Location

Puerto Escondido is a small coastal village in the state of Oaxaca (Wha-ha-cah), Mexico located approximately 200 miles south of Acapulco. Puerto Escondido is known for its beautiful beaches, its coastal culture and variety of activities including world class surfing, sport fishing and diving. In recent years, Puerto Escondido has attracted the attention of international travellers. Flights now arrive daily from Mexico City into Puerto Escondido's international airport. Despite this increase in traffic, Puerto Escondido has managed to preserve an "off-the-beaten-path," authentic feel while at the same time providing the amenities and security that make for a safe and pleasant visit. All this and much more makes Puerto Escondido a perfect place to immerse yourself in the Spanish language and Mexican culture.

What to do in Puerto Escondido

While surfing is one of the main attractions in Puerto Escondido, there are a variety of other activities in the area. There are "lancha" (small fishing boat) tours of nearby lagoons and wildlife preserves. There are hikes to waterfalls and thermal springs. There are also plenty of "lanchas" to bring you sport fishing, scuba diving, touring the coast or to just tow you around on inflatable "bananas." Protected coves like Carrizalillo provide great opportunities for snorkeling and swimming. Playa Carrizalillo with its gentle waves is also a perfect place for anyone to boogie board or learn to surf. Both snorkeling equipment and boogie boards are available to rent there for very affordable prices. If you already know how to surf, Playa Zicatela, "Mexican pipeline" provides one of the most challenging waves in the world. "La Punta," is also a quality surf break. Located at the southwestern end of Playa Zicatela, it's a long left point break great for intermediate surfers or for when the beach break becomes to big for the expert surfer's board or ability.
There are plenty of attractions in nearby cities and towns. If you want to get a feel for Mexico completely unchanged by tourism, there are many small Mexican and indigenous villages within an hour's drive of Puerto. In opposition Las Bahias de Huatulco, about 2 hours south of Puerto Escondido, has been developed as a huge luxury tourist attraction and now houses the western hemisphere's largest Club Med. The state capital, Oaxaca City is about 6 hours away by bus and 30 minutes away by plane. There are plenty of ruins, markets, museums and indigenous villages to visit there as well.  

The months of June through September make up the heart of the rainy season and coincidentally the best season for big wave surfing. While it can rain torrentially during these months, it doesn't rain all the time. Usually it rains for two or three semi-solid days every couple of weeks. The rain can cool the air into the mid 70s and cause the coldest days of the year. It may also rain for an hour or two in the late afternoon one or two additional days each week but for the most part, summer is sunny and warm.

As the rainy season draws to an end in October, the skies clear and the temperature begins to drop. November through February, the skies are blue and temperatures range from 60s at night to 80s (25 C) during the day.

In late February and early March, temperatures begin to climb into the 90s with clear skies. In June, the rain starts to fall again. It cools the air and moistens the soil turning everything green again
 

Email us at: mexico@studyspanishandsurf.com