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The beaches of Puerto Escondido

22 beaches

The beaches in town and the day trips along the coast, surf beaches included. Where you can swim, where you can surf and at what level, how to get there and what is open at each one.

All For swimming For surfing Snorkeling Sunset With kids In town Nearby

Where to surf

By level. May to September brings the big swell (Zicatela and the beach breaks get serious); November to April the ocean is gentler and it is the best time to learn.

Surf: beginners

Surf: intermediate

Surf: experts

In Puerto Escondido 7

West to east, the same walk the town makes.

Punta Colorada No swimmingSurf: experts The reddish cliff point west of Bacocho, next to the airport. Its wave is a fast, closing beach break that Puerto treats as a bodyboard spot rather t… Aeropuerto 1 place Playa Bacocho No swimmingSurf: experts A mile and a half of open Pacific sand: the longest beach in town and the emptiest. The surf is heavy and the current pulls, so people come here to w… Bacocho 60 places Playa Carrizalillo Safe to swimSurf: beginners Puerto’s postcard: a small turquoise bay tucked between cliffs, with palapas, ceviche and beginner surf lessons. You go down about 170 steps, and bac… Carrizalillo 136 places Playa Principal Safe to swimSurf: beginners The town’s own bay, right below El Adoquín: fishing boats pulled up on the sand, fish sold in the morning and the sunset everyone photographs. The pi… El Adoquín 191 places
Playa Marinero Swim with careSurf: beginners The stretch between Playa Principal and Zicatela. The wave is mid-sized and breaks gently: this is where you really learn to surf after Carrizalillo. Zicatela 86 places Playa Zicatela No swimmingSurf: experts The Mexican Pipeline: two miles of sand and a wave that barrels over a sandbank very close to shore. From November to March it is a world-class show,… Zicatela 322 places La Punta (Punta Zicatela) Swim with careSurf: intermediate The southern end of Zicatela, with its own village of dirt streets, cafés and yoga. It has a long left that breaks off the rocky point: friendlier th… La Punta 255 places

Near Puerto 9

Day trips, with the road distance from downtown.

Barra de Navidad (Colotepec) No swimmingSurf: experts The mouth of the Colotepec river, where fresh water meets the sea. Boats run through the estuary among herons and mangroves, and there are fish kitch… 10 km east · 20 min 22 places
Playa Plataforma No swimmingSurf: intermediate Open ocean in Santa María Colotepec, half an hour southeast. One of the most consistent beach breaks in the area: on small to medium swell there is a… 24 km east · 30 min Playa Tierra Blanca Swim with careSurf: beginners A small coastal village with a long, empty beach. Its wave is a shore break close to the sand, almost always shoulder-high and very consistent; it cl… 28 km east · 35 min 1 place El Puertecito (Valdeflores) Swim with careSurf: intermediate A hidden beach at the end of three kilometers of dirt road: three stretches of sand, two little bays closed off by big rocks and one open-ocean front… 32 km east · 40 min Playa Agua Blanca Swim with careSurf: beginners A long beach with a right-hand point break over rock at one end and beach break along the rest, softer and peakier than Tierra Blanca. On small swell… 40 km east · 45 min
Playa Palmarito No swimmingSurf: experts Wild sand west of Bacocho, with not a single service. It is a turtle nesting area, with conservation camps working on it. 12 km west · 25 min 6 places Lagunas de Chacahua Swim with careSurf: intermediate A national park of mangroves, crocodiles and a sandbar between the lagoon and the open sea. The village of Chacahua is tiny, reached by boat, and tha… 70 km west · 2 h Mazunte Swim with careSurf: beginners A Pueblo Mágico of sandy streets, home to the Mexican Turtle Center and Punta Cometa, the southernmost point of Oaxaca and the best sunset on the who… 65 km east · 1 h 15 min 1 place San Agustinillo Safe to swimSurf: beginners A single street facing a short bay, between Mazunte and Zipolite. It is the beach of that stretch where you can actually swim calmly, and where the b… 67 km east · 1 h 15 min 1 place

Before you get in the water

  • Almost no beach in Puerto has lifeguards. A red flag is not decoration.
  • Rip currents (the ones pulling out to sea) cause nearly every accident. If one catches you, do not swim against it: swim sideways, parallel to the shore, until you are out.
  • Zicatela, Bacocho and La Punta are not swimming beaches, however inviting the water looks.
  • Ask at your hotel or at the palapa about the day’s conditions: they change with the tide.
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