we saw are the size of our fawns. So small!

While on this tour, we also got to see the famous  nude beach at Zipolite. We didn’t take many pictures… just one and that was enough. The cosmetic factory was also a highlight on this tour and it was interesting to hear the history of the local people learning a new trade with the help of Anita Roddick of The Body Shop.

In Puerto Escondido, we spent an afternoon enjoying the Bacocho and Rinconada Neighbourhood Food Tour and Oh… MY… GOODNESS… I always love learning about different cultures and their food, but this was out of this world amazing! I did not realize how good the food is. I literally have no words to describe this tour- YOU MUST TAKE IT!

We got up early to go Whale Watching and it was well worth it. The first experience of the day that was quite a spectacle was watching all the fishing boats come in after fishing all night. We saw sea turtles move faster than I could imagine and my favorite was watching the dolphins swim so gracefully in their natural habitat. They are incredibly majestic and beautiful. While we may not have actually seen a whale, is was still an awe-inspiring experience.

Watching baby turtles dig their way out of their nest and then releasing them was a special experience. They are seriously the sweetest things…. I love turtles so much so this experience was one that truly melted my heart. I had to purchase the coconut shell I used to hold my little ones and it will forever be on my shelf of treasures from all over the world. What we loved about this place was that the turtles are the main focus, not the tourists.  The goal is to educate tourists. If the babies are ready to be released before the tourists come, they don’t wait because the turtles have only a short period of time while they have adrenaline running which is their best time to get into the ocean and survive.

The MotoCarre tour in Chila was very moving.  We visited the cemetery and learned about local customs and traditions. We learned about the sport ‘Pelota Mixteca’ and visited where it is played. Those athletes must be very strong because the glove they use is HEAVY!

The last stop we made was to a red brick factory. The men who make these handmade durable bricks work seven days a week in the heat…such hard work. Driving up and down the streets of this town gave us a unique perspective on a different culture. They live simply and it was refreshing.

During our stay, we visited a number of hostels, hotels and private villas, getting quite a feel for the different styles of accommodation available.

We also had to experience some night life – well some of us did! We all watched a great live blues band at Casa Babylon.  Then I went to the nightly hot spot that doesn’t get bumping until at least 1:00 am (this is usually when I am winding down after a ‘night out’) and we danced the morning away at this rooftop club!

Even with all the business and touring trying to see everything this beautiful spot has to offer, we still managed to be able to spend some time on some beaches! I was not prepared for the beauty as they stretch on for what seems like forever…. I have seen beaches before, but nothing compares to these. There are very few people so it was very peaceful. Sunset on the water is indescribable and the surfers who enjoy this great waves at this time of day, make the scene hypnotizing.

What resonated with all of us on our return is that it is not touristy.  Even the places that are somewhat for tourists, are all focused on conserving the area. I would love to go back… tomorrow!

I asked a local who is not originally from there why he moved. He said “it’s just magical”. He is right…. but you have to see it to believe it.