Beaches · 10 min from centro

Playa Bacocho

Bacocho is the long, palm-backed sweep on the town’s western edge, and Puerto’s great misdirection: its most beautiful walking beach is also water you should never be in. The compensation is generous — this is where the sea-turtle conservation center releases hatchlings at dusk, where the beach clubs put pools beside the unswimmable ocean, and where the sunset runs longest and emptiest.

The turtle release

Most evenings around sunset, the conservation center at Bacocho releases that day’s hatchlings — visitors make a small donation (around 200 pesos, which funds the program), receive a coconut-shell cup with a hatchling, and set it on the sand to run its first meters to the sea. Set expectations honestly: it is a crowd, not a private nature moment; releases wait for dusk when most seabirds have left, and the crowd itself helps shoo the stragglers, but nature’s math for hatchlings is brutal regardless — the program’s value is in the numbers released over a season, not any single turtle’s guaranteed survival. Done with clear eyes, it is one of the best hours in Puerto, especially with kids.

Beach clubs and the pool workaround

Because the ocean is off-limits, Bacocho’s beach clubs sell the solution: day passes (some as modest as ~150 pesos at the simpler spots) buying pool access, bathrooms, chairs, and cold beer with the ocean as scenery rather than swimming hole. It is the family-logistics play for a full beach day on this side of town.

The water warning, in plain terms

Bacocho’s surf looks inviting and moderate more often than Zicatela’s — that is exactly its danger. Open-ocean currents run hard along this stretch, there is no protective geography, and lifeguard coverage is thin to absent. Locals wade ankle-deep for photos and go no further. Neither should you.

Baby sea turtles making their way to the surf at the nightly Bacocho release

The turtle release, without the Instagram filter

From a discussion on r/PuertoEscondido

A traveler asked the uncomfortable question — do the birds just eat the hatchlings you release? The thread’s answer was honest on every count: the ~200 pesos is a donation to the conservation center, predation happens but isn’t the norm at the release itself (they wait for dusk when most birds leave, and the crowd helps shoo the rest), expect a LOT of people, and know that nature’s odds for hatchlings are brutal regardless. The overall verdict from those who’d done it: raw, beautiful, and worth doing — one commenter’s named hatchling made it to the water just fine.

Our take: Go in with clear eyes: it's conservation with a crowd, not a private wildlife moment. Sunset timing, a small donation, and a hatchling with your name on it — we think it earns its place on the Bacocho evening.

A Bacocho day, exactly as it runs

From a discussion on r/TripAdvisor · PE forum

A detailed trip report walks the exact day this page recommends: a beach-club pass at the Villasol club bought loungers, pool, and a waiter, with the entry cost redeemable against food and drinks — which the same traveler later noted made it better value than cove-side loungers that charge similar money with nothing redeemable. At 4:30 they strolled to the release hut to queue for the 5pm turtle release, and praised the operation for the thing that matters: firm instructions not to handle the hatchlings and to keep the selfies in check, with the donation going to the conservation program. Their two hatchlings both made it to the water — one after a rescue from a deep footprint.

Our take: The redeemable-entry beach clubs are the honest math on this beach: you're pre-paying your bar tab for a pool and shade beside water you shouldn't swim in. Pair with the 5pm release and Bacocho becomes a full, easy day.

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Questions people actually ask

What time is the turtle release at Bacocho?

Around sunset most evenings — arrive 30–45 minutes before dusk and look for the conservation center’s setup on the sand. A small donation (~200 MXN) participates you.

Can you swim at Playa Bacocho?

No. Strong open-ocean currents make it genuinely dangerous. Use the beach clubs’ pools, and swim at Carrizalillo or Puerto Angelito.