Meeting Dolphins and Turtles - Puerto Escondido
Exploring the pacific coast of Mexico
After another 12 hours on the bus we reached Puerto Escondido, a place at the pacific coast which belongs to the state of Oaxaca. Puerto Escondido is famous for its beaches and surfing spots, as the water is very wavy, several surfing cups are regularly taking place there. After we jumped off from our exceedingly generous air-condicioned bus we directly recognized one thing: it is REALLY warm there!
As our hostel a few kilometers away from the coast, on the next day we explored the city center while walking to the beach. To be honest, we did not really like the city itself as it is very touristic and does not have any beautiful buildings or parks. But of course, the beaches are amazing and there are great possibilities to see animals in their natural habitat. So we spent the next days watching the fauna at the pacific coast and trying not to get caught by the waves while swimming in the incredibly warm water.
In Puerto Escondido you can see the phenomenon of bioluminescent plankton. We did not want to miss this great possibility and went on a boat in the evening at New Moon, when the bioluminescence light is at its strongest. While swimming in the water and moving the hands you can see the light as the plankton gets activated by movements of the water.
On our last days in Puerto Escondido we got the chance to see dolphins swimming in the pacific ocean which was a really overwhelming experience. We went on a boat very early in the morning just after sunrise and went to a place where a lot of dolphins live. After enjoying the view and taking some photos we jumped into the water for a short moment and watched the animals from beyond the surface of the water. We were a bit hesitating if we should do that as we did not want to disturb them but they came closer as they saw us and swam in loopings so we assumed they did not mind us.
There are also a lot of turtles living at the pacific coast. What we did not knew is that the grand majority of baby turtles does not survive the way from the place they were born into the ocean. In Puerto Escondido there is an organization which takes care of the baby turtles for some days after they were born and then releases them in a safe area of a beach close to the water. It was great to see the baby turtles (which are smaller than we could have imagined) crawling to the shore and doing their first tries of swimming.
Even though we were a bit sad to leave Puerto Escondido we were looking forward to take the night bus to get to the inner part of Mexico again as we are not used to the heat with its constantly over 80% humidity. So keep on for our next post from Chiapas where we explore the huge Cañón del Sumidero!
