Top 8 Things to do in Puerto Escondido (Vegan Friendly)

There are a whole host of activities in and around this quiet, lazy Mexican beach town. Puerto Escondido has made a name for itself as a popular surfing town, but this quaint seaside town has much more to offer than just surfing.

Here are my top 8 vegan friendly things to do while in Puerto Escondido.

Dolphin, Turtle and Whale Watching

It may be a 6am start but this isn’t something you’re going to want to miss. I booked a dolphin, turtle and whale watching tour with Roberts Ecotours via Trip Advisor and it turned out to be one of the most incredible experiences of my travels to date. We saw around 2000 dolphins! Both spotted dolphins and spinner dolphins. Josh even managed to capture some footage of them underwater.

On top of the unbelievable amount of dolphins, we also saw a handful of turtles (including two mating!) and some sting rays. Did you know sting rays jump out of the water just like dolphins? Check out the pictures below!

Where to book: you can book on Trip Advisor here, or head on down to Playa Manzanillo where you can book a tour with one of the suppliers on the beach.

Turtle Release and Bioluminescence

You can’t visit Puerto Escondido and not partake in the daily turtle release. The baby turtle release usually happens every evening around sunset - be prepared for your tour, should you book one, to start at around this time.

Once you arrive you’ll be show to a large tented area where the sea turtles have nested and buried their eggs in the sand. Sea turtles are endangered and so every effort is made to ensure as many of the eggs and in turn the hatchlings survive as possible.

The second part of this activity was the bioluminescent lake. We got taken on a boat in Lagoon Manialtepec, which is where the bioluminescent plancton and can seen. The boat ride was around 20 minutes, followed by half an hour in the water and the a further 20 minutes back on the boat.

Overall, I really enjoyed this experience. Note, the second part of this experience (the bioluminescent lake part) may not be suitable for those with autism or sensory issues. As someone who suffers from sensory issues, I found the music that was played on the boat very loud and it set off my anxiety a little.

Where to book: you can book on Airbnb here. Or head into town and find another local tour operator at one of the many outlets spotted about.

The Food

Often when I’m researching things to do wherever we’re off to next, I stumble across a great vegan food tour. I try to go on these within the first couple of days of being in a new area as it allows you to explore the area with a local, ask about the great vegan food in advance of your stay and find out more about your home for the next few weeks!

However, when looking for a vegan food tour in Puerto Escondido, I couldn’t find one! That doesn’t mean you should miss out on the great vegan food available here though. Spare an afternoon and wonder around some of the awesome vegan options available in Puerto Escondido. You can view my top picks for the best vegan restaurants in Puerto Escondido here.

ATV & Turtles Experience

Did you know once the turtle eggs have hatched, the baby turtles need to be released into the sea within 5 hours? This means the turtle hatches need monitoring 24/7. We were lucky enough to go on night watch and experience the work undertaken to protect the turtles here. During this experience you ride on the back of an ATV up and down a quiet part of the Puerto Escondido coast, checking on the turtle eggs and looking for turtles coming from the sea to the beach to lay their eggs! Full blog post about this experience coming soon.

Day Trip To Nearby Beaches

The Oaxacan coast is full of beautiful “instagram worthy” coastline with beaches perfect for everything from surfing to snorkelling and swimming and more. We were lucky enough to experience some of these stunning sights for ourselves on a day trip around some of the Oaxacan coast.

There are several similar tours available on TripAdvisor - we booked with Roberts Ecotours and felt the tour was good value for money from this provider.

Watch The Sunset

No trip to Puerto Escondido would be complete without at least one stop to watch the sunset. There are several places you can go to get a great view of this regular but incredible spectacle however the most popular spot is up on the rocks at La Punta, Zicatela. You get an incredible sunset view from here but it does get quite crowded and busy! Also be prepared to walk back through “improper” pathways in the dark - bring your phone or a torch for your own safety when heading back.

Image from Unsplash (my pictures were not great!).

Snorkelling

There are many great snorkelling spots around Puerto Escondido - where you visit will likely vary depending on the time of year you make your trip. During our visit in May 2021, we visited San Agustin (around a 2 hour drive from Puerto Escondido) to snorkel in the shallow but rocky shores here.

Honestly, we feel there are probably better places to go snorkelling in the area so do your research. The sea here was a little rough and there wasn’t as much wildlife as we were hoping for!

Surfing

I couldn’t write this blog and not include surfing on this list! Puerto Escondido is famous for it’s perfect surf waves - with beaches and bays perfect for beginners and professionals alike. Unfortunately due a horrible ear infection, surfing was the only activity on this list we weren’t able to have a go at ourselves but we highly recommend trying it out if you visit the area. If you’ve never surfed before there are loads of places available to take lessons - expect to pay around $500 pesos per lesson.

The best way to score a cheap lesson is to head down to the beach and have an ask around at some of the local surfing schools or you can pay a little more and book a lesson via Airbnb experiences.

This concludes my list of the top vegan friendly things to do in Puerto Escondido! I hope you found some inspiration and ideas ready for planning your Oaxacan coast trip.