I like to write about Mexico. Usually I like to write about somewhere new we've traveled to, last year it was the Yucatan, a few years ago it was Colonial Cities, but I never write about my favorite, Zihuatanejo. Partly because it's is not the "traveler" part of our trip, and secondly, if your name isn't Andy Dufresne, I don't want people to know about it. Many people know about Zihua from the movie Shawshank Redemption and it's where escaped convict Andy Dufresne ends up. Morgan Freeman finally shows up after he gets out of jail. (Actually the final meetup was in St. Croix, not Zihua), but many people know Zihua as the place we always want Mexico to be. Not over touristed, although that is changing year by year. Still can get a feel of a local community. We always tell people that Zihua is a little fishing town. We it's actually over 100,000 inhabitants but it still has elements of a fishing town. So we are here for three weeks and here is a little glimpse into my first morning.


There about 15 statues of mujeres, throughout town, they represent the different states of Mexico

Feliz Navidad from Zihua

No picture of Zihua is complete without the lady on the rock along the Malecon

Fishing boats on the Playa Municipal. The fisherman leave early in the morning before the sun comes up to get there "catch"

Then they bring them back to the beach and display them. Look closely, you very well may be eating one of these guys for dinner.

I've bought my fish, now this guy will fillet it for me in about a hot minute.

Given that it is Christmas week, national tourists come from all over Mexico to party at the beach. Many from as far away as Queretaro, Guanajuato and CDMX.

The old town clock connected to the church. It's been 9:30 all day long every year for the last ten years. You know what they say about clocks, yep, it's right twice a day

Sounds and looks amazing, our sort of place - be careful who you tell 😉. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

From these photos alone, it looks as if not much has changed since I lived there in the late 1980s!
Is it still a pretty nice, low-key town, without mass tourism?

Thanks catch23, Happy Holidays to you and yours and hopeful for lots of good travel in 2026

Wow, you lived here in the 80's! I wish I could have seen it then. It has changed some, which I will address but it's still pretty down to earth. Lot's of good people, probably a lot more restaurants then you were here. There is a lot of people right now because of Christmas, which is my next post.

Christmas in Zihua -
We generally don't get here until later in the season, Feb. or March, and although we did spend Christmas in Los Angeles, we still got here in time to experience all of the decorations. They really know how to decorate and the whole community is usually involved in the parade and festivities.


I showed this picture yesterday, but now here it is in all it's lit-up glory. This is right on the beach. Not sure of the significance of the table and chairs. I guess Jesus or Santa can sit down and have a quick bite on a busy Christmas Eve.

A giant tree on the Malecon, I'm snapping this picture after dragging my way home from the bar, but earlier there was a big line of people waiting to take their picture in the wreath

One of the pedestrian bridges over the canal. It is really beautiful and again, I took this shot later in the evening, earlier it was packed.

People walking along the Malecon, which eskrunchy wouldn't have experienced in the 80's because it was a dirt path. Now it has wonderful little pavers and nice lights.

Another bridge over the canal.

This is a daytime shot of Kyoto Plaza. I don't know the history of the Japanese arch which is always here, but the rest of the plaza gets decorated for different occasions.

A night shot walking along away from Kyoto Plaza into town

A different view of this Christmas house.

A big box with a decorative pinata. Another photo opp!

One of the main streets downtown. One of my favorite music haunts is just up the street on the left.

This is great. I'd love to read about the changes and what you think....

Is La Ropa still low-rise..no ugly high rise buildings?

Morning in La Ropa
To answer ekscruncy's questions about La Ropa, I'm posting some pictures. First of all, there are three main beaches in Zihua, Playa Principal, which is the beach that a lot of Mexican Nationals use, La Madera, where we like to stay, and the most popular and prettiest, La Ropa. Right now, I would say that La Ropa hasn't built up...it's built down! Let me explain. The area around the La Ropa beach area is pretty hilly, when you leave Centro on the way to La Ropa there is a pretty steep grade, so many buildings that you enter at street level, actually then go down a big hill to the beach. The beach area itself is still rather flat, and there hasn't been a lot of building. A lot of the same bars and restaurants that I remember from 10 years ago. On the mountain side, if you can picture a road running along the beach, beach on right, mountains on left, there is some new development. Not any big international chains though, Ramada, Sheratons, Mayan timeshares etc. Although the Embarc timeshare on La Ropa did become a Hilton in the last 3 years but its been around for a long time. Also, for added excitement, on the north end of La Ropa, crocodiles still get out of the estuary and every so often there is a posting of a crocodile in the ocean or on the beach. Nothing says fun like a croc in the water.


Hotel Irma is one of the original hotels on La Madera on the way to La Ropa, it's been here for over 30 years. Look familiar ekscrunchy?

Off the main road you can take this shortcut to the beach. It's pretty steep and lined with luxury condos.

Look at these fancy rocks...are they ancient Mayan ruins, some mystical stones from Stonehenge? No, just an effective way to say "NO Parking"

Looking back up the steps at one of the condos

The luxury condos are in the picture middle right. to the left of the sailboat is where the steps start.

This is a hill on the far south side of La Ropa and I believe this is where you are going to see a lot of building in the future. In fact in the middle of the picture is a new 6 level building under construction.

La Ropa beach, still pretty flat, no high-rises

This was the Embarc now the Hilton, you enter at the top of the road, street level and go down I think 9 floors.

There are some dangers in Mexican real estate. These condos, Sotavento, have been being built for 20 years. The original investors have probably died by now. I don't know if it will ever be finished.

Here are more condos at the end of La Madera, again entered at street level

About 5 years ago, the new mayor or someone came up with the theme, Zihua, cuidad de todos. The city for everyone. So there have been a lot of changes that I will talk about in another post.

There are some downsides of progress, this green fencing wasn't here last year, there was chain linked fence with great views, like you a can see in the next picture. Now you can't see the bay at all. I don't know why this has happened, maybe they are building something, or the people in the condos right below this fence didn't want looky loos.

Looking back at Zihua. In the top middle left is a orange building, it's a Worldmark timeshare and that's how we discovered Zihua.

Nice report, thanks. We've only been to Zihuatanejo once, when I unwittingly booked during Semana Santa weekend. Super busy, so we spent half our time in Troncones. Just not crowd people. Never got back, despite it being one of the closest beach areas to San Miguel. But we liked the vibe.

Of course I remember the Hotel Irma!!! This is great!!
I also used to stay at Posada Caracol, as I was friends with the owner back then...and there was the bigger hotel..Catalina maybe??

My favorite place to eat on that beach was a place called LA PERLA. It was a simple restaurant that had the best huachinango; we used to have it for breakfast with tortillas and salsa. I remember the young guy, Felix, the son of the owners. I think they also built some rooms there to rent. Felix must be an old man by now.

The "fancy" place to hang around at night in town was a place named Coconuts, owned by a couple from NYC who built a swanky house on La Ropa..Joe and Patsy del Guidice were their names. The Artist Larry Rivers used to stay there often.

Is Villa del Sol still there? The owner was a German named Helmut (Leins??) who had a reputation as a kind of cranky guy. I actually put down a deposit for a casita the they were going to build.
I ended up backing out and losing my deposit....I wonder if they ever built those!! We got into an argument with Helmut because we were staying there and my sister was sick, so I brought her tea to the room and Helmut accused us of stealing the spoons! Villa del Sol was a fancy place to stay (I only was there a few nights on a comp trip).

At the end of that beach, at Las Gatas, there was a guy named Owen who owned a long stretch of beach and rented out really shabby casitas....I imagine the govt kicked hm out long ago...is that beach built up? I learned how to dive there.

The beach after Ixtapa where the Club Med used to be..was it Playa Blanca (??). ..I worked (helped out) once in a while at a food and drink stand in the parking lot. My big celebrity sighting was of John Holmes, the porn star!

They used to have great tacos at the bus station, near the market.
I also remember the nightclub, EL COYOTE, on the road towards Ixtapa...we used to go there once in a while and it was the first time I'd ever seen up close the "ladies of the night."

Troncones!! There was almost nothing there back then but I used to wonder if that area would ever get built up...I think some surfers would go there, but not sure..

I'm loving this!!! La Ropa really does not look all that built up..

I have a question for you both: Why do I so rarely read about American tourists going to Zihua? I read about PV, Playa del Carmen, Cancun, etc..but maybe Zihua is still low key and because of the landscape, mass development never took hold?? There don't seem to be any fancy resort hotels (??). When I was there, they finished a place across the bay named something like Casa Que Canta....expensive, with villas staggered along the cliff down to the sea..



Another thing we used to do is drive to Oaxaca and then down to Huatulco. This was before Fonatur came in. We knew a family that lived on Tangolunda beach and used to rent a little cabana from them..they knew that Fonantur was coming, and they had been offered a certain amount of cash to relocate, based on how many palm trees grew on their land.....I'd think of that family often in the years following.....I guess they ended up in the town somewhere but they had an existence that to me, back then, seemed like an idyll in paradise.

Sometimes we'd take the bus to Chiapas and I remember the kids selling clear plastic bags filled with turtle eggs new the Isthmus..they were supposed to give men "strength."

I eventually got a gig writing chapters in a guidebook to Mexico so I got to travel all over the country....but Zihua was my base..this was the late 80s..

Eks, good question why Zihuatanejo isn't as popular with American tourists. Especially with the Shawshank reference, one of the best movies ever. (I realize the beach scene wasn't filmed there). Anyway, I think in part because it's not a major cruise port like PV & PDC. Plus, much less English is spoken there compared to PV & Cancún. And it's probably more difficult to get flights. And it's in Guerrero which gets a lot of bad press.
I was looking through Tdiddys pics and your comments and remembered that when we visited we did indeed stay at the Hotel Irma. It's been 10 years I think, but I recognized the infinity pool. We also had dinner one night at Casa Que Canta.
And your mentioning how turtle eggs were supposed to give men strength made me think of Jack Black in Nacho Libre eating eagle eggs to give him 'eagle powers, lol.

"Nothing says fun like a croc in the water."
"...are they ancient Mayan ruins, some mystical stones from Stonehenge? No, just an effective way to say "NO Parking""

I love your reports! Great photos and captions. Thanks for posting and have fun.

Hi ekscrunchy -
Wow, so many things to pack into my reply, but I think I will start with your question why you don't see American tourist coming here. There's definitely something in what baldOne said about cruise ships and big resorts. Zihua did have a few cruise ships before Covid but I think thats stopped. I'll tell you a quick story, 10 years ago when we first came here, we were waiting at the gate at LAX and my wife said, look at this crowd, it was all geezers like us or millennials with 2.5 kids. When we got to Zihua, the millennials are off to Club Med where they can drop the kids off at Day Care and Mom and Dad have a little slap and tickle by themselves. Zihua on the other hand was a Day Care for highly functioning seniors. We saw most of the people we were on the plane with, Oh, there's comb over guy and the woman with the crazy sunglasses. We talk about where we are going to dinner, how bad we played pickleball this morning, and how happy we are to be in Mexico. Also, Zihua is a working town, but tourism is increasing a lot and in the past few years we've seen a lot of those millennials who still have the 2.5 kids but want a different experience than an all inclusive. Good on them!

So, yes, Caracol and La Perla are still there. Villa del Sol was built, but I don't know much about it. Las Gatas is going strong, still doesn't have much electricity and is serviced by little boat/shuttles from the Wharf. Owen is something of a legend here but well before my time. Were you here by chance when Abbie Hoffman was hiding out here

The beach at the end of Ixtapa is Playa Linda, Playa Blanca is out by the airport. I HAVE NEVER BEEN TO EL COYOTE and I have never seen any "ladies of the night", that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

I will be writing more about Troncones in the future post. We are spending a month there. Lot's more to come about Zihuatanejo

Changes to Zihuatanejo
There have been some changes to this area since we started coming. I'll throw in some pictures. Ironically the people grumbling about the changes are almost always gringos! I remember when this was a dirt road. The Malecon along the ocean has been re-done and it's great. The basketball court had a major re-do, more seating , new paint. Lighting is way better and the biggest takeaway for me is that the locals LOVE it, to quote my Mom after a broken dish incident, " Can't I have nice things ?!?"

This used to be a gravel kind of dirt road down to the beach. Now it's nicely tiled and leads to the new Malecon.

Here is the new walkway or Malecon along the beach. It also used to be a dirt path at one point, with wooden crates for garbage and little hand writtne signs from school children asking us not to pollute.

There are a number of look out places along the walk which are really nice.

This is the basketball court or the Concha. Usually entertainment at night, this is a payaso, "clown" entertaining the crowd.

This is a walkway, nicely paved, fairly new and runs along a major road. Has some Christmas decorations now.

This is the major road, this was re-paved last year.

This wasn't a road a few years ago, more of a walk way.

Lots of new lights, which really had to the ambience at night.

This is a great shot, I say that because the canal is not the most lovely looking waterway, but I caught it lit up and reflected. I like it

New Years EVE - Zihua
Most visitors to Mexico understand, Mexican time. "I'll be over in half an hour", actually means I may show up tomorrow. Starts at 9:30 always means 10:00 or later. New Years Eve, though started right at 12:00 Midnight! We had a potluck at our condo and we all sat around the pool after eating, wondering how we were going to stay up until New Years Eve. We probably average around 75 years old and that's adding in a couple of grandchildren into the bell curve. We do stay awake and all of us, about 30 people, troop down to the beach at La Madera to watch the fireworks. There is nothing more Mexican than watching fireworks that are so inappropriately close to people that many of us actually have "fireworks" shirts that were burnt last year. The fireworks were fantastic over the bay. We actually saw the fireworks at La Madera and simultaneously at Playa Municipal and they were somewhat in sync. It was a grand way to start a new year.


Getting ready on the Beach

There they go. The fireworks in this shot were actually at Playa Municipa









This is another thing about Mexico, the people are the hardest working people around, the fireworks had been set up right in the middle of this photo, by 9AM it was completely cleaned up

Why I love Zihua - La Musica
One thing that has changed in Zihuatanejo over the last ten years, is that there is music at least every night and in 10 different places. Traditional, blues, rock you name it. One of my favorite performers here is Jossy Gallegos. We usually see her at a club or restaurant, but Saturday she was at a local market! Another favorite is Estephania Burns, who I usually catch at Sr. Pinto's, her family restaurant. She is very talented, all 23 years of her, covers Amy Winehouse, Adele, Tina and does a mean Cher!


Barracruda, notice the "cruda" not "cuda". This place always has great music, rock on Saturday night. This is a new duo in town Al-Ma.

Here is Jossy. Lot's of Mexican folk music and a version of Hallelujah that would make Leonard Cohen cry.

The Saturday Market where Josie was playing, we always run into people we know.

Stephanie, supported by the Zocato Blues Band. The band starts out by itself and Raul, keyboard and guitar does a version of Little Wing that would make Hendrix cry...wait, that's a lot of crying going on in Zihua!

Tres Reyes Day in Zihua
Today is the celebration of Tres Reyes, Jan. 6th, the day the 3 Kings made it to Bethelhem. This day is bigger than Christmas here in Mexico. I don't know why it took them almost two weeks to get there. I'm guessing they took surface streets instead of the freeway. Anyways, everyone here buys this cake, kind of like Mexican fruitcake, but tastier, I think. Inside the cake is a little plastic Jesus. If you find the Jesus you have to throw a big party for your family. Which can be expensive, so now they make bigger cakes with multiple Jesus' so the party burden can be shared. It's a big Oprah moment, "you get a Jesus, and you get a Jesus".



This is a picture of a smaller cake, of Rosca de reyes.

Here are stacks of them at the big Sorianna that we shop at, more on that later. I'm not sure what happens tomorrow? I'm guessing big mark downs.

Oh, so there is a big supermarket now?

Seeing these photos makes me want to go back there.

Here is one thing, though: I really like to swim laps on vacation. The only hotels with large pools back then were those high-rises in Ixtapa. Are there any good hotels with large pools in Zihua today? I imagine not, because the land is so sloped.....

What's considered the "best" hotel in the area now--not Ixtapa?

kscrunchy

Hi ekscrunchy!
I've been taking a break from my Trip Report, playing a lot of music down here. So, yes there are two really big grocery stores now. One is Mega Soriana, which has been here for quite a few years, has changed names a couple of times. The other is a brand new Chedraui, which I believe is like a Walmart. You can get all of your food and pick up a scooter also. I first wrote about this store in a Isla Mujeres report. There is also a Sam's Club

As for laps, I have friends who do "laps" in the ocean over on La Ropa. There aren't any really big pools here to my knowledge for laps. There are a few nice hotels on La Ropa, the Thompson and the Mexicana, right on the beach but not that much in Zihua. There are lots of hotels with small pools some only dunk pools, but like I said, a lot of people are still swimming in the ocean

Why I love Zihua - The food!
Zihua has always had a nice selection of restaurants. Coconuts, mentioned earlier was one of the first fine dining restaurants. Now it's exploding and every year there are more. The one thing that is always a boon to the Mexican spirit is when some young person or persons opens a new place that is unique. One of those is Mole Negro. I think it's been open two years now and it's run by younger people, who all seem happy putting out great food. We love their breakfast. The other thing, which you would hope to find in a beach town, is you can eat with your toes in the sand like we did last night at Arena in La Ropa. Plus they had our favorite singer, Jossy Gallegos.



This is the back side of Mole Negro. Usually a line and this is the view from the chairs they have in the back for waiting customers. This year they have a little pastry station, so you can a little something before breakfast. Always thinking these Mexicans.

The French Toast is the best. It is a big slice of bread with fresh berries, yogurt and about 5 big strips of bacon. The make a show of pouring the syrup over your toast. A nice touch!

For something really special, a bunch of us usually head out to Chula Vida, on Playa Blanca, south of the airport.

Jorge sets us up with a bit table, and plies us with tequila and wonderful seafood. Our friend, John, always orders this giant board of sashimi, coconut shrimp, octupus and oysters. It's a feast

When you turn around at your table this is what you see!

If you don't get enough conversation...

There is a kid named Omar who is a master at card tricks. How in the hell does he do that?

La Ropa beach is our next stop at Arena restaurant

Again, right on the beach, toes in the sand!

Jossy is singing us a love song I'm sure.

And a final sunset on a great day