THE BEST SEASIDE DESTINATION IN MEXICO
THE GREAT BEST DESTINATION IN MEXICO
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE BEST SEASIDE DESTINATION IN MEXICO AND EXPLORE WILL THIS BEACH TOWN BE MEXICO’S NEXT GREAT SEASIDE DESTINATION?
THE GREAT BEST DESTINATION IN MEXICO
When the eagerly awaited Oaxaca coastal highway finally opens in 2018, the exhausting seven-hour trek from Oaxaca City to Puerto Escondido will only take two hours. See a beautiful stretch of Pacific shoreline where big-name surfers are drawn to and sea turtles swim before the floodgate opens. There are no skyscrapers in sight despite the fact that a recent inflow of chefs and artists has given Puerto Rico’s three neighborhoods—the trendy Rinconada, the downtown promenade, and the surfing hotspot Playa Zicatela—sophisticated touches: Alternatively, the finest location to eat tacos and coastal-style mole cooked with fresh swordfish and tuna hauled in by sun-bleached local boats is still at the beach’s palm leaf-roofed palapas.
Thirty minutes north of Puerto’s center, claim one of 16 palapas at Hotel Escondido, an enclave best described as tiki meets Mad Men, with sleek-lined sofas, an underground nightclub, and an infinity pool that overlooks a vast, untamed shoreline. Walk to neighboring Casa Wabi, a minimalist cement-walled gallery and artists’ retreat created by Mexican-born artist Bosco Sodi.
A 500-peso taxi ride gets you to Puerto’s Rinconada district, where several galleries have cropped up and new restaurants offer unprecedented quality. Gota de Tierra exhibits biomorphic porcelain jewelry and geometric tapestries. Spanish expats re-create tapas and seafood paella at La Lolaila, which offers sunset views from the rooftop patio and live music most weekends from November through February. And at Almoraduz, Quetzalcóatl Zurita uses his culinary school training to transform the traditional foods of his indigenous Chatino forebears into haute cuisine: Pork ribs glisten in a musky black-ant sauce, and local tusta chilies electrify fresh-caught shrimp.
To explore Mercado Benito Juárez, the chili-laden market where Zurita (and everyone else in Puerto) stocks up, schedule a tour with Gina Machorro. Her energetic narratives intersperse eye-rolling wisecracks with insights into Puerto’s evolving customs—like the way locals embraced Italian basil not as an herb, but as a bouquet that imparts good luck.
But the ocean is the real soul of Puerto. Walk to the nearby waterfront to watch fishermen fillet swordfish on the beach. Then step inside La Tortuga Loca, where Ceferina Burón turns those hauls into ceviche and cotorra a la talla (chili-marinated grilled fish) using recipes she learned 50 years ago, when she became a fisherman’s wife. To splash in Puerto’s most pristine waters, head to Bacocho, a sandy Rinconada beach that just earned Mexico’s playa limpia (clean beach) certification and showcases papaya-colored sunsets over the Pacific.
READ ALSO : 5 BEST ACTIVITIES TO DO IN WESTERN SIDE