Zihuhuatanejo, Mexico
Zihuatanejo, or Zihua, was an amazing place to visit. Unlike any of the other places I’ve been to in Mexico (Can Cun, Mazatlan), Zihua is not full of tourists and chain hotels, but it is still a charming little fishing town on the Pacific Coast. We stayed in an incredible hotel, http://www.lacasaquecanta.com/, La Casa Que Canta – ‘the house that sings’. It was built on the cliffs with views of the bay, the town, and the open sea. I think I can honestly say that this is the nicest place I’ve ever staying in my life, not bad for a pre-honeymoon! Here are a few pics…
View of town from lower terrace
While we were in Zihua, we went on a snorkel trip with our trusted captain, Martine, and his 9 year old son, Ulysses (who drove the boat most of the time). They took us to a small deserted beach with white sand and tons of beautiful shells and washed up coral. The snorkeling wasn’t the best, but the water felt great and the location was gorgeous, plus we really like our captain and first-mate! We enjoyed them so much that we did a second trip with them to catch some fish (we don’t fish or even eat fish, but when in Rome…). I caught my first-ever fish and then Martine and Ulysses grilled it up for lunch. They took us to a beautiful island, Ixtapa Island (not Ixtapa the resort town), where it was all locals and their families swimming, playing soccer on the beach, fishing, jet skiing and grilling up their fresh catches for lunch. Martine pronounced Ixtapa Island to us as “Istapa Ice Land”.
We also enjoyed some nice walks on the beach just below our hotel, Playa Del Ropa. It had some cute outdoor restaurants, one in particular that we really liked – The Tides. It was beachside dining by candlelight, each table under its own palapa, and they give you a water list as if it was a wine list. They even serve it like wine – they present the bottle, and pour it carefully into a wine glass, then wipe the the bottle with a cloth napkin so it doesn’t drip. We thought that was pretty funny.
Another highlight of the trip was a sunset cruise around the bay. It really is a breathtakingly beautiful location. Pictures just don’t do it justice, you have to see it for yourself!
It was really a great vacation. To anyone interested in ever going to Zihua, I’d recommend going between November and April. While we were there, it was scorchingly hot and humid. The ocean and pool water could barely even cool you off and there isn’t A/C anywhere except your hotel room. It was too hot even to really go to the beach in the daytime. The locals said that it would be cooler and drier after October.
I’d love to go back to Zihua some day. But for now, the pre-honeymoon is over 🙂
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