New Wave of Mexican Migrants to Puerto
THE BACK STORIES ARE ALWAYS COMPLICATED AND BETTER left unshared, but typically people move to Puerto Escondido to make a fresh start. In the past, people left their villages to move to the big cities, especially Mexico City. Now some are leaving urban areas in search of adventure or peace and serenity.
BRENDA MARISOL NÚÑEZ
Brenda, 28, had lived her entire life in San Luis Potosí before arriving in Puerto in July, 2024. She and her now ex-boyfriend got a room in a hostel in exchange for “volunteer” work. She was here less than a week before she got dengue. There is no dengue in San Luis Potosí.
Still, she likes living in Puerto. As of September, she has lived and worked in three hostels. Having always had her own bedroom, she had to accustom herself to living in a dormitory with her little dog. But she appreciates the opportunity to meet people from all over the world and to practice her English. Most people in her home town were born there. It’s hardly an international community.
With her degree in environmental engineering, Brenda wanted to help improve her new home, but she soon discovered that it wasn’t due to a lack of biologists and engineers that most of Puerto’s beaches are contaminated. Meanwhile she found work doing a commercial shot in Oaxaca. The producers had come to Puerto looking for models.
What most strikes her about Puerto is how expensive everything is, especially rents, compared to San Luis Potosí. She also is impressed by how friendly people are, how strangers greet each other on the street and how the workdays aren’t as long as in San Luis Potosí. She has also learned to adapt to the unreliable internet and power outages.
Brenda doesn’t know how long she will be staying in Puerto. She has heard about how crowded and expensive it gets during Christmas week. She is thinking of moving on to San Cristobal de las Casas for new adventures.
ALFREDO HUERTA REYES
Alfredo arrived in Puerto Escondido in July of 2024, and here he intends to stay. He spent his first 30 years in Mexico City, and then lived almost 20 years in San José, Costa Rica. Now at age 50, he has returned to his native land. He spent a few months in Coyoacán, in Mexico City, but he didn’t like the fast pace of city life. He was looking for tranquility and the sea.
First, he tried Mérida, but he couldn’t take the heat. Then he went to Puerto, a place he had visited as a child with his family. (He remembers the long drive from Oaxaca to the coast.) He came once again as a teenager with friends.
Now he is renting a tiny studio apartment in a new building in Rinconada. He was shocked by how high the rents are here. He says they are the same as in the Roma neighborhood of Mexico City. He was also surprised by the cost of food at the two markets, which is higher than in Mexico City. What also caught his attention is that many shops and restaurants are closed on Sundays and that shops don’t stay open at night.
Still, he loves the tranquility of Puerto. (Of course, he only knows the low season.) He also likes the respect shown to motorcycles, although he finds it strange that the drivers and passengers don’t wear helmets.
Alfredo is an environmentalist and professional photographer. You can contact him by WhatsApp at 562 571 2562.
FRANCISCO GODÍNEZ MARTÍNEZ
An old friend—now his girlfriend—from his college days invited Francisco for a visit to Puerto Escondido in April 2024. She had lived here for four years. Before that, Francisco, a 29-year-old graphic designer from Mexico City, had only left the metropolis for vacations in Cancún, Acapulco, and Zihuatanejo.
Francisco returned in May with his belongings and his dog. Since then, the couple has been living in Ficus Campestre, a small new subdivision [fraccionamiento] in Puerto just north of the Universidad del Mar (UMAR) on Highway 131. He loves the quiet of the zone, even if the electricity is rather undependable. And the birds make up for the scorpions and tarantulas.
Francisco found work within a day of moving here. He was walking down Calle del Morro on Zicatela and saw a sign on the Hotel Ines advertising an opening for a receptionist. He worked there until August and then went on to the reception desk of the Tower Bridge Hostel, somewhat closer to his home. Of course, it helps that he also speaks English. Meanwhile he does his design work at night.
What most impresses Francisco about Puerto (besides the tranquility) is how people with such diverse backgrounds live together without problems. He also likes all the small shops, quite a difference from the big shopping malls of Mexico City.
