Puerto Escondido (English: "Hidden Port") is a Mexican city-port and tourist center in the municipality of San Pedro Mixtepec Distrito 22 in the state of Oaxaca.

[3] The area around Puerto Escondido had been inhabited by indigenous peoples for centuries, but no towns of any size were established during the pre-Hispanic or colonial eras.

[6] Some weeks before, he and his crew kidnapped a young Mixtec woman from the village of Santa María Huatulco and took her prisoner.

While in the bay, the woman escaped the cabin in which she was being held, and being a good swimmer, jumped overboard to get to shore and hide in the jungle just beyond the beach.

Since then, the pirates referred to the woman as “La Escondida” (the hidden one) and every time the ship returned to these waters, the captain ordered his crew to search the area around the bay, however, they never found her.

[7][8] Back then, Puerto Escondido suffered from a lack of potable water, although the Colotepec River ran nearby.

Some did stay, including Nazario Castellanos and Escolástica Valencia, who were the night watchmen for the nearby coffee plantations and considered to be the town's first residents.

However, eventually the residents petitioned to change jurisdiction to another nearby municipality, San Pedro Mixtepec, which was granted in the 1940s.

[4][7] Other infrastructure added included those to supply the area with potable water, a small airport where the Rinconada is now, mail service and some government offices.

For many years, restaurants were almost exclusively in “palapas” (thatched roof shelters) with fishermen preparing their catches; however, these have mostly given way to modern tourist facilities.

[4] Puerto Escondido is lobbying for a more independent status with the Congress of the state of Oaxaca, against opposition from San Pedro Mixtepec.

[9] In August 2008, residents of Puerto Escondido blocked the highway to the municipal seat of San Pedro Mixtepec to protest the lack of money for infrastructure in the town.

[8] Puerto Escondido is not as well-known or visited as other beach resort areas such as Acapulco or Cancun because there are only domestic flights, discouraging a number of visitors.

[5] Before the opening of the new highway in 2024, bus rides from the Oaxacan capital took seven hours over hairpin turns as the roads descend the Sierra del Sur mountain range.

Most cuisine is based on seafood and local plants, which include eleven species of banana, chocolate and coffee.

[citation needed] The tourist center of Puerto Escondido is not a plaza but Pérez Gazga Avenue, known locally as "El Adoquin" or "La Zona Adoquinada" (the paving stone street).

[14] This is one of the areas to buy Mexican, especially Oaxacan, handcrafts such as loose-fitting blouses, shirts, vests, wraps, tapestries, handbags, bags, jackets, hammocks, carved stone jewelry, silver and seashell items.

The Andador Escénico (Scenic Walkway) is a set of paths, stairs and bridges that begin at the main beach of the town and winds its way over rocky oceanside cliffs, passing below the lighthouse to a lookout the named Sueño Posible (Possible Dream).

[15] Each year, the city celebrates Carnival which begins with the "quema de mal humor" or the burning of bad mood.

Mid to late summer is low season for tourists, but a prime time for waves and international tournaments.

[5] West of Zicatela over the El Moro rocky outcrop is Playa Marinero, which is the best beach for swimming as the surf and rip currents are much less.

This is the primary place to hire boats which take tourists to otherwise inaccessible beaches, to see porpoises and marine turtles or for deep-sea fishing.

From the end of the walkway, and a bit farther west, are the twin beaches of Puerto Angelito and Manzanillo, between which is a small rock outcropping.

[14] West from these beaches is Playa Carrizalillo which has white sand and cobalt blue water edged in light green.

On the east and west sides of the bay are rocky outcroppings that serve as habitat for a wide variety of fish and coral, making it popular for snorkeling.

[5] It has fine, soft sand, palm trees, warm, blue-green water and a moderate surf although the far west part of the beach can have a strong rip current.

The lagoon is full of mangroves and many birds such as pelicans, seagulls, ibis, storks, cranes, jacanas, buzzards, kingfishers, swans and other species.

In the middle of the lagoon is an island named Isla del Gallo, on which according to legend, a rooster can be heard singing every year on December 24.