Eduardo Acierno is a 21 year old fashion photographer and wandering soul from México based in New York, documenting his most personal stories and adventures on 35mm in his visual diary.

words and photography by Eduardo Acierno

Puerto Escondido is a hidden paradise in the coast of Oaxaca, whenever someone thinks of Mexico’s coast Cancun or even the Riviera Maya might come to his mind, but this is one of Mexico’s best hidden secrets, and I’m about to tell you why.

I got there for the first time and was instantly greeted by locals as if I was one of them, from my bed I could almost see the sea weeping on the shore. An old pair of pink trunks were my outfit for the whole week, since life in sandals is always better (As locals say in Puerto)

As I walked down to Zicatela beach, I’d casually stop by the ice cream place where the prettiest girl I’ve met works, as I’d walk in she’d say “which flavour do you wanna try?” and I’d say “all of them”, smiling as if I had a secret; she had captivated me.

Days passed and my daily routine wasn’t changing, wake up, walk to the beach, soak in some sun, get some ice cream, have a few beers, repeat. I walk with my new friends across the shore and we reach a lake with flourescent plankton, the silver stars are so fierce their reflections is the only visible source of light for miles “let’s get in the water” they said as they jumped and turned the pitch black water into a mix of silver glowing dust. The water is so warm and the most minimal move of a finger will trigger these neon drenched plankton floating around you, as I floated on my back in the silver sea I stare at the milky way shinning it’s way through the clouds, I start thinking about Puerto as a home.

The rest of my days were full of laughter, endless nights fueled with cheap beer and piña coladas, we’d all drive scooters around town from one place to another, surf in the morning as the sun rises and lay in the sea of emeralds all morning thinking about life and how beautiful nature is.

On my last day there Pao, Camila and May decided to take me on a day “I’d never forget”. I met up with them a little before dawn so we’d catch some great waves, we all hopped into a scooter and drove to Coral Beach, one of the most beautiful places I’ve laid my eyes on.

We were all laying in the sand sharing some mangos and talking about life. You could almost see 10,000 different shades of blue in the water, we floated on a surfboard for what seemed like hours in the endless ocean until we could no longer handle the burning sun on our skin.

We headed back home for a few more beers and took out our long boards to chase what would be one of the best sunsets I’ve ever seen.

We got to the top of that hill and sat in awe looking at the horizon as the peachy sunset turned everything pink and the last bit of light faded in the sea.

These weeks in Puerto Escondido allowed me to meet so many people, from so many places, Australia, New Zealand, Europe, Italy, many many Americans, but in the end, we all had that one thing in common, that love for life and adventure got us all there. Some people find comfort by the sea, some people go there to forget, some other to make new memories, Puerto Escondido has many secrets, and I have yet to discover many of them.

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