I had come to the coast of Oaxaca, Mexico because I was drawn to explore (or at least look at) those world-famous waves. Little did I know that the first week there would be zero waves, and overnight they grew to a swell of 2.5 closing-out waves. So safe to say that I was getting quite desperate for nice waves these days. At the same moment, various locals had been mentioning this famous right-hander wave in a natural reserve about 70km west of Puerto Escondido: Chacahua. When searching online, it was a little hard for me to find info on how to get from Puerto Escondido to Chacahua by bus and where to surf and where to stay, so therefore I decided I will share this info with you.
Something quite important to mention if you´re a remote worker: internet connection is basically non-existent. There are some ´comedores´ (small restaurants) with some sort of wifi, but don´t plan on using that for anything more than sending a WhatsApp to your mum. I had heard this beforehand as well, and had therefore planned my trip around some important calls and majorly during the weekend. Also, in the end, I knew I was going to want to surf all day anyway, so this was a good call.
Quick, on-the-side recommendation: if you buy a SIM-card and you go to Oaxaca area, buy TelCel. This company has the best coverage, unlike mine: AT&T. It will cost you about 200 pesos with already a 3GB recharge.
What and where
The Lagunas de Chacahua Parque Nacional (Chacahua Lagoons National Park) lies on the southern coast of Mexico. It exists of 14,175 hectares (35,000 acres) national park made up out of a bunch of different ecosystems, such as savannas, coastal dunes, and mangroves. Local fauna includes white egrets, iguanas, crocodiles, shrimp, and freshwater crabs. And honestly, the sea is a color I´d never expected to see at the Pacific.
As the locals say: welcome to paradise.
How to get there
How to get from Puerto Escondido to Chacahua by bus and surf to your heart´s wish? The first one starts in Puerto Escondido, your first mode of transport is to take a bus with Tur. This bus company has small minibusses and is located next to the main bus terminal of ADO. They do allow you to take your surfboard (as long as it´s not a longboard of course). You tell them you want to get off at Zapotalito, which will take a bit over 1 hour and cost you 55 pesos. They will drop you by the side of the road, at the entrance to Zapotalito.
The lancha
From there you will take a taxi colectivo for 20 pesos each, which will take you to the ´lanchas´ (boats). Halfway through they will ask you if you want to take the fast lancha, which means you will be longer on the water, and less on the road. Taking you directly to the main square. It was a little unclear to me how much they charge, and I decided to just go with the ´local transportation. This means you will take a 10-minute boat ride through some mangroves, with local people (and about all their merchandise). They charge 50 pesos (40 for Mexican nationals), and from there, another little transportation mode will be waiting for you to do the last 40 minutes, which is another 50 pesos.
You can tell the driver where you want to be dropped. This is quite a bumpy ride though, don´t expect it to be comfortable!
So in total, we paid 175 pesos each and it took us about 3 hours from door to door (or beach, better said).
Where to stay
There are a bunch of different AirBnB´s and little pousadas. Because internet connection is scarce, most people book something ahead. We had two recommendations from other friends and decided to just show up and see what would be available. The three of us ended up staying with Hector (go to the ´main square´ or the beach and ask for El General, or Hector). We had a little cabaña with two double beds and in theory our own bathroom (though for most of the time, there was no water), and ended up paying 300 pesos in total (yes, this is indeed 4 euros per person, per night!). Hector himself is the most lovely man, inviting us coconuts, coffee and whatever all! He´s got a bunch of interesting surf stories from ´back in the days´ to share as well. He only speaks Spanish though (as most people).
Where to eat?
There are lots of little comedores around, most of them even offering some kind of wifi (to send WhatsApp and the occasional email on your phone, do not expect to be having Zoom conferences here). I still cannot get enough of enchiladas and tacos, so I didn´t really look much further. But for those wanting something else, along the beach, there are various bars that offer (vegetarian) hamburgers and cocktails (all of them based on Mezcal, of course!)
What to do?
Surf
This is basically all I did, and all I asked for. Chacacua has a beautiful long right-hander wave. It´s true that it needs a bit of a swell to really work for a short board as well. In the ´slower´ months of January-March, the waves are smaller and it´s not always that crowded.
I have been told that in the month of April-August, when the area around Puerto Escondido is on fire and might be too big for most surfers, it gets quite crowded in Chacahua as the next best option. Totally key is to respect the locals though: they will let you know that they deserve to be respected as well. In general, there is not too much localism going on, but don´t mess with them is what I´m saying.
Short or long?
The first couple of days I surfed with a shortboard, the last days I switched to a longboard. Mostly because I just could not beat the local kids and other super fast pros that would always kick my ass paddling off the peak. So I preferred to be a bit off the peak, paddle my longboard and still enjoy those 1-minute waves.
There are two main places to surf: the key spot in front of the beach, and what they call ´el otro lado´ (the other side). For the last one, you will have to take the little boat across the river mouth and go for the many peaks there.
There are different places to rent surfboards (both short and long) typically for around 300 pesos a day. There are also some to offer classes of two hours, in case you do not feel totally confident just yet going out there on your own.
The lagoons
There are also various tours to bioluminescence in the lagoon. I personally did not do one of these tours, but typically they are best around the new moon (because it is darker), and they will pick you up anywhere between 11 pm or 4 am, again, to make the most out of the darkness. I´ve heard it´s an absolutely amazing sight.
You can also visit the lagoon on a tour during the day, do bird watching and look for crocodiles. Crocodiles? Yes, crocodiles. We asked around a bit, and they are not really dangerous to humans, though the ´occasional dogs has been known to have disappeared behind those big jaws´, as some of the local boys told us.
We went to watch the sunset at the lighthouse, which involved taking the little boat (15 pesos each) across the river mouth and hike up a little mountain until getting to the lighthouse (el faro). The whole thing probably takes around 30-40 minutes (little boat included), so it´s totally doable, even after a long surf session.
I hope this information on how to get from Puerto Escondido to Chacahua by bus and where to surf was helpful to you. Please make sure to visit this fantastic paradise to seclude yourself for some days/weeks/months, or just go and never return.
Also, did you already read this post about surfing in yet another paradise: Itacare, Brazil?
