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Puerto Escondido, a small town in the Mexican state of Oaxaca, is renowned for its surfing and beautiful scenery. As it has grown as a tourist center, it has also begun to attract many digital nomads.
But how is the wifi in this idyllic town? We checked online message boards for digital nomads, to find out what was the scoop on the internet speeds in Puerto Escondido, which are organized for you down below.
Tricky internet: “Internet is tricky in Puerto Escondido. I’ve mostly been able to work on two trips there but on both trips the internet has been down for an entire day in the whole town, lol. It’s honestly the reason why I live in Mexico City. Planning on making my way to Mérida sometime in the future, partly because it’s close to the beach and because the internet is up to par with big city standards. I was there for a week recently working with no issues, planning on being there in July for two weeks. I’ve been to Sayulita and didn’t have trouble with the internet, but I was just there for a week without working that much and no Zoom calls, so can’t really say.”
Didn’t go because they heard about bad internet: “I didn’t go to Puerto Escondido because I read about people struggling to get good internet and I don’t know about Sayulita.”
Bad internet: “Puerto Escondido or San Juan del Sur would also somehow match what you’re looking for and don’t have too much of a touristy vibe despite the presence of yoga retreats (which are usually a good sign that a place has a lot of tourists because let’s face it, locals can’t afford them) there, except for the fact that they have poor Internet (I was in PE in 2020, in SJR in 2015 – so the latter could be better now).”
Unreliable: “Puerto Escondido is miserably hot & the WiFi is unreliable.”
No problems with the internet: “Haven’t been to Oaxaca city (which is considered to be one of the most beautiful cities in Mexico), but I don’t think Escondido is commercialised yet. I think in 5-10 years it might be. So, it’s under development, and I didn’t have any problems with the internet!”
Good wifi: “I’ve really enjoyed my time in Puerto Escondido. Great beaches, amazing food, lots to do, super chill. Good wifi for work – I think it’s exactly what you’re looking for.”
Horrible wifi: “Spent time in Puerto Escondido and the wifi is horrible, from my experience. We were lucky to get cell service – my boyfriend was planning on working, (I was still in a staff job, this was in January, so I was on ‘vacation time’) he was freaking out that he couldnt even upload a photo to social for his clients, it would take about 20 minutes for a small picture.”
Less reliable than Oaxaca City: “From what I gathered the internet in Mexico City is amazing, Oaxaca
Less than reliable: City is good but Puerto Escondido area is a bit less reliable. But I’ve read only if you stay close to the beach so I plan to take my vacation time then for 3 weeks just in case. Following because I’d like to read others views who have been there first hand.”
Random blackouts: “Good luck, it wasn’t the best in November and that doesn’t take into account that there are random blackouts.”
Fine in airbnb, but with random blackouts: “Internet was OK in common areas where I stay in my airbnb but not soo much in the room. Also be ready for random black out.”
Good wifi but subject to blackouts: “I was there for two months earlier this year and just from my experience, several places will have good to great wifi in place but as another poster stated, subject to completely random blackouts. My understanding is that the wifi is in place, in some areas better than others, but the overall infrastructure is weak and/or this is a service provider vs government fight. Either way, it’s not 100% reliable in terms of consistency but if you have a job where you can be flexible, it is doable. For context, I work as an engineer and require stable internet along with a few calls during the week. My strategy was to start early in the day so if any blackouts occurred it was off to the beach and continue work if it was back on and my job has the flexibility for last minute rescheduling.”
Get a telcel SIM: “It’s not great, cuts out a bit etc, BUT there’s a way around this that works pretty darn well. Get yourself an unlocked phone, get a Telcel SIM card, and then you’re golden – they have an option where you can pay 15 pesos ($0.75) for 2 hours unlimited high speed data. I did this. Tether from your phone and boom, you’re connecred. It adds up, but honestly, that’s pretty affordable. I made and received calls just fine, videocalls I did from my phone, no issues. I connect through a very slow company vpn, but didn’t have much to do with the internet speed as opposed to ping (distance).”
Very spotty, but recommended Losodeli co-working: “What you researched is indeed true, internet there is very spotty and even your mobile tower data can suddenly lose the connection for unknown reasons. However, I do have one strong recommendation: There is one place called Losodeli (which also has a co-working inside), they receive lots of digital nomads and their cafe/restaurant is delicious. I have been there and did some speed tests, up to 230MB (down) and around 60MB (upload), the owners told me that they have the fastest and best internet in town (even better than selina, since selina is not exactly on the city center), additionally they are neighbors from the place where you have the city ISP tower therefore this is the best choice: if they lose the connection, then the whole city will be also offline. Good luck!!”
Constantly dropping: “Was just there 2 weeks ago at a hotel with the highest Wifi rating and man it was dropping out like every 10 minutes. Then it would randomly go out for 30 mins to an hour in the morning.”
Less than ideal: “I spent sometime in PE this year and the wifi was less than ideal. Even at some restaurants or cafes that have wifi it was not always reliable. Depending on your choice of accomodation you may have more luck.”
Not great but usable: “I am currently in PE and I the wifi isn’t great but it’s usable. I’m staying in an AirBnb. When I asked for a speedtest, I couldn’t see the actual results because the AirBnb website doesn’t allow pictures or exchange of emails/phone numbers. My host said the internet is solid and never cuts out. He said that he uses it to teach online language classes, which is what I do. Unfortunately, I’m here now and finding that while it is fast enough to teach, it does cut out for minutes at a time every hour or so. This is causing some headaches and stress for me. I’m going to look into Telcel’s mobile data options for when the internet cuts out.”
Mostly reliable: “The internet was mostly reliable here, although it did cut out for a few hours one of the days that I was there.”
Had no issues: “Can’t comment on internet as I had no issues, but I rarely do in my line of work (software dev contracting).”
A town that’s better just for surfing: “I want to say that PE is much better for surfing but Sayulita is better for WiFi. Ultimately it comes down to which is more important for you.”
Final thoughts:
Puerto Escondido is a beautiful beach town that attracts many digital nomads, but beware the wifi as it seems from first-hand accounts that it is unreliable, at best. Your best bet is to to check out the various co-working spaces around the town.
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