Zihuatanejo

A different experience awaits the visitor arriving in Zihuatanejo from Acapulco. Only 125 miles up the coast, it is a million miles removed from Acapulco's crowded beaches and cosmopolitan air. Nestling at the base of Mexico's Sierra Madre del Sur, the town's protected 2 mile wide bay is surrounded by low, brush covered hillsides and coconut plantations. Tame parrots, burros, and laughing children roam dusty streets lined with shops selling mangoes, papayas, corn, and fish. As in other tropical places of its size, the town allows pigs, dogs, and stately Brahman cattle to wander freely among the palm thatched huts and adobe business houses and out along the water's edge. A trim white lighthouse on a jungle clad crag far out in the white surge of the sea guards the bay. Outrigger dugout canoes are drawn up on the sand Parakeets gather in the trees.

Buildings on the main street are small, old, and (in some cases) crumbling. The undemanding pace attracts as many Mexican tourists as Americans. The bay offers both water sports and a slow, warming respite, but sample it while you can because there's a government project underway at nearby Ixtapa aimed at making this a top flight luxury resort area.

What to do. Playa Principal, the main beach, has rentals for water skiing, scuba diving, and surfing; arrange rentals in advance through your hotel. You can rent a deep sea boat with a guide and fish for tuna, roosterfish, and an occasional marlin. At tidepool studded Isla Grande, a few miles north, cooks will prepare your catch or you can cook it yourself, native style, on a mainland beach.

The clarity of the water, abundant variety of underwater life, and intricate beauty of its coral reefs make Zihuatanejo Bay a popular place with skin divers. Even if you've never tried the sport before, take along a snorkel and face mask and begin your underwater adventure by floating quietly over the coral reefs. If the appeal of the underwater world becomes irresistible, diving instruction is available. You can rent scuba gear.

From the beach, a few primitive roads invite you to take a short hike into the surrounding jungle with its flowering tropical trees and shrubs and great variety of birdlife.

Shopping is intriguing in the town's small stores. Typically, Saturday is market day. Don't hesitate to bargain.

Where to stay. Zihuatanejo's inexpensive hotels are near the main beach; more luxurious hotels cluster against the cliffs overlooking the lights and less crowded sands of Playa Ropa and Playa Madera. Though most hotels are not cheap, they are still a bargain by resort standards.

How to get there. Planes from Mexico City service Zihuatanejo lxtapa, landing at a modern jetport. Potholes, slow crossing chickens, and occasional washouts make the drive slow by car or bus up fully paved Highway 200 from Acapulco. Night travel is inadvisable. Air conditioned buses from Acapulco are a major means of intervillage contact, so be prepared to share in family reunions or to make numerous unexpected stops.