Zihuatanejo / Ixtapa


THIS is more like it... Zihuatanejo retains much of the charm that you would expect from a sea-side fishing village (you know, the kind of environment that attracted Tim Robbins character in "The Shawshank Redemption"!). For the get-away-from-it-all kind of a thing that is, after all, one of the best reasons for taking a vacation, this certainly fits the bill. Slowing down the pace, lounging on the beach or by the pool, FRESH seafood every day... I could get used to this!...

You'll notice not a single high-rise in sight (which suits me!)... But, if this is a little TOO slow for your taste, or you want to inject some nightlife into the equation, there is some relief... Ixtapa is just a cheap cab-ride away, and the environment there is a lot more developed - kind of like Cancun, but smaller, a lot cleaner and a lot less intensely commercial.
.	So if you begin to miss hearing English being spoken, or if you get a craving for something closer to fast food, Ixtapa is close enough to give you a fix. Then, after your civilization injection (and maybe a shirt from Senor Frog's!), you can retreat back to the quieter environs. I don't have as many pictures for posting as I would like, since my camera went on the fritz while we were there. (I would have liked to have taken some picture in the artisan's marketplace and the fish market for example.)
And the marketplace is excellent. While I can't say that you won't find stuff from other parts of Mexico there, a lot of the stuff is produced locally and you will see plenty of the folks in the stalls painting ceramics and that kind of thing. We stayed at the Villas Miramar, a very nice, cozy hotel overlooking the ocean which I wouldn't hesitate to recommend. But lest you get the wrong idea, you can also do the luxury thing and spend upwards of $600 a night for a suite at the La Casa Que Canta (The House that Sings). My advice: shop around, check the message boards (being aware that ANYONE can post a message!), pick something that suits you and get ready to relax, disconnect and enjoy. And don't leave without having some seafood soup!
A couple of links to get you started: http://www.ixtapa-zihuatanejo.com - Official site. http://www.zihuatanejo.net/ - Good message board. http://www.zihua-ixtapa.com - Also has a variety of forums and information on real estate. A sidewalk skirts the rocks so you can walk the beach into town...

A couple of links to get you started: