We are heading to Ixtapa in a couple of weeks. I have been monitoring the weather for a couple of months and everyday rain/thunderstorms are in the forecast. Is then generally a quick summer shower or is it raining all day? Thanks.

I do not understand why people insist on going to a humid, hot place with a large chance of storms in the "season". Ixtapa/Zihua is a marvelous destination November through May but a hell hole June through October. Heck even the locals leave if possible during September.

<b>Is then generally a quick summer shower or is it raining all day?</b>

Standard tropical rainy season weather typically means humid but rainless mornings building to afternoon clouds, with afternoon or evening rains very common.

Unless there's a hurricane passing offshore, in which case it will rain much harder for most of the day.

Don't worry about it unless there's a hurricane.

Bill

thank you bill.

I was there a few weeks ago and had the same concerns about the weather.

It was a wee bit misty early in the morning. That burned off by about 9 a.m.

By about 6 in the evening it clouded over again and rained once but it felt so good we sat there in our deck chairs and enjoyed the cool water.

Have fun

My place is Puerto Vallarta but believe the weather patterns are similar to Zijuat/Ixtapa.

August and September are the wettest months of the year, hot and humid. It may be showers only in the evening or at night, or you could bump into 5 days straight of pouring rain (that happend to me in PV in June).

When you travel to this region in the summer months, you shouldn't be surprised to get rained on

Thank you for the input. I will take my umbrella!

from my experience, Ixtapa feels even hotter than PV in August! Unless there's a big storm, the rain usually doesn't last long, and it's welcome...

Just one final thought. My best amigo who's home I use in Ixtapa/Zihua every winter decided this year that they will no longer endure summer weather in the area. Just too hot &amp; humid for us in our 60's especially folks used to the cool bay area weather.

We went in mid-July. There were a couple of days where it rained a bit and only one evening where the rain was constant. Actually, a bit of cloud cover in the morning wasn't bad as it kept the pool temperature down.

We went to the Club Med. They had umbrella stands throughout the resort in case of passing rain. (BTW, those staying at the Melia likely had far more rain as on more than one occassion the clounds skirted past Club Med but looked like they went right over the Melia.)

Thanks so much for all of the informative responses. I am going to Club Med with my wife and two children ages (6 and 3.) We are from southern California so we are used to warm weather (albeit not humid.) My concern is primarily the rain. We can endure the heat, especially if I have a cool beverage in my hand.

There is an unexpected result of the extreme humidity and heat. No matter how hot it gets here at home this summer I don't feel the heat like I normally would.

rd,
We've been to that Club Med twice this year. We had such a great time in April, we cancelled our summer plans and decided to go back.

The staff is really great and your kids should have a blast at the kids camp.

A couple of suggestions if I may:

-Bring bug spray. They do spray around the resort to keep the mosquitos away, but it is the tropics. There was only one night where it was bad, but fortunately we had bug spray.

-You may want to bring a small bag or backpack for your two kids. At the kids club, they will change a couple of times from their bathing suits to dry clothes.

-Bring a good book. With the kids at the kids club all day, I had plenty of time to read.

Thanks Ryan for the suggestions. Quick question: can you take bug spray on the plane or is it something I should look to pick up when we arrive? Gracias.

We brought it from home and packed it in our checked luggage. Not sure what they would do if you brought the wipe type bug repellant in your carry-on.

Thanks again Ryan. One other Club med questions. Are shorts, swin trunks and t-shirts sufficient is more dressy attire necessary for dinners, shows etc., like when you are on some cruises?

rd,
During the day, bathing suit and tshirt is fine. At night, I'd usually put on a nice pair of shorts and polo shirt. But, you would not feel out of place wearing shorts and a t-shirt.

The GO's have to dress by that evenings theme. But, the guests can wear whatever they please.

I think the only thing they might encourage a guest to not do is wear a bathing outfit to dinner.

One thing to think about, especially if your vacation will be for more than a week, is to drop off your laundry for cleaning. We went to Club Med as part of a two week vacation. With the humidity, we went through more clothes than we thought and found the $40 for two large loads of laundry (washed and folded by them) to be money well spent.

Also, they do have photographers on staff who will walk around shooting photos all day. Individual pictures are $15. We found it made far more sense to buy the 500 pictures they took of our family by purchasing the CD rom for $300. Knowing that we intended to do that, we had the photographer take several portrait shots of our kids and the four of us at various points. Given the cost of getting a decent portrait shot done, the $300, for us, was money well spent. We brought our Mac Book and were able to download the disc before we left the resort onto our computer. Just something to consider.

Personally, I loved not having to carry a wallet for the week.

Thanks a million. I will do a trip report whn we return.