Shopping

During high season, businesses and shops are generally open all day. During low season, many close between 2 and 4pm.

The Adoquín holds a row of tourist shops selling straw hats, postcards, and T-shirts, plus a few excellent shops featuring Guatemalan, Oaxacan, and Balinese clothing and art. You can also get a tattoo or rent surfboards and boogie boards. Interspersed among the shops, hotels, restaurants, and bars are pharmacies and mini-markets. The largest of these is Oh! Mar, Av. Pérez Gasga 502. It sells anything you'd need for a day at the beach, plus phone (Ladatel) cards and Cuban cigars.

The first surf shop in Puerto Escondido, Central Surf (tel. 954/582-2285; www.centralsurfshop.com), on Zicatela Beach, Calle del Morro s/n, rents and sells surfboards, offers surf lessons, and sells related gear, including custom-made surf trunks. Board rentals usually go for about $10 to $20 per day, with lessons available for $60 for 2 hours. In front of the Rockaway Resort on Zicatela Beach, there's a 24-hour minisuper (no phone) that sells the necessities: beer, suntan lotion, and basic food.

Also of interest is Bazar Santa Fe, Hotel Santa Fe lobby, Calle del Morro s/n, Zicatela Beach (tel. 954/582-0170), a small shop that sells antiques, vintage Oaxacan embroidered clothing, jewelry, religious artifacts, and gourmet organic coffee. Right next to Central Surf, Bikini Brazil, Playa Zicatela, Calle del Morro s/n (tel. 954/582-2555), you'll find the hottest bikinis under the sun imported from Brazil, land of the tanga (string bikini). The sexy competition lies just south on the beach, Amazonia do Brazil, Playa Zicatela, Calle del Morro s/n (tel. 954/100-1315). Another cool beach shop on Playa Zicatela, Calle del Moro s/n, is Trapoy y Harapos (tel. 954/582-0759), which sells bathing suits, sandals, and surfboards.

To check your email, there are numerous small Internet cafes located along the Adoquin and Zicatela. Internet Acuario (tel. 954/582-0788) is located centrally on Zicatela beach, next to Central Surf, and charges $1 for 30 minutes.