Mexico: Zihuatanejo: A Fishing Village of 80,000, Zihuatanejo Makes a Welcome Retreat from Mexico’s Tantalizing Yet Hectic Resort Towns

A fishing village of 80,000, Zihuatanejo on the Pacific Coast makes a welcome retreat from Mexico’s tantalizing yet hectic resort towns. Average temperatures of eighty degrees ensure perfect weather for enjoying the town’s crystal blue sea and sky. After sunbathing to your heart’s content, stroll along the Paseo Pescador (Fisherman’s Walk) to watch the sun set.

If you’d like to add some activity to your busy lounging schedule, head for Ixtapa, a bustling Cancún-like city just four miles (and a world of difference) from Zihuatanejo. Here you can enjoy lush golf courses and nightlife, then return for fishing and swimming in Zihua, as its citizens call it. Zihuatanejo has bolstered its tourist trade with new hotels and restaurants; some of the most spectacular hotels in Mexico are located here, including Villa del Sol and La Casa Que Canta, the latter built directly into the hillside.

For a more rugged beach experience, stay in a bungalow at Playa las Gatas. This complex encompasses a restaurant, bar, and huts, and if you don’t mind primitive showers and hot plates, you’ll be rewarded with a gorgeous stretch of beach for swimming, snorkeling, or just kicking back. While you’re roughing it, you can check out the seamier side of this Eden, as evidenced by the former vacation home of notoriously corrupt Police Chief Arturo Durazo. From the outside, the empty house stands like a monolith, a marble monument to excess. Fortunately, the only excesses you’ll find in Zihuatanejo now are sun, surf, and sand.