The recently nominated Puerto Escondido World Surfing Reserve was hit by Hurricane Erick last June. Thankfully, damage to the town of Puerto Escondido and the homes and businesses around Zicatela were largely unscathed, except for one important piece of infrastructure. The fishermen’s breakwater at the north of Zicatela Beach, long suspected of capturing sand and making the Mexican Pipeline’s wave quality slowly degrade, was irreparably destroyed in the storm.
The organizations making up the Puerto Escondido WSR held a community meeting with the fishermen in the area to discuss what to do next, and in an incredible display of community cohesion and compromise, decided to work together to remove the breakwater altogether. While Save The Waves and our local partners continue studying the dynamics of erosion and sand movement in Zicatela, the removal of the breakwater is a significant step in protecting the natural flow of sand that is critical to the shape of the waves at Puerto Escondido.
The community organized a “tequio” which is an indigenous tradition that brings together the community in a work for the collective good, and removed many of the stones and boulders that make up the jetty. The WSR team is now working with the local municipality and the port authorities on a full removal process and an alternative plan for the fishermen that would not capture sand at the north end of Zicatela. This is very good news for the ongoing work of the Puerto Escondido WSR and a positive step in the right direction for protecting the surf ecosystem dynamics that make Zicatela the most famous beach break in the world.
Learn more about the Puerto Escondido WSR here.
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