Playa Zicatela

Playa Zicatela is the long, straight beach that runs south-east from the rocks at the end of Puerto Escondido's main bay, about 3 km of open sand facing the full Pacific. The name is usually explained as "place of large thorns". The beach and the neighbourhood behind it, Brisas de Zicatela, belong to the municipality of Santa María Colotepec rather than San Pedro Mixtepec, which holds the rest of Puerto Escondido. At its southern end the beach curves into La Punta, a gentler point break and a separate little surf neighbourhood.

Zicatela is one of the most famous beach breaks in the world. Surfers began coming in the early 1970s, some of them young Americans drifting through Mexico during the Vietnam War, and by 1974 the hollow, powerful wave had been nicknamed the "Mexican Pipeline". The waves break hard and close to the sand, and on the big swells of the summer months faces can reach around 30 feet. The World Surf League's Big Wave Tour held the Puerto Escondido Challenge here from 2016, and the town's November festival includes an international surf contest on this beach. The wave has also claimed lives, among them experienced surfers.

For non-surfers, Zicatela is a place to watch rather than swim: the shorebreak and currents are strong, and many people have drowned here. The sand is wide and lined with lifeguard towers, and behind it runs a street of cafés, surf shops, board rentals, hostels and bars with a lively atmosphere, and the sunsets over the sea draw a crowd every evening.