Zihuatanejo or Cancun-
Feb 27th, 2002, 10:28 PM
#2
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You could not have picked two more opposite places in all of Mexico to ask which is best. It all depends on what you're looking for. Cancun is a glitzy, fast-paced, tourist mecca, filled with side by side hotels, clubs, restaurants and shopping centers. It's totally commercial. There are thousands of things to do in the area and an endless party atmosphere. Everything is concentrated in the hotel zone, where you have a choice of 3-5* hotels, both all-inclusive and not. The hotel zone is in the shape of a 7; on the top end of the 7, the hotels either face a calm bay or a saltwater lagoon. On the bottom of the 7, it's open ocean, beautiful, but can have pretty strong undertows. The beaches are generally beautiful and the Caribbean water all shades of blue, green and turquoise. The terrain is flat. Downtown "old Cancun", where all the locals live has some nice restaurants and shopping that allow you to see a little culture and get away from the throngs of tourists. Zihuatenejo is on the Pacific side of Mexico, a small fishing village on a small bay, which is surrounded by low mountain hillsides with small "boutique" hotels, condos, restaurants and older homes and buildings; it has a fair size tourist market and is interesting to walk around in if you enjoy the Mexican culture. There are a couple of nice beaches that are accessible by boat; I didn't find the beaches right in town to be all that nice. Next to Zihua is Ixtapa, which I call "Cancun on valium". It was developed at a tourist destination and is predominantly around one bay that has a long beach that I think is very nice. The water is completely different than the crystal waters of the Caribbean and usually has a pretty strong undertow. There are many nice hotels along the beach, again, both all-incl. and not. There are not that many outside things to do around the area of Zihua/Ixtapa, but they have excellent deep-sea fishing and snorkelling in some areas, along with the usual beach things going on. There are a few nightclubs both in and out of the hotels, but nothing on the scale of Cancun. If you want to experience a little of both tourist resort and cultural Mexico, I would recommend Zihua/Ixtapa. If you want to party till you drop, Cancun is the place. I've been to both several times at different times in my life and loved my time in both places.<BR>Now, if you want to know where I fell in love...not with a person, but a place...let's talk Puerto Vallarta! That's another story. Hope this helps.
