Beaches Around Zihuatanejo Bay

Ringed by forested hills, edged by steep cliffs, and laced by rocky shoals, Zihuatanejo Bay would be beautiful even without its beaches.

Five of them line the bay. On the west side is narrow, tranquil Playa el Almacén (Warehouse Beach), mostly good for fishing from its nearby rocks. Moving past the pier toward town comes the colorful, bustling Playa Municipal. Its sheltered waters are fine for wading, swimming, and boat launching (which fishermen, their motors bussing, regularly do) near the pier end.

For maximum sun and serenity, walk away from the pier along Playa Municipal past the usually dry creek outlet where a concrete andador winds about 200 yards along the beach-front rocks that mark that beginning of Playa Madera. If you prefer, you can also hire a taxi to take you to Playa Madera, about $1.

Playa Madera (Wood Beach), once a loading point for lumber, stretches about 300 yards, decorated with rocky nooks and outcroppings, and backed by the lush hotel-dotted hill, Cerro Madera. The beach sand is fine and gray-white. Swells enter the facing bay entrance breaking suddenly in two-or three-foot waves, which roll in gently and recede with little undertow. Madera's usually calm billows are good for child’s play and easy swimming. Bring your mask and snorkel for glimpses of fish in the clear waters. Beach side restaurant/bars Kau Kan, La Bocana, and the Hotel Irma, above the far east end, serve drinks and snacks.

Zihuatanejo Bay's favorite resort beach is Playa La Ropa (Clothes Beach), a mile-long crescent of yellow-white sand washed by oft gentle surf. The beach got its name centuries ago from the apparel that once floated in from a galleon wrecked offshore. From the bay’s best mirador (viewpoint) at the summit of Paseo Costera, the La Ropa approach road, the beach sand, relentlessly scooped and redeposited by the waves, appears as an endless line of half-moons.

On the 100-foot-wide beach, vacationers bask in the sun, Jet Skis buzz beyond the breakers, rental sailboats ply the waves, and windsurf outfits recline on the sand. The waves, generally too gentle and quick-breaking for surf sports, break close-in and recede with little undertow. Joggers come out mornings and evenings. Restaurants at the several beachfront hotels provide food and drinks.

Secluded Playa Las Gatas (Cat Beach), reachable by very rough shoreline rock-hopping or easily by launch from the town pier, lies sheltered beneath the south-end Punta El Faro headland. Once a walled-in royal Tarascan bathing pool, the beach got its name from a species of locally common, small, whiskered nurse sharks. Generally calm and quiet, often with super-clear offshore waters, Playa Las Gatas is both a snorkeling haven and a jumping-off spot for dive trips headed for prime scuba sites. Beach booths rent gear for beach snorkelers, and a professional dive shop, Carlos Scuba right on the beach, instructs and guides both beginner and experienced scuba divers, For many more diving details, see Sports and Recreation later in this chapter.

For a treat, pass the beach restaurant lineup and continue to Owen's palapa restaurant, visible on King's Point, the palm-shaded outcropping past the far curve of the beach. There, enjoy some refreshment, watch the surfers glide around the point, and feast on the luscious beach, bay, and hill view.

Ixtapa Beaches

Ixtapa's 10 distinct beaches lie scattered like pearls along a a dozen miles of creamy, azure coastline. Moving from the Zihuatanejo direction, Playa Hermosa comes first. The elevators of the super-luxurious cliff top Hotel Westin Brisas Ixtapa make access to the beach very convenient. At the bottom you'll find a few hundred yards of seasonally broad white sand, with open-ocean (but often gentle) waves usually good for most water sports except surfing. Good beach-accessible snorkeling is possible off the shoals at either end of the beach. Extensive rentals are available at the beachfront aquatics shop. A poolside restaurant serves food and drinks. Hotel access is only by car or taxi.

For a sweeping vista of Ixtapa's beaches, bay, and blue waters, ride the teleférico (cable tramway, open daily 7a.m. – 7p.m.) to El Faro restaurant, at the south end of Ixtapa's main beach, Playa del Palmar, tel. 755/310-27. Open daily 8a.m.-10p.m. (hours may be seasonally shortened).

Long, broad, and yellow-white, Playa del Palmar could be called the “Billion-Dollar Beach” for the investment money it attracted to Ixtapa. The confidence seems justified. The broad strand stretches for three gently curving miles. Even though it fronts the open ocean, protective offshore rocks, island, and shoals keep the surf gentle most of the time. Here, most sports are of the high-powered variety-parasailing ($15), Jet Skiing and water-skiing ($40), banana-boating ($10)-although boogie boards are rentable for $5 an hour on the beach.

Challenging surf rolls in consistently off the jetty at Playa Escolleros, at Playa del Palmar's far west end. Bring your own board.

Ixtapa Outer Beaches

Ixtapa's outer beaches spread among the coves and inlets a few miles northwest of the Hotel Zone. Drive, taxi, or take a “Playa Linda” minibus along the Paseo de las Garzas (drivers, turn right just past the shopping mall), then fork left again after less than a mile. After the Marina Golf Course, the road turns toward the shoreline winding past a trio of development-blocked beach gems, Playa San Juan de Dios, Playa Don Rodrigo , and Playa Cuata.

Although Mexican law theoretically allows free public oceanfront access, guards might try to shoo you away from Playa Cuata, on the open-ocean side, even if you arrive by boat. If some-how you manage get there, you will discover a cream-yellow strip of sand, nestled between rocky outcroppings, with oft-gentle waves with correspondingly moderate undertow for good swimming, body surfing, and boogie boarding. Snorkeling and fishing are equally good around nearby rocks and shoals.

On the peninsula's sheltered northern flank, Playa Quieta (Quiet Beach) is a place that lives up to its name. A ribbon of fine yellow sand arcs around a smooth inlet dotted by a regatta of Club Med kayaks and sailboats plying the water. Get there via the north-end access stairway from the parking lot, signed Playa Quieta Acceso Publico.

Playa Linda

Playa Linda, an open-ocean yellow-sand beach, extends for miles beyond the road's end. Flocks of sandpipers and plovers skitter at the surf's edge; pelicans and cormorants dive offshore, while gulls, terns, and boobies skim the wave-tops. Driftwood and shells decorate the sand beside a green-tufted palm grove that seems to stretch endlessly to the north.

The friendly downscale La Palapa beach restaurant, at pavement's end, offers beer, sodas, and seafood, plus showers, toilets, and free parking. Neighboring stable Rancho Playa Linda, managed by friendly “Spiderman” Jorge, provides horseback rides at about $15 per hour.

The flat, wide Playa Linda has powerful rollers often good for surfing. Boogie boarding and body surfing-with caution, don't try it alone-are also possible. Surf fishing yields catches, especially of lisa (mullet), which locals have much more success netting than hooking.

Isla Ixtapa

Every few minutes a boat heads from the Playa Linda embarcadero to mile-long Ixtapa Island daily 9a.m. –5p.m. ; $3 roundtrip. Upon arrival, you soon discover the secret to the preservation of the island´s pristine beaches, forests, and natural underwater gardens. “No trash here”, the palapa proprietors say,, “We bag it up and send it back to the mainland”.

It shows. Great fishy green orchids and bromeliads hang from forest branches, multicolored fish dart among offshore rocks, shady native acacias hang lazily over the shell-deco-rated sands of the island's little beaches. Boats from Playa Linda arrive at Playa Cuachalatate (koo-ah-chah-lah-TAH-tay), the island’s most popular beach, named for a local tree whose bark is said to relieve liver aliments. Many visitors stay all day, splashing, swimming, and eating fresh fish, shrimp, and clams cooked at any one of a dozen palapas. Visitors also enjoy the many sports rentals: water skis, banana boat rides, boats for fishing, aquatic bicycles ($6/hour), snorkel gear ($3/hour), and kayaks ($5/hour).

For a change of scene, follow the short concrete walkway over the west-side (right as you arrive) forested knoll to Playas Varadero and Coral on opposite flanks of an intimate little isthmus. Varadero’s yellow-white sand is narrow and tree-shaded, its waters are calm and clear. Behind it lies Playa Coral, a steep coral-sand beach fronting a rocky blue bay. Playa Coral is a magnet for beach lovers, snorkelers, and the scuba divers who often arrive by boat to explore the waters around the offshore coral reef.

Scuba diving is so rewarding here the Escuela de Buceos (Diving School) Oliverio maintains headquarters near the west end of Playa Cuachalatate. Other shops in Zihuatanejo (see Sports and Recreation, below) are better equipped to provide the same services, however.

Isla Ixtapa's fourth and smallest beach, secluded Playa Carey, is named for the sea-turtle species (see the special topic Saving Turtles). For access, hire a boat from Playa Cuachalatate.