Ixtapa+Zihuatanejo


 * Travel Tips for Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo, Mexico:**


 * Ixtapa Wikitravel Website**: []
 * Zihuatanejo Wikitravel Website**: []

---

Zihuatanejo Ixtapa International Airport ZIH serves the Mexican State of Guerrero bordering on the Pacific coast. Its city, Zihuatanejo, is the third-most-visited area in Mexico and seems to be a very desirable tourist destination, due to its beautiful beach, great hotels and infrastructure. The airport is a 15-minute ride from the city of Zihuatanejo and about 20 minutes to the city of Ixtapa, which stretches along the coast. Here's some maps: []. If you're coming on your own or with someone else and haven't arranged for a transfer with your all-inclusive hotel, after picking-up your luggage and departing from the arrival terminal (or Customs lounge) at your right side you will find the Airport Taxi Service counters (TAXIS sign). You can purchase your tickets with Mexican or American currencies. If you are coming on a package tour, or with an all-inclusive hotel, etc., look for the persons holding a sign related to you, they will advise you of your transportation arrangements. Just like everywhere in Mexico, once you leave the arrival gate people will approach you to offer assistance. Be careful in readily accepting offers or GIVING A CASH DEPOSIT on so-called "free transportation to town", "transportation refunds", "special deals on tours", "free breakfasts", etc., these are TIME-SHARE or VACATION CLUB salesmen and usually you must attend a sales section to get the benefits or a refund of your money. Also, if you need to buy transportation services (taxi), do it yourself at the counters, do not let anybody get it for you or you may be over charged. If they bother you or give you bad information, make an immediate complaint to the airport authorities! Be advised that some transportation drivers may recommend other hotels than the one you have planned for lodging. The driver is probably doing it because he gets paid a commission and not necessarily because you will get a better deal or a better place. If the lodging facility has to pay commissions to drivers, think why? Be wise and use your own judgment! At the airport the suggested tip to the porters is US$1.00 (MX$10.00) per big for a medium size bag or for two small ones. Also a t the airport you'll find Rent-A-Car agencies. You may rent a car here or pick-up the car you have previously reserved through an office in another city, country or from internet. Ground transportation from the Airport to town is available through the Airport Taxi Service companies that have exclusive or shared services. City cabs are not allowed to pick up passengers at the airport. E xclusive service in a Chevy Suburban or Van is for up to 8 persons at around US$53.00 to Zihuatanejo and US$58.00 to Ixtapa. Exclusive car service for up to 4 persons is about US$28.00 to Zihuatanejo and US$32.00 to Ixtapa. Shared service in car, suburban, van or bus, according to demand is approx. US$11.50 to Zihuatanejo and US$15.00 to Ixtapa, per person. Rates are higher for points outside the main areas of Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo and for Hotel Zone II (Club Med, Azul Ixtapa, etc.). Here's a public transportation website: [] that can help with rates. Once you get to Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo most of your daily activities can be done by just walking. Everything is close by or within an enjoyable and relaxing 5 to 15 minutes walk. F or further distances, local Buses (microbus) are your most economical option but Taxis have reasonable fares and are plentiful and reliable, so they could be your preferred choice. T axi fares within Zihuatanejo are US $2.00 to US $3.50, within Ixtapa are US $3.00 to US $6.00, and between Ixtapa and Zihuatanejo are US $5.00 (El Palmar area to Downtown). Other places are from US $5.00 and up. F ares are fixed and taxis have no meters. All taxi fares have a surcharge of 50% at night, from midnight to 6:00a.m. City-cab fares are per taxi, not per person and maximum capacity is four passengers per cab. Most cabs are compact cars such as Nissan Tsuru, Sentra, etc. Y ou may hire a local taxi (city cab) to take you back to the Airport and the fare is about US $11.00 per cab. You may NOT hire them the other way around, they are not allowed to do so by law (Airport-Hotel). If you take a cab, it's a good idea to write down the company's name and cab number in case you forget any belongings. All our taxis are painted in white. You will find taxis parked at the entrance of all large hotels. The small hotels will call one for you without an extra charge for the pick-up. Most cabs have air conditioner but they may apply a surcharge of 40% on the fare if you request the driver to turn it on, so it's wise to ask before. Most everyone books a hotel before coming to Ixtapa. Here's a website for hotels: [], most of which are all-inclusive (AI). We stayed at the Barcelo Ixtapa Beach (website: [] ) Resort. The Barcelo Ixtapa definitely looks like a Sheraton 'circa 1980', however it is very clean, and the staff (though maybe fewer in number than other AIs we have visited) were very friendly and helpful. For sure the newer condominiums looked more luxurious, but we were told they were primarily full time ownership condos. Our impression from the incredible Playa el Palmar beach was that the Barcelo had one of the largest, if not the largest, and most beautiful grounds and pool areas of the All Inclusive hotels along the strip. Our hotel room was clean, beds were comfortable, air conditioning worked and the mini bar was replenished daily. The bathroom was dated and a bit grungy but the panoramic view from our 7th floor balcony was spectacular and more than made up for the view in our bathroom. We definitely agree that higher floors and ocean view rooms are preferable (the even # rooms have the ocean views) however our other family members were scattered on the 5th and 3rd floors and all had nice views of the pool area and ocean and no one complained about their rooms or noise inside the hotel. The Barcelo’s location is incredible! We absolutely loved the beach and warm water. Shopping across the street was so convenient. Public transportation is cheap (around 9 pesos per person) and ran all day, taking you either direction - to Zihuatenejo or to the Ixtapa Marina or Playa Linda (where you could catch a small boat to Ixtapa Island for 40 pesos return). The food wasn’t always the best or particularly varied, but we all still managed to gain weight during our stay! We enjoyed the omelette station, pancakes and fresh fruit for breakfast. Open air restaurants either side of the pool were nice. We always love the self-serve soft ice cream. The rice and beans, pork tacos and french fries on the buffet at La Palapa restaurant were popular. The chicken fajitas, BLTs, french fries and breaded mozza bites were popular at the poolside Caracol restaurant. Coffee was good at all locations, and the tortilla chips, fresh guacamole and salsa were always yummy. We all liked the pasta station for dinner in the main buffet, but other buffet offerings were a bit hit and miss. Salad bar at all buffets was okay, not great, but okay. We all liked the Sunset dinner which was a barbecue/buffet. We liked the ambiance of the Don Quixote restaurant, but beware, the lighting is dim, we could hardly make out the menu. We had the best luck with the calamari appetizer, salmon entree and ice cream dessert at Don Quixote. Overall, alcoholic beverages were a bit of a letdown, wine took a while to adjust to, but within a day or two we all managed to find drink choices that pleased our palates. For Bars, we liked La Playa Bar for sports watching. We liked the Lighthouse for the ocean view, and we liked Senor Frogs for the nightlife (Website for all three and others: [] ). Ixtapa and Zihuatanejo are in a bit of a slump, but it's a very safe and relaxing place to visit! ---