Hello!
Looking at possible vacation spots.Was wondering about Manzanillo,have been to Ixtapa and Z town and enjoyed them! Any pros or cons about this area would be helpful.
Thanks
Karl

Personally the town of Manzanillo is not very appealing as a vacation destination, being mainly a port city, nothing like Zih or Ixtapa. We only fly in then drive north to El Tamarindo or El Careyes. There are other little beach towns along the way that are great like Melaque & Barra de Navidad to explore, or the big resorts Las Hadas (weathered but elegant)& Grand Bay (upscale but no beach to speak of). We checked out some of the big all-inclusives, like Sierra Manzanillo and Karmina Palace...no thanks, not for me, too many kids & lukewarm beer. Hope that helps some.

PeggyE,Thanks for the reply.Is there any place you would suggest other than P.V. or Z town
Karl

Kar l

When are you planning on going?
Some of the best tours I took was when I stayed in Manzanillo.
I met some nice tour guides there that I still keep in touch with.

The tour to Bara de Navidad is very nice town and you will see this nice town, with an open door ( always) to the cathedral where a figure of Jesus hangs from a cross with broken arm..it is quite a symbol there and is from a storm/earthquake they had about 30 years ago.
A tour to Colima and or Comala (both places are seen on the same tour.
The city is the capital of the province, like in Oklahoma City in Oklahoma!!
If you golf(??) the golf course at bara de Navidad is just a sight to behold.

If you stay at the resorts you are so of in your own world with your own beach except for Karmina Place,which is nice and had about 4 pools.
You are on very hilly country and the hotels are built up into the hills.

It is a matter of what you want to do.
What age you are and what you are looking for.

I was there in December just before the Christmas rush and the resorts were quite and peaceful.

I have been to Ixtapa and Zihuatanejo and you know every place in Mexico has something to offer.
If you have never been,then don't give it a second thought , just go.!!!

I stayed at the 5 star Las Hadas and enjoyed my stay, I took four tours and had a great time...I have nothing to complain about.

You can go to Cancun,it is a great place,either there or on the Mayan Riveria side.

Acapulco is also nice...I hired a private tour guide here and he drove me around for two days and showed me Acapulco like no tourist would see it.!!!

You know we tourist want to go to Mexico , and then have all the comforts of home ,and at the same time have it not to commercialized.

Percy

I have gone to Mexico a least 30 times since I leave in California. I do find interesting & fun things wherever we go. But I think most people are looking more for a vacation (if it is "tourist" so be it) atmosphere. For that alone, I don't think Manzanillo ranks as high as other cities.
But it is all dependent on what you want to do the most. Shop, swim, have luxury accomodations, see historical sites, fish, great food, big resort or small resort?
We drove north of PV & stayed in Sayulita once & loved the quiet fishing village. But I guess during some weeks it can be crowded with surfers camping on the beach.
Maybe a bit more of what you are looking for would be helpful.

Once again thanks for the replies,
I guess what we are looking for is (Paradice but!!!) a combination of the wide beaches of Ixtapa and the lovely mountains and sunsets of Zih. Throw in fishing, snorkling,and small town atmisphere and culture that should cover it,(maybe a swim up barDoes this place ring a bell?
Karl

When I read what you want, I think of Puerto Vallarta...the area south of the river, especially...
and perhaps, if you can afford it, the Four Seasons Punta Mita 45 north of PV.
I've also spent a lovely afternoon in Sayulita, and we've contemplated renting a villa there, but are not sure if it might be a little too quiet after a couple of days.
I can highly reccomend the Camino Real in PV, if it hasn't already changed to an AI Dreams Resort. The Camino Real has beautiful sunsets...

I love Manzanillo, it's my favorite Mexican town. It's a very lay back and not the typical tourist town - no timeshare hawkers here. Most people don't speak english here so you should study up a little on your Espanol. It just depends what you enjoy. We stayed at a friends condo in Vida Del Mar and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

If you liked Z town you probably would like Manzanillo. If you prefered Ixtapa you might like something more in the line of PV (which is also nice).

Here is another thought. If you have two weeks off you can do both PV and Manzanillo. We did this last year. We flew into Manzanillo via Alaska Air, spent a week, took the bus to PV (actually stayed in NV) and flew back home from PV. There wasn't much of a price difference for flying into one town and flying out another. I've known people to do this with a car rental. I guess some companies allow pick ups and drop offs at differnet locations.