anybody can give me some pointers on the area there?
places to stay etc.Ken Bondy - 2-3-2008 at 12:13 PM
mike
Zihuatanejo is absolutely delightful. A beautiful authentic Mexican town on a magnificent bay. Ixtapa is new, reminded me a lot of Cancun. There
are many hotels on the bay, they all looked nice to me. We stayed at the Villa del Sol and loved it. Right on the beach, great service, great food,
great everything. Pricey but excellent value. Zihuatanejo is hands down my favorite place on the mainland.
++Ken++Ken Bondy - 2-3-2008 at 12:24 PM
mike both of these were taken from our room at the Villa del Sol in Zihuatanejo:
Ken Bondy - 2-3-2008 at 12:27 PM
mike I just noticed that Villa del Sol is now called The Tides Zihuatanejo. ++Ken++DanO - 2-3-2008 at 02:03 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by soulpatch
Not Los Delphines, that's for sure.
I'd head to Troncones for a much more laid back and cleaner water experience. http://zihua.net/ lot's of Zihua lovers here.
http://www.zihuatanejo.net/ This guy's site has more cheerleaders and I don't think it is as good or factual as the other site.
Ditto on Troncones -- we first went there about ten years ago, and it's been built up some since, but I believe it's still preferable to Zihua (forget
about Ixtapa -- all high rise hotels and wet t-shirt contests, which I guess is ok if you're into that sort of thing). Check out this place, right on
Troncones Bay, a few hundred yards from the point where there may be an excellent left (if you're into that sort of thing) and where the in-house chef
definitely rocks (again, if you're into that sort of thing): http://edenmex.com/
In the town of Troncones Beach there was a "deli" (the only place that had a refrigerated food case at the time) where they had a pig roast once a
week. I also had my first fresh Coco Loco there -- owner's son shinnies up a palm treee, knocks off two fresh coconuts with a machete (nearly killing
a guy walking beneath) runs them to the table, lops off the tops, and adds a couple of shots of Bacardi 151. Wow.
For lunch off the beaten path, there's a little palapa restaurant in a village a little less than a mile walk north of Eden, right on the water. Last
time I was there, we spent a lazy afternoon eating oysters, drinking beer, and watching little kids chase pigs and cats around. Good times.
We stayed at....
BMG - 2-3-2008 at 03:18 PM
La Quinta de Don Andres. Nice clean room with a separate bedroom and small kitchenette. It was about $60 night.
Our favorite restaurant was Rufo's, right bown the hill from Andres.
Enjoy your visit. We love it there.capt. mike - 2-3-2008 at 03:33 PM
thx All, can't wait. may be getting to use it as a mid point stop soon.
ken - is that
capt. mike - 2-3-2008 at 03:40 PM
a private negative edge jacuzzi??
very nice...tripledigitken - 2-3-2008 at 05:06 PM
Mike,
We have stayed at the Las Brisas in Ixtapa. It is on a hillside all by itself with its own private beach. We did spend alot of time over Zijah,
beautiful location. Do try to' get out fishing, a very good sailfish location.
I don't golf but if you do there are some nice courses, with alligators in the water hazards! Gives that term new meaning.
Along with Manzanillo it is our favorite Pacific Coast location in Mexico.
Have a good time.
KenKen Bondy - 2-3-2008 at 06:20 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by capt. mike
a private negative edge jacuzzi??
very nice...
Precisely mike! We had a PRIVATE infinity jacuzzi. VERY nice feature
++Ken++vandenberg - 2-4-2008 at 08:43 AM
wow, this is all so good. my dates are in the future and not confirmed, part of an adventure in the planning stage now. but exciting stuff here.
we want to go further on the golden coast than our current record of PV in south lattitude but as the ruta to Quintana Roo and then Honduras
hopefully.
last time to yucatan we did the texas gulf route. so been there did that.
i want jungle!Cypress - 2-4-2008 at 03:56 PM
Very neat pictures. I could actually afford to eat over in that area!
Troncones
yates - 4-10-2008 at 01:36 PM
I definitely recommend heading up the coast to Troncones.
My family (me, my husband, two teenagers) had more fun in Troncones than in Zihua. But, we do prefer to hang out on the beach ...
have a great trip!
Restaurante PULPO In Santiago Ixtapa
davidre - 6-14-2008 at 09:47 PM
Very Tardy, but for reference, on Mex 200 on the -west- side is a tiny roadside restaurant called "El Pulpo". Only open from about ten AM to 4PM, but
they serve authentic comida casera and it is inexpensive. Even the tortillas are handmade. In downtown IXTAPA across the street from the US consulate
is a wonderful place to breakfast. It is sort of hard to see from the street---much easier to enter the parking lot and head north a few hundred feet.
It does however front the sidewalk very near the parking lot.
You gotta make the trip to Barra de Potosi
rogerj1 - 6-15-2008 at 12:30 AM
It's right by the airport. Quaint little fishing village. Have lunch at one of the open air restaurants like Condesa. The hammocks are right next to
the tables, so you can flop right into one. There's a fresh water lagoon behind the barra with mucho wildlife. The best place to stay there is Las
Palmas. It's owned by a Phoenix Doctor and his wife, Scott Crawford. They're very interesting people. Don't fall in love with the land down there,
lot's of messy ejido property and squatters. U2U me for more sordid details.Iflyfish - 6-15-2008 at 09:13 AM
Looks like a great trip Mike!
We have enjoyed Barre de Navidad/ Melaque for many years.
Iflyfishejs - 2-11-2010 at 06:45 PM
All advice is correct, drive into Zhi for the day, big city, lots going on, but stay either north in Troncones (about 30 minutes and you drive past
the supermarkets) or south, the last suggestion was a great one. No worries about pollution, beautiful, can not go wrong.
You will not want to stay in Ixtapa with the high rise hotels and made for tourist shops and bars.
More Zihua
CasaManzana - 2-11-2010 at 09:15 PM
All the above advice is good, however I think Troncones and Barra de Potosi is good for a day trip but to quiet to book many days there.
If you like Miami you will love Ixtapa.
The long beach you see on the right side is called La Ropa. The best place to stay to keep out of the late bar music and street noise. The Tides,
the Irma and a dozen of great places to stay are on this beach. So is Paty's sandfloor restaurant- home of Zihua's best grilled tuna steak and best
shrimp c-cktail
Besides our Baja casa we bought a condo on La Ropa beach with a great view as you can see. We rent it out when on the Baja- U2U me if interested.
In the mornings you can buy fish right out of the boats when they come in...........
Or in the huge Mercado Publico downtown-
The 5.5 peso bus is the best way to get around to anywhere, and especially to the 50-60 great restaurants there.....
Zihua is clean, slow-pased, the natives are friendly, the ZIH airport is first class and close and we have 4 good hospitals there...hard to beat!
Bajahowodd - 2-12-2010 at 02:46 PM
A narrow-mouthed crescent bay is always going to be challenged by the detritus of population. Same has been true, on a much larger scale with Acapulco
Bay.
However, that said, it does sadden me just a tad to see what Zihua is today versus the first time I went there in 1982.
'See What Anejo' was great for us..back in the day.
Pompano - 2-12-2010 at 03:02 PM
From 2006 Nomads ...more info for you, Mike.
The squarecircle quote:
"Greetings Pomp; >>>>> Spent some days on the beach of small village called Papanoa south of Zihuatanejo Christmas of 1956.. The ocean
floor there was paved with giant abalone.. Dive site about half mile off shore with a few of the many sharks there longer than I am tall and very
curious.. Had to swim out.."
Pompano quote:
"I loved that place too. Went there the first time in 1963. Three of us from Acapulco in an open-air Jeep on a rugged old-time trail, mostly dried-up
riverbed. We were guided and scuba-instructed by Alfonso Arnold, a champion Mexican diver of his day we had met and hired in Acapulco.
We were shot at by 'Acapulco Gold' pot-growers in the mountains, had great times on a place called Frenchman's Island, swam and dove the bay with
giant manta rays and clouds of fish. First time towed by a sea-turtle, were guests of a crazy Englishman doing an archeaological 'dig', and had a
thoroughly great hoot of a trip.
Alfonso took us out a little ways to an underwater mountain he knew about and down we went. He got down quicker and by the time I got to the bottom he
had ahold of a large saw-tooth shark and was being towed away...I wish I had had a great underwater camera with me that day. I would have some photos
like Ken brought back from Kilme Bay.
Fun times...but like most places on the mainland, best left to memories. We flew back much later when there were high-rise hotels, etc. I am glad you
and I were there when it was real. Most people will never know what it was really like...something like Baja, I fear."
Glad that the place is still a fun place to be...muy ocupado for me.ejs - 2-12-2010 at 03:09 PM
Boy, those photos were great. They give you an overview and frame the debate as to what you are looking for. That overview of the bay was very
helpful.
I also surf so I am biased, and I like it a little quiet and away from people. Troncones is more developed these days so it isn't totally isolated,
and I assume is safe.
Anyway, I guess it depends on what you are looking for. All is good. I need to book a flight for a long weekend.oxxo - 2-12-2010 at 04:26 PM
We went to Zihua in November about 4 years ago. Visited Ixtapa for a couple of hours and got out, boring place. We are glad we went to that area but
unlikey to return. What we didn't like about the area was November temps felt like July temps in Baja Sur, bugs all over the place (found a scorpion
in bed with us the first night), and much less to do than in Baja. What we did like was the prices are a bit less expensive than Baja and the scenery
was nice for a change. All in all, we'll stick with Baja - feels like home.Bajahowodd - 2-12-2010 at 05:19 PM
Especially comparing the drive!capt. mike - 2-12-2010 at 05:20 PM
Mike, we'll throw in another plug for Trocones. We enjoyed Zihua and Ixta but disliked the throngs of tourists (that's throngs of tourists
not thongs on tourists. ). We enjoyed the small village atmosphere of
Trocones and the food in several of the cafes/restaurants.
A trip to Morelia and surroundings will add to your trip as well. Lots of interesting things to do in that part of Mexico.
Allen
On Edit: "Especially comparing the drive!" I'll bet Mike's not driving to Zihua.
[Edited on 2-13-2010 by bufeo]capt. mike - 2-13-2010 at 03:09 PM
nope... no drive if i can avoid it. time to spare.... go by air!!
my buddies went there coming back from south of cozumel by Playa del Carmen last year - a flock of 5 planes, had great times at every stop.
I could actually afford to eat over in that area!
). We enjoyed the small village atmosphere of
Trocones and the food in several of the cafes/restaurants.