# Suggestions for Ixtapa



## folsom73 (Dec 29, 2011)

Can someone give me some ideas of things to do in Ixtapa, Zihuatanejo, Mexico? Maybe a good All-inclusive Hotel ?
I'd like to do some fishing , diving/snorkeling. My girlfriend would like a good Yoga class. We are from Chihuahua, Chihuahua.
I wanted to get ideas from Expat and not just things I can find on the Net.
We'll also be traveling to Taxco, Cuernavaca and Morelia.
Thank you for all your help................


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## Mr Wahoo (Jan 9, 2012)

folsom73 said:


> Can someone give me some ideas of things to do in Ixtapa, Zihuatanejo, Mexico? Maybe a good All-inclusive Hotel ?
> I'd like to do some fishing , diving/snorkeling. My girlfriend would like a good Yoga class. We are from Chihuahua, Chihuahua.
> I wanted to get ideas from Expat and not just things I can find on the Net.
> We'll also be traveling to Taxco, Cuernavaca and Morelia.
> Thank you for all your help................


We stayed at Las Brisas, an AI, and Beautiful. Went fishing with David Otero, caught some sails. Also does day tours. Maybe better charter operations there. Not a real swimable beach, but maybe because surf was up. I believe it was in october, a few years back. I thought the town was fun, albeit, hot. Hope this helps.


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## toniold (May 2, 2012)

*Troncones*



folsom73 said:


> Can someone give me some ideas of things to do in Ixtapa, Zihuatanejo, Mexico? Maybe a good All-inclusive Hotel ?
> I'd like to do some fishing , diving/snorkeling. My girlfriend would like a good Yoga class. We are from Chihuahua, Chihuahua.
> I wanted to get ideas from Expat and not just things I can find on the Net.
> We'll also be traveling to Taxco, Cuernavaca and Morelia.
> Thank you for all your help................


From Morelia I would check out going to Patzcuaro, the hotel Escudo is right downtown on the main plaza. Also Troncones is a great beach just to the north of Ixtapa, not an all inclusive but you can have a much better vacation there.


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## dpebbles (Oct 28, 2011)

We went last year at Halloween and stayed at the Melia...it was ok. The pool area was very nice...food was decent. Our rooms were very nice as we stayed in the renovated part. They had tons of things you could sign up to do. We took a boat across to the island and went snorkeling. We were told that Club Med is better s far as all inclusive goes.


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## folsom73 (Dec 29, 2011)

Mr Wahoo said:


> We stayed at Las Brisas, an AI, and Beautiful. Went fishing with David Otero, caught some sails. Also does day tours. Maybe better charter operations there. Not a real swimable beach, but maybe because surf was up. I believe it was in october, a few years back. I thought the town was fun, albeit, hot. Hope this helps.


Thank you for the information


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## folsom73 (Dec 29, 2011)

Mr Wahoo said:


> We stayed at Las Brisas, an AI, and Beautiful. Went fishing with David Otero, caught some sails. Also does day tours. Maybe better charter operations there. Not a real swimable beach, but maybe because surf was up. I believe it was in october, a few years back. I thought the town was fun, albeit, hot. Hope this helps.


I curious did you check into fishing for Squid ?
Do the charters cook what you catch....thanks


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## folsom73 (Dec 29, 2011)

toniold said:


> From Morelia I would check out going to Patzcuaro, the hotel Escudo is right downtown on the main plaza. Also Troncones is a great beach just to the north of Ixtapa, not an all inclusive but you can have a much better vacation there.


I'll look into it thank you !


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## folsom73 (Dec 29, 2011)

dpebbles said:


> We went last year at Halloween and stayed at the Melia...it was ok. The pool area was very nice...food was decent. Our rooms were very nice as we stayed in the renovated part. They had tons of things you could sign up to do. We took a boat across to the island and went snorkeling. We were told that Club Med is better s far as all inclusive goes.


I like the part about alot of things to do and snorkeling....thanks


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## ZihuaRob (May 4, 2012)

I recommend staying in Zihuatanejo instead of Ixtapa. Ixtapa is a government-planned resort and although it provides some low-paying jobs to a few locals, Zihuatanejo is the heart and soul of the region, and Playa La Ropa in Zihuatanejo is one of the most beautiful beaches in all of Mexico. I also recommend avoiding all-inclusive for a number of reasons. Primarily because they are killing our local economy, causing restaurants and shops to close. Also, the profits from most of the big hotels in Ixtapa go somewhere else. In contrast, most of the Zihuatanejo hotels are locally owned and their profits more directly benefit the community.

My recommendation for a hotel would be the Hotel Catalina on Playa La Ropa in Zihuatanejo.

catalina-beach-resort dot com

(Apparently I am not allowed to post any URLs here yet. Hope I'm not violating any rules posting them like this.)

I offer a treasure trove of information about the Zihuatanejo-Ixtapa region on my own website, in case you are interested.
zihuatanejo dot net

I hope this helps you. You are going to LOVE it here!


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## folsom73 (Dec 29, 2011)

Hi ZihuaRob,
We are going to the Catalina in July from Chihuahua [we live here]. Are there places to rent snorkel gear and can you recommend a boat to go fishing on? thank you for your time....... Tim [my email is folsom73 at yahoo dot com]
Love your web site too.......................


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## patrickoneill (Jun 8, 2012)

*Barra de Potosi*

Can someone give me some ideas of things to do in Ixtapa, Zihuatanejo, Mexico? Maybe a good All-inclusive Hotel ?
I'd like to do some fishing , diving/snorkeling. My girlfriend would like a good Yoga class. We are from Chihuahua, Chihuahua.
I wanted to get ideas from Expat and not just things I can find on the Net.
We'll also be traveling to Taxco, Cuernavaca and Morelia.
Thank you for all your help............

I love Zihuatanejo, but I think a stay in Barra de Potosi is the best. It is the "last best beach in Mexico". There are several nice places to stay: Bungalows Solecito, Villas Turparaiso and our favorite, Serenata del Mar. El Refugio de Potosi is a must stop. Playa Blanca is the beach and consists of 10 miles of white sand, unspoiled and beautiful. There is fishing, diving, kayaking and things are half the price of Ixtapa or Zihuatanejo. Thanks, Patrick


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## conklinwh (Dec 19, 2009)

We think Barra de Potosi is great. Love the beach and all the seafood restaurants. Also that can take advantage of the lagoon as well as the beach and bay. Only drawback was dinners. The beach seafood restaurants are great but close early. Supposedly a pizzeria but closed. Also although getting to Zihua easy, I wouldn't recommend the return drive at night.
Luckily couple that we were staying with ran into somebody at Solecito. Although they had stopped serving dinners, it was April, they agreed to open for the four of us and we had two great dinners. When we go again, we will stay at someplace like Solecito that has a kitchenette. Would then have great late lunch at seafood restaurants, a few meals at Solecito and then have drinks and totopos/tapas the others.


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## patrickoneill (Jun 8, 2012)

*dinner options in the Barra*



conklinwh said:


> We think Barra de Potosi is great. Love the beach and all the seafood restaurants. Also that can take advantage of the lagoon as well as the beach and bay. Only drawback was dinners. The beach seafood restaurants are great but close early. Supposedly a pizzeria but closed. Also although getting to Zihua easy, I wouldn't recommend the return drive at night.
> Luckily couple that we were staying with ran into somebody at Solecito. Although they had stopped serving dinners, it was April, they agreed to open for the four of us and we had two great dinners. When we go again, we will stay at someplace like Solecito that has a kitchenette. Would then have great late lunch at seafood restaurants, a few meals at Solecito and then have drinks and totopos/tapas the others.


Although Barra de Potosi does not have lots of options for dinner, we have several really authentic, clean and delicious places open at night in the village. Dona Emmies has handmade tortillas and pork tacos that are out of this world. She cooks on an open fire and her menu is limited to tacos, sopes, enchiladas and tostadas. Chayo has a place on the corner in the village with a broader menu and is always busy. These women open up in the evening after the enramadas close. Sometimes I will catch a late lunch about 5pm at La Condessa and call it early dinner. There are several other dinner options down the beach at Lagartos, Chula Vida, the Bella Vista hotel restaurant and Brisamar. Hotel Las Palmas and Escondite have higher end restaurants. 

I forgot to mention Villas Don Manuel as a great lodging option. Claudia and Toby are a delightful couple from DF and Claudia is the best chef on the beach. No matter where you staying, she will do dinners under a candlelit palapa in their garden for you. My partner loves Serenata del Mar, a vacation home and rents it two months year. He likes to cook, but between Dona Emmie and Claudia, he says dinners are better than in Zihua. And when you want a change of pace, you can be in ZIhua in 25 minutes.

Barra de Potosi is a still a secret to most tourists...


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## ZihuaRob (May 4, 2012)

folsom73 said:


> Hi ZihuaRob,
> We are going to the Catalina in July from Chihuahua [we live here]. Are there places to rent snorkel gear and can you recommend a boat to go fishing on? thank you for your time....... Tim [my email is folsom73 at yahoo dot com]
> Love your web site too.......................


No squid fishing locally, but there certainly is excellent fishing. I recommend *all* of the fishing charter services listed on my ACTIVITIES page:
Guide to Activities, Charters & Tours in Zihuatanejo-Ixtapa, Guerrero, Mexico


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