Puerto Escondido is the jewel of the Pacific coast of Mexico. Come visit us! Surf, relax, swim, visit the market, see turtles laying eggs, learn about local culture, food, dance, indigenous communities.
Gina Machorro, better known as “the Information Goddess,” will introduce you to the riches of Puerto Escondido. Every town should have a Gina, but she’s one of a kind. With years of tourism experience, she has her hand firmly on the town’s pulse and knows and is known by everyone in town. She speaks several languages and will chat with visitors for hours to help them figure how to spend their time, locate a laundromat or plan a wedding. She conducts city, agricultural, archaeological and Day of the Dead walking tours, visiting local indigenous families, the mercado, herbalists, and restaurants serving traditional cuisine.
Contact Gina at ginainpuerto@yahoo.com, (954) 582-0276, from the U.S. or Canada 011 52 954 582 0276.
Check out Gina on TripAdvisor – Gina is rated one of the top 15 Things To Do in Puerto Escondido!!
John Noble, Author, Lonely Planet Mexico says:
I’ve been writing guidebooks for Lonely Planet for over 25 years, covering over 20 countries, and have been helped by many hundreds of tourism information officers in that time. I’ve been visiting Puerto Escondido regularly since even before Gina moved there. I can honestly say that I have never anywhere come across any tourism officer who rivals Gina’s combination of helpfulness, knowledge, enthusiasm, language abilities and love of the area she works in. Go to her with any question you have.
P.S. I don’t make this kind of comment without meaning it!
Read more of what visitors to Puerto Escondido are saying about Gina.
ginainpuertoescondido 
Richard Paris
/ December 20, 2011I have had the privilege and pleasure of knowing Gina for many years – since the turn of the century!- and want to emphasise that she is not only an endless source of useful information and advice about Puerto, but, that in addition to her own apartment, she is the best person to arrange your accommodation no matter what it is you are looking for – from budget cabanas and rooms to furnished houses with sea views. Those of us who know this to be true keep returning to Puerto Escondido year after year. Sometimes we try other Latin American destinations but nobody else has a Gina and there is nowhere quite like Puerto – so accessible, so affordable, so beautiful and the focal point of a region that is a joy to explore by public transport and on foot.
Richard Paris
Travel Writer (UK and South African media)
former Editor of Business in Africa magazine, Johannesburg Star and Sunday Star and contributor to the Fodor Modern Guides and Schweppes Leisure Library
Dale Kremer
/ December 28, 2011Gina is a true treasure. In addition to endless great information, she is a fantastic person to know. Kremer
Charles Cottle
/ December 30, 2011I first met Gina in 2005 when I was a faculty member on a student trip to Oaxaca. Since then I have led several groups to Oaxaca and I always return to Puerto Escondido whenever possible because of Gina’s help arranging tours, her knowledgeable advice for tourism, and her cheerful disposition. I especially recommend her walking tour of Puerto. Her English is flawless and the tour is informative, revealing much about the city and area that one would never learn on their own in a short time.
Puerto Escondido is a beautiful place to visit. If you go, Gina Machorro is the person to see if you want to make the most of your time there.
Charles Cottle, Professor Emeritus
University of Wisconsin-Whitewater
sherry hill swimme
/ January 8, 2012Gina is the ultimate treasure of Puerto Escondido. We have had the honor of knowing her for a quarter of a century. She guided us through many adventures in Puerto. She has the knowledge to find anyplace, anything and anyone. Her skill with people of all ages, languages, and social classes is amazing. The shortest contact will make you feel at home. Puerto Escondido is really a paradise in Mexico. Small enough to be unspoiled and big enough to find lodging , food ,fishing, and fun. If it is the local culture you want.. Gina knows that, want to know the history? Gina knows that too. What better way to spend a vacation day , than to spend it on Gina’s tour. Fun, informative, photo ready, safe and memories that will last. Puerto Escondido indeed has an Information Goddess, and they are very lucky. I am impressed at how many people around the world call her friend.
Sherry Hill Swimme
John Noble
/ February 17, 2012I’ve been writing guidebooks for Lonely Planet for over 25 years, covering over 20 countries, and have been helped by many hundreds of tourism information officers in that time. I’ve been visiting Puerto Escondido regularly since even before Gina moved there. I can honestly say that I have never anywhere come across any tourism officer who rivals Gina’s combination of helpfulness, knowledge, enthusiasm, language abilities and love of the area she works in. Go to her with any question you have.
P.S. I don’t make this kind of comment without meaning it!
John Noble, Author, Lonely Planet Mexico
bruno
/ February 24, 2012hi gina, you have given me already numrerous tips and information. could you add upcoming events on your blog. congratulations and lots of thanks.
Sharie Hamer
/ March 4, 2012We have been coming to Puerto every winter since 2000 and always look forward to our time with Gina. She never disappoints us with her great knowledge, helpfulness and wonderful sense of humor. This year she took a group of us to meet architect and author Felix Carrillo Robles and hear about the history and legacy of the Mixtec people in the area. He had a fascinating story to tell of his people. After that, we visited Tututepec, the capital of the Mixtec kingdom and had a guided tour of their new museum to see the numerous Mixtec artifacts found in the region. What an enlightening experience! It was a terrific day and we can’t wait to see what Gina comes up with next. She is a real gem. Thanks for everthing, Gina!
Shirley S. Greenhoe
/ November 20, 2012Turtle Mommas; We went on a tour with Gina (Information goddess) to watch hundreds of female Golfina or Olive Ridley turtles emerge from the sea, crawl laboriously up the beach, dig a deep nest in the sand then lay her eggs, dozens of them. It was a National Geographic experience!
Gina is adored by the tourists who visit Puerto Escondido and ignored by the government that should be paying her for the tireless work she does to promote this city and the country of Mexico.
Gina knows her city and knows it well! Anything you might be interested in, Gina knows who to go to, where to find it.and now to get there!
Mike
/ February 7, 2013Now that we have finally met her she is all that everybody has been saying and more. She is a legend, personable, intelligent, awesome and dedicated. P.E. is indebted to her.
Denise
/ February 24, 2013We thoroughly enjoyed our walking tour of Puerto with Gina yesterday. We felt that she really helped to connect us with the soul of Puerto, not an easy task with us Gringo tourists. We found all kinds of new food experiences at the Mercado, which we’d been visiting all week withouy knowing what we were missing. Don yourself a favour and do a tour with Gina.
Simona
/ December 22, 2013Se volete che la vostra vacanza diventi una esperienza indimenticabile affidatevi a Gina e non verrete delusi!
Potrete nuotare nella laguna di notte avvolti da un plancton fluorescente, vedere le tartarughe deporre le uova sulla spiaggia, richiamare gli uccelli selvatici ed andare alla ricerca di delfini, un vero paradiso naturale!
Sono arrivata a Puerto Escondido a fina Novembre e ho passato qui una settimana da sola, ma ho incontrato anche famiglie, giovani, meno giovani. Non e’ una meta presa d’assalto dai turisti, Puerto si puo’ ancora considerare genuino.
Gina ha reso la mia vacanza un sogno ad occhi aperti con escursioni a prezzi economici, sicure, professionali. Il tutto seguando i parametri di un doveroso ecoturismo, interagendo in armonia le comunita’ locali. I rapporti umani con le persone del posto mi hanno emozionata, sono persone deliziose. La cucina locale e’ divina, pesce fresco cucinato in modo semplice, piatti tradizionali ancora fatti a mano, serviti con un sorriso.
Gina si prendera’ cura di voi come se fosse la sua vacanza, se non meglio.
Un forte abbraccio Gina, ripartirei domani!!
Caroline Hoyer
/ July 16, 2014Gina sure is the ‘information Goddess’ of Puerto Escondido. Gina recently helped me plan my legal marriage in Puerto, while I was in Australia. From paperwork to doctors appointments to photography, make-up and flowers I didn’t need to worry about a thing as it was all in order by the time we arrived a couple of days before the wedding. Not only is Gina full of information she is also caring and really looks after you. We had an absolute ball on our wedding day and it all ran smoothly thanks to Gina. We really can’t thank Gina enough for all she did for us. I would recommend Gina to anyone going to Puerto.
Caroline x
Gyula
/ February 11, 2015We went to Puerto Escondido from Hungary and spent there a month, but our relationship with Gina started before that, because we wanted to get married in Escondido and later have the Marriage Certificate recognized in Hungary.
Therefore she managed not just the usual things (for us some of these were not usual at all; for example the blood test :-)) like the wedding photographer, florist or the place of the wedding (of course it was on a beautiful beach :-)) and many other smaller things, but she also helped us to procure the Mexican Apostille Stamp for our Marriage Certificate (to be able to use it in Hungary) which was not an easy task (even for her, who has a lot of friends everywhere :-)).
She also helped us to find and organize interesting tours. We can really recommend the Baby Turtle Releasing, the Phosphoresence Tour of Manialtepec Lagoon and the Fishing Tour (we tried and loved these).
She is not just an Information Goddess, but a very kind, funny and reliable person.
So, if you are in Puerto Escondido (or even before that) and you have question or need help than you can turn to her in confidence.
Thanks Gina for everything, you helped us a lot to make our Holiday for a relaxing and eventful stay in Puerto Escondido! 🙂
Gyula and Kata
Pat Cervelli
/ November 21, 2015Hi Gina,
we are planning to visit Pto. Escondido for the 6th time (!) next fall and want to avoid the dates when the surfing crowd in November. Can you please let me know or send me your email address? also, when is the end of the rainy season?
Thanks,
Bruno and Pat
M Himmel
/ March 23, 2017Our party thoroughly enjoyed the tour to the turtle sanctuary under Gina’s guidance in March 2017! As others have commented, she is very knowledgeable with tidbits of local information and clearly loves what she does, involves everyone in her group with a personal touch. My granddaughter felt so special to carry the container of baby turtles to the beach for release. Great experience we will all take home with us!
turbinando o desempenho
/ April 4, 2017Excelente artigo parabéns
sallymknz
/ April 16, 2017Gina truly is the information goddess of puerto escondido! She arranged an unforgettable trip to a baby sea turtle hatchery and generously provided so much information about PE along the way. She even sourced some fresh caught fish for our group! She is a wealth of knowledge and is extremely kind and thoughtful. Our trip was better because we had Gina’s help!
Gracias
Maddie AlQatami
/ September 3, 2021After meeting Gina on the Adoquin, she helped us organize three fantastics tours with English-speaking guides, including one guided by herself. Her wealth of knowledge about regional history, culture, religion, local events, food, flora and fauna, and lots of humor made our walking tour both educational and highly entertaining! She also introduced us to traditional methods of food preparation that topped our list of favorite meals of the trip.
If you come to Puerto Escondido your first stop should absolutely be Gina’s information booth. It will be ours the next time we return!