Puerto Escondido is a Mexican city-port and tourist center located in the municipality of San Pedro Mixtepec Distrito 22 within the state of Oaxaca. The area was not inhabited as a town until the 1930s, primarily because a lack of potable water prevented any permanent settlement from forming earlier.
Historically, the bay served as an intermittent port for shipping coffee. The name "Puerto Escondido" is derived from a legend concerning a woman who hid in the area to escape her captors. Additionally, the Nahuatl word for this region was Zicatela, which translates to "place of large thorns," a term that currently refers specifically to one of the area's most well-known beaches.