Ixtapa and Zihuatanejo sit side by side on Mexico's Pacific coast in Guerrero state, about 225 km north of Acapulco. They are two very different places sharing the same stretch of coastline. Zihuatanejo is the original fishing village — a crescent bay lined with small hotels, seafood restaurants, and the daily theatre of the fishing fleet heading out and returning. Ixtapa, a few kilometres north, was purpose-built as a resort in the 1970s: hotel towers along a wide beach, a golf course, a marina, and the full apparatus of packaged tourism.
Most travellers find they want both. Ixtapa is fine for lying on Playa El Palmar with a cold drink and watching parasailers, while Zihuatanejo's waterfront — especially Playa Municipal and the narrow streets behind it — gives you something that feels like Mexico rather than a resort development. The fish market at dawn on Playa Municipal, when the pangas come in and selling starts immediately on the sand, is one of the most vivid scenes on this coast.
The surrounding area has a string of excellent beaches, from the busy to the deserted. Playa La Ropa is the favourite for swimming; Playa Las Gatas, reached by water taxi, is calm and good for snorkelling. Day trips to the village of Petatlán, with its famous silver-and-gold basilica, reward those willing to get off the resort loop. The rainy season runs June to October; high season is November to April, when the fishing, the weather, and the sailfish runs are all at their best.