Do you remember where Andy in the movie Shawshank Redemption wanted to go when he was released from prison? That is where we are now, Zihuatanejo or most often referred to as Zihua. A beautiful bay surrounded by the Sierra Madre.

When we arrived in the area we started out in a marina in Ixtapa, which is just one bay over. Ixtapa was built in the mid 70’s along the same lines as Cancun. Build condo’s and hotels and they will come. While Cancun is wild and crazy, Ixtapa is more laid back and attracts an older crowd. It had some good restaurants and we were able to celebrate Gary’s birthday at a nice Mediterranean place. But that was pretty much all Ixtapa had to offer. So after 4 days we motored over to Bahia Zihuatanejo and dropped the anchor off the beach.

Zihua was a sleepy fishing village until Ixtapa was developed. It is now a major tourist attraction though walking through the streets it doesn’t seem all that crowded. We have a dinghy ‘valet’ who for 10 pesos each way helps us land and launch our dinghy in the surf. Could really have used him in Tenacatita instead. The surf is much larger there and we have been tossed out of the dinghy twice!

Bahia Zihuatanejo

Bahia Zihuatanejo

The Zocalo (town square) was really hopping with Mexican’s and gringos on Sunday and Saturday nights with concerts and food.

Cooking on the Zocalo

Basketball game on the Zocalo

The chef is across the street where the BBQ is

We are making our rounds of the local restaurants. Here is our chef from last night. He made us grilled shrimp, grilled tuna, along with grilled vegetables right on this barbecue. The meal also came with beans and french fries. All that with four beers and ice cream for 450 pesos or $24.00 US including the tip.

Our chef on the BBQ

Great acoustic guitar player

We did find one place serving craft beer and Mezcal is big here. It comes with oranges slices and three different types of sea salts. We ordered guacamole, and it came with a float of Mezcal!

We found ‘Artisanal’ beer along with a shot of mezcal

Here are some other sights from around town.

Zihuatanejo

Zihuatanejo

Zihuatanejo

Zihuatanejo

A note to the town of Zihuatanejo. Clean up your bay!! More cruisers will come and spend money in town if your water is clean so we can swim off our boats and use our water makers. It will probably be a lot easier to fill up your hotels and condos as well.