January 10, 2017 – Puerto Escondido.
So here it is, January 5, almost our one-month anniversary in Huatulco, and we haven’t had an adventure for like two weeks. So we’re off to Puerto Escondido, which is another beach town about 2 hours west of us by bus. We have a hotel for 2 nights, so we can get a good look at the place.
The bus there was 2nd-class, and a bit disappointing (no bathroom). Other than the door not closing for half the trip, it was OK, I guess. At least the aircon worked, and the price was right; $4 each for a 2-hour trip. Our hotel was actually a long-term place where they rent full kitchenettes by the week or month, but they let us in for 2 nights, and everything was good. Pretty new, sparkling clean, good aircon and wifi. For those of you in need of a new tongue-twister, it was the Hotel Quinta Carrizalillo. Try saying that fast!
We’re just over a kilometer from Centro, but that’s OK, as cabs are 30 pesos ($2) and they are everywhere. Just a block down our street is a strip of restaurants, and a couple of them are very good, which is fortunate as we hadn’t eaten all day and we’re starving! Even the resident Iguana was looking good.
He looks a bit nervous. Doubtless picking up on our hunger-vibes.
Then we carried on towards the ocean for another 2 blocks, and there was a VERY large flight of stairs leading down to our own private beach (well, us and our 200 newest friends actually), which is called Playa Carrizalillo also, just in case you needed to practice a bit more. A very good swimming beach, but we don’t swim much in the ocean (there are fish that eat you, the salt is icky, waves can be very rude, my hearing aids throw a fit) and it’s a bit steep to be a good walking beach, and by the time you climb back up the stairs you’re all sweaty again. So in the future, photos from the top will do!
Playa Carrizalillo from the top.
And from the bottom.
We found out where all golf head covers go to die.
Then we took a cab down to Playa Principal, which is the main beach just downhill from Centro. It’s a very nice beach, wide and pretty flat, and there is plenty of room for restaurants and beach tables with umbrellas, and about a hundred fishing boats, and a bunch of people doing their thing. A very comfortable place to hang out and do just about anything you would like.
Playa Principal, right in the middle of town.
We were walking along the beach towards Zicatela when a guy walked out of the water dragging something, which turned out to be a net, which turned out to be full of crabs! The language barrier was too high to figure out how he got them into the net, or what he was going to do with them other than eat them, but there you go. Make up your own story!
Dinner (Comida) at another place along the strip was great. We had the set meals, which consisted of a huge green salad, garlic fish for Deb, and a chicken-schnitzel-thing for Steve, deserts, and a beer, all for $9 each. Not gonna lose any weight here, obviously…
The next morning, it was off to Playa Zicatela, which is the surfer’s beach. It is wide, a bit steeper at the water’s edge because of the surfer waves and rip, and three to five kilometers long, very much less developed than Playa Principal as far as restaurants/bars directly on the beach. Across the street from the beach is Surfer Heaven, a strip of hotels, hostels, cafes, and board shops; everything the backpacker crowd could wish for. We even saw a walk-through ‘mesquileria’, which is a place you can walk up to the counter, buy a shot of mescal, gulp it down, and stagger off to your next appointment! All very good, and a great place to go down and visit, but not really a place to stay for us as we like our creature comforts and our quiet in the evening!
Playa Zicatela from the west end.
Surfer Dudes and Dudettes.
Pipeline!
Cool sculpture, west end of Zicatela.
A nice little walk up here & you can see for beach for miles.
Just down from our hotel, is yet another beach. The coastline of Oaxaca is just beach after beach after beach.
Puerto Escondido turns out to be much bigger than we thought; when I asked a cab driver how many people lived there, he said 80,000. It’s been growing very quickly, and with an autopista (freeway that costs $$) slated to connect it to the main city of Ciudad Oaxaca sometime in the next few years, the tourist traffic will doubtless really take off, and the prices will increase. The thing holding it back right now is that, while they have an international airport, there are no direct flights from Canada, the US, or Europe. Right now, you have to fly into Huatulco and bus over, so that mostly limits it to the travelers and backpackers. Having said that, there are a lot of long stays, and they have seen big changes over the last two years or so. Lots more tourists. Tour companies do fly there, though.
Saturday was a lazy morning, mostly at the pool, and then we headed home on a proper bus, which in this part of the world is OCC. It was much higher quality, all for the princely sum of $7 for a 2-hour trip.
Our impressions at the end of a 2-day trip; we really like the beaches and the area where we stayed is quiet and pretty, and there are lots of places to rent, so long-stay is definitely an option here. If you are prepared to pay $1600/month, you can get a 2-bedroom furnished apartment with a sunset-and-ocean-view balcony and a pool. I’m pretty sure we can get a good place a few blocks back from the beach for under $1000/month. On the other hand, Centro is bigger and noisier, and dirtier than Crucecita/Santa Cruz. So I think we’ll have to check it out again in late February!
Obligatory sunset photo, from Carrizalillo.
One of my favourite things to photograph are signs.
This is a painting in the courtyard of a hotel. I loved it.
The mural is quite exquisite, but the construction caught my eye, too. The guy in the trench can stop digging now, I think.
Ever see a full-size Elephant on wheels?
The hotel La Hacienda..beautiful entrance way. Might have to stay there next time.
This is Pochutla’s main street. It’s about halfway between Puerto Escondido and Santa Cruz. Apparently, it has an awesome market on Mondays, so I will have to take a local bus there. The local bus will not be as comfortable as first class, but life is an adventure. Just make sure it’s early in the day going & late afternoon coming home, or they will find you melted in your seat.
¡Hasta luego!