Zihuatanejo Mexico is AMAZING! (TRAVEL GUIDE)
Hola! Bienvenidos! Welcome to beautiful Zihuatanejo! Buenos dias! Good morning Country Collectors. We hope you're ready for some fun because today we are taking you exploring all around the beautiful Zihuatanejo. Affectionately referred to as Zihua, this fishing village is located northwest of Acapulco on the Pacific in the state of Guerrero.
We can't wait to show you around but before we do make sure to hit that subscribe button and ring the bell so you don't miss out on any of our future adventures! And stay to the end when we share some more of our recommendations. Let's start with how we got here. In Acapulco we bought bus tickets for 275 pesos each through the Costa Line bus service. Our bus departed at 10 a.m and took around six hours to reach Zihua's central bus station. From there we grabbed a taxi to our place in town for 40 pesos. We found this cool spot on Airbnb for $39 USD a night. Our room is super comfortable and features a desk, refrigerator, air conditioning, fast wi-fi, tv and a nice bathroom.
Out in the common room there's a seating and kitchen area but the best part is upstairs. Up here there's an outdoor kitchen and hammocks which we've really been enjoying. All right well let's start exploring! Today we are starting down on the main pier in town where you can find the iconic ZIHUA letters which is a great place to snap a photo. It's also where you're going to come down to book a fishing charter for some of the best fishing in all of Mexico. As you can see the weather is a little overcast today unfortunately a tropical depression blew in here last night. But don't you worry the last few days have been absolutely gorgeous so we have a ton of footage that we can share with you from there. Like Adam just said Zihua is known for
its sports fishing so if that's your thing come on down. They hold a bunch of tournaments throughout the year and we were actually here on Sunday for their Father's day sailfishing tournament that was a boatload of fun to witness! Throughout town and at the beginning of the pier right here you are going to find booth selling tickets to Playa las Gatas which is one of the most beautiful beaches in all of Zihua. So make sure to stay tuned for that because we're going to be taking you there in a little while. But right now we're going to go explore the waterfront. Come with us! This might be my new favorite statue it reminds me of Freddie Mercury. It actually commemorates a hero that defended the port of Veracruz but man it is cool baby! I like it. There's a lot of emotion behind it. And keep your peepers peeping people because there's cool stuff like this. I'm
not sure if this parrot is named Lilly or she just likes Lilly but I've never seen a parrot mascot on a restaurant before. If that even is the mascot. That's true. Right now we are on Paseo del Pescador which means the Fisherman's path. This is a walkway that runs along the waterfront here from the pier to Playa la Madera which we will show you in just a bit. And here along
this walkway you will find a ton of shops and restaurants. You may notice in this video that some are closed that's because we're here in the low season and it is a weekday. But it is very relaxing we are really enjoying this. But if you want a bit more action you can come in the high season which I believe is between November and April. The beach running along the malecon here is Playa Principal. It is a beautiful place to come down and just relax and watch the water. It's not really suggested you go swimming here though because it is a very active fishing port.
As you can see here behind me the fishermen are actually bringing in their catch. You can come down here in the morning and watch that and even pick up a little pescado if you're looking for some flavor. I just love coming down here and looking at all the names on the boats and watching all the dogs, cats and birds trying to go for some little scraps. It's a lot of fun! There's a lot of action
down here. So definitely take some time to come down and just observe. And we've made it to the central meeting point in town. That's right! Unlike most other places with the zocalo they have a giant colorful basketball court here with a crocodile dunking right in the middle of it. It's really cool. On Sundays people come down here for Domingos Culturales which is sort of
like a giant talent show for the town here. You have to do it. People are here enjoying themselves. They set up food right along the main street here. There's a guy that sells rib sandwiches that will Pew! Pew! Pew! blow your mind! You should definitely come down and check it out while you're here. It's a lot of fun! So the area we're in right now is called el centro. This is like the main downtown area of
Zihua. And right off the malecon here behind me is where the town kind of starts and it runs back up into the mountains. You're going to find a lot more shops, restaurants, hotels. This is where we're staying. As well as Mercado de Artesanias which is the artisan market. It's a great place to go and grab yourself some souvenirs. Adam has been going to Cafe Caracol every morning for his morning coffee fix. And while we were doing that we actually saw a banner that said Surfers for Strays.
So if you're looking to give back while you're here, they're looking for people who are returning to the United States and Canada who will bring puppies and kittens to their forever home! Yeah so that could be a cool thing to do when you're here. Look at all these rainbow colors! We just wanted to say that we love you for who you are just the way you are and so does Zihua! Since we've been in Mexico we have noticed a lot of forward progression for such a conservative country in inclusivity and we absolutely love that! All right now let's keep going. We just love all these little details here like these ribbons on these light posts and then these baskets up in these trees. It gives it a lot of character. And it looks like Adam's found himself a feline friend. That's right I can appreciate cats because they like to have their space sometimes. Just like me. While you're walking along the malecon there are lots of places to come and sit and just relax. There's also beautiful artwork like in this little alleyway right here.
Look it! Oh hey buddy! Wow these are gorgeous. I know. This has to be one of my absolute favorites here and what I love is that a lot of the inspiration comes from the ocean since this is a fishing community. They're just so so beautiful. That one right here is a whaley whaley cool! Right hair? Right hair! Oh Adam.
We just met Jorge and he is a guide in this area. What can you do for people? Oh we do we have a lot of things to do. Sport fishing, we can do horseback riding. The horseback riding is really interesting because the horseback riding is absolutely in the small fishermen village called in Playa Blanca. And the riding starts at the small restaurant, go to the village, go to the jungle, go to the place where we have the bird sanctuary and ending at the beach with the sunset time. That sounds so nice. It's beautiful. It's around two hours activity but it's so fun! But he said that he can take you to other like neighborhoods up into the barrios along to different beaches and a lot of places. So
we'll put his contact info down in the description below so you can contact him when you come here. I appreciate it. Thank you, thank you! And as you're walking down the malecon you will see some of these beautiful palapa covered restaurants where you can come down and watch the water and the boats come in. It's pretty sweet. Yeah I've heard this one here Valeria is really nice. Oh Valerie girl I'm coming for some of your food! Are you ready brother? Lunch, Cerveza, Margarita? You make a party here for the honeymoon! Oh yeah? You remember the best day! We gotta get we gotta, get married first! Oh no! No married? No. Eleven years. My friend, my friends, the ring is here. The ring is here! Got it! Oh that's a good one! Yeah good one. Here let's give me the oh we're gonna go pinky with this one. Oh yes!
Will you be my country collecting partner? For life! For life! Oh you're so funny. We'll come back later. Okay! You no make me Mexican promise because when they make this promise, never never I see you! I wait for you and you don't show up! Come down and see Polé, he'll take care of you! Absolutely! Okay! And it's just like that as you're walking around there's lots of people that are offering you tours and things to do but they're not pushy they're just super friendly and they're looking to help you out if you need something. Absolutely! Love him! And right along the malecon you're gonna run into the archaeological museum. Here they have six different exhibition halls with almost 500 different pieces of art and artifacts. It's open every day except Monday and cost 10 pesos to go in. We definitely recommend it. Well all right let's keep going. At the end of Playa Principal the malecon does not
end. If you continue over this bridge right here and along it, it'll take you to Playa la Madera which we are going to right now. But I wanted to point out this bike path. I think it's over 20 kilometers long and it actually connects Zihua to Ixtapa. So if you want to rent a bike and go there along that path I think that could be really fun. It's so funny right down here you can see there's a little knife and it just got me thinking that someone was trying to get rid of the evidence! Who killed the butter people? Follow the color brick road! Follow the color brick road! And this little walkway here is so nice. It looks like they just redid it recently. For sure. It
goes right along the water's edge here. Lots of little places set up for photo opportunities. To sit in the shade and you know fish. It's wonderful! And all along the walkway you're gonna find these environmentally responsible signs like this. If you love me, take care of me! Limit your plastic usage! It's just like me. If you love me take care of me please! Does that mean feed you? Yes exactly! Luckily we're heading somewhere for breakfast. Oh I like that idea. Let's go! Welcome to Playa Madera. This is one of the main swimming beaches right here in town. Right now it
is so peaceful there might be three people here. We came here on Sunday and it was jam-packed with families, friends, couples, people swimming eating, partying. Just having a good time! You should definitely make the time to come down on the weekend or if you want a little more peaceful time right now it's perfect! All right let's go get some breakfast! Oh we saved you a seat. Join us! What are you gonna sit on top of them? Well they can sit on top of me, I might crush them! This place is so nice. It really is. The view is probably the best you're gonna get down here on the water. What's the name? This is called La Terracita or the little terrace. We're absolutely
loving it up here the vibe is cool and the vista is even better. We're basically sitting in a tree! Yeah I know, it's like a little tree house. But I got the terra juice. And I believe it has pineapple, apple, oat, chia and orange and it was two dollars or like 39 pesos. And I got the tropical juice which is a mix of tropical fruits like strawberries, pineapple, and some other delicious ones. And then we got this little fruit bowl here for 30 pesos. Looks so so good we're gonna jump in! Wow our main dishes just arrived and they look amazing! I got the poblano omelette which is rajas poblanos, they have some Oaxaca cheese in there and spinach. And then there's this beautiful
poblano chili sauce on top. Yeah and then I went with the Zihua which is an egg white omelet and it's stuffed with quinoa, tomatoes, spinach, it looks like some basil as well. And then it's topped with a red chili sauce or a red bell pepper sauce. They both look delicious. Let's taste it out! Adam's favorite part of the day! Time to eat! Wow! There's just a little bit of heat from that sauce on there. The eggs are beautifully cooked. And the Oaxaca cheese just gives it that little extra oomph! It's salty so it probably makes it well balanced. Salty and spicy just like me! I already had a bite of mine and let me just tell you it is divine. The eggs are so
light and fluffy. And I forgot to mention that there's actually asparagus in here and coconut milk. It gives this it this really unique flavor. I definitely recommend trying this. Before we head out there is something i wanted to mention. For me the name Zihuatanejo is one that I have been hearing for so long because it's from my favorite movie, The Shawshank Redemption. If it's your favorite movie too leave us a comment down below. It's that beach that Andy Dufresne tells Red to meet him on. And they meet and they hug and they look out at the beautiful water. Well,
unfortunately that's not actually here. We learned that it was filmed in St Croix, at least that scene was. But this place is just as beautiful so you should definitely come here and check it out! Now we're going to head down to the pier and grab some tickets to head over to Playa las Gatas we'll see you over there! All right we are back here on the pier and we just bought our tickets to go on the boat over to Playa las Gatas. Round trip is 80 pesos and I didn't know if they did just the one way but I asked them and she said yeah absolutely! So we paid 40 pesos each to just go there. The last boat comes back from Playa Las Gatas to here. I want to say the mainland but
it's still on the mainland, it's not an island. It comes back here at 5pm so make sure you are ready by then! All right let's go get our boat! And the boat is ready! Here we go! Bruno es el capitan! Y Tu hijo? (And your son) Yeah Yeah Luis! Luis! Hola Luis. El media Captain. The half captain. Baby captain! And this breeze feels so good. Like we said the weather isn't that great today but Adam got some
shots the other day so enjoy! And we are arriving you can see how blue the water is over here. Welcome to Playa las Gatas. This is the cat's beach which I'm not sure why because don't cats hate water? But this is located right across the bay from the town. As we showed you the most accessible way to get here is by boat but there is another path to Playa la Ropa that we will show you in just a bit. But for now let's go check out the beach! Ooh it looks like somebody's already comfortable! Hola amigos! You know I'm a sucker for a good chair on the beach. When you get here there are so many options for restaurants and places to sit.
Most of them are consumption so go up find out how much stuff costs. Find yourself where you want to sit and enjoy. We chose La Cabaña. They have great service and good prices. Remember over here things might be a little more expensive because everything has to be brought over by boat. But it's still very affordable. So let's get to relaxing and enjoy this beautiful beach!
We got some guacamole here and Adam and I were just talking. I love how they have like tables where you can sit and eat enjoy your drinks and they have loungers as well and these other types of chairs. I know some people can be picky about where you're sitting. I think that's important! I am one of those people. I like to be comfortable when I'm enjoying the beach! Absolutely. So they have a lot to offer here. Oh there's nothing like some good guacamole! Let's Guac and Roll baby!
They just started the music. It's so nice the breeze is blowing and something I wanted to mention we learned this the other day and I really like that we learned it. When you're out and if you have a younger male server and you know you don't want to call him sir or senor we never knew the word what to say like we're just like hey or like say their name. You can say Joven, which means young. And that gets their attention. It's like how you don't want to call and miss a ma'am, you know. So yeah just a little word of the day for you! You can call me Joven anytime! And while we are spending time on this gorgeous beach we want to give a heartfelt shout out to our newest patrons! Julia, John, Steve, Tim, Vacation Mode and Yves da Silva! Thank you so much for your generosity.
We absolutely love having you a part of this community and we're just so appreciative of you! Seriously right now our tootsies in the sand is in part because of you. Yeah! And it means the world to us from the bottom of our hearts. Yes if you would like to join our patreon community we will put the link in the description below! And while this is not the biggest beach it's definitely worth taking a walk down to the end over here where there's a small mangrove estuary. This is also known as one of the best snorkeling beaches in the area. We've seen equipment for rent anywhere from 60 to 150 pesos depending on if you're just getting equipment or you're also getting a tour out to be guided around the reef. You should definitely give it a shot when you're here. Right now we're not going to be doing that because we have so much more to show you and I need to get back and finish that guacamole...
Save some for me! No, lo siento! It's honestly so relaxing here. We recommend getting an early boat from the pier. I think they start around eight. Absolutely. And remember a cloudy day at the beach is way better than a sunny day at work! That's so true! I wish we could stay here for the rest of the day but we gotta take you over to Playa la Ropa so come along! And if you're looking to get a little crazy they also have some tubing and banana boats! Not banana hammocks, banana boats people! We are back down at the dock. The easiest way to get back to town and the most direct is to take the boat that we came over on. Instead we're gonna head over to Playa la Ropa via this little trail
that kind of heads right along the water here on the coastline. It's about an eight to ten minute walk depending on how fast you go. It can be a little rocky so I would recommend wearing at least flip flops to get over there. Come with us oh there's already some people going. Let's follow him. He's got the drinks! Follow this guy with the drinks! And yes definitely take it slow here there is sort of like a little path that's been compacted from all of the wear. But it's very rocky. We just want you to be safe! And Playa la Ropa is right over there. Do we still got Adam with us? I'm here, I'm here! Don't leave me behind! We would never. I was still guacing and rolling back there! Luckily more
guacing than rolling because that would hurt. That would really hurt! Let's keep going. Watch your head! And it looks like we have almost made it! We have survived that little treacherous walk over there and it looks like there's a little parking lot. People probably come and park here if they live like closer to this side of the town and then just walk over there. I can see where the town is starting right up here, Playa la Ropa the beach and everything so let's go check it out together! And yes if you're coming in the summer months expect muggy weather. It's very very humid so you're going to want to drink a lot of water and probably get a place with air conditioning! Once you hit the red pavement you know you have made it to this side of town. There's lots of little hotels over here with restaurants and bars and it's the gateway to the beach.
Isn't that music just gorgeous? Some of the restaurants here have live music we absolutely love that. And right in front of me I see some amazing murals! Let's go check them out! Would you look at this! Coolest great white shark ever! We have the same sunglasses and he even has a tattoo! But what's even...and a big mouth! Oh that's true just like me. Just kidding. But what's even cooler is if you just look right down here it's all art that is so colorful and creative. Let's take a walk! Yeah it's like the alleyway of murals. I feel like this one's sort of like a Jersey Shore turtle like, "What's up bro? What's up bro? Gym, tan laundry huh? Come at me bro! I'll turtle you!" Or he's like don't use plastic. Oh yeah fair enough, don't use plastic! He does look jacked though! This one right here could
be one of my favorites as well. It looks like an indigenous woman surrounded by flowers in her traditional clothes. It just is really very heavy. It just feels like it's something that means more than just a picture. Absolutely. I love the roses. Me too! All right this art has been great especially my man right here. But let's head down to the beach already. Sounds good, I think it's about to pour. I think you might be right! We are not in Kansas anymore! No, we gotta hurry this up! Welcome to the beach! Of course there's a pirate flag. There be pirates in these waters!
This beach is really nice as well. It's one of the more popular beaches here. It extends for two kilometers. You can see it ends all the way down here. It's about a 30 minute walk from the town or you can get a taxi or a bus over. I think the bus was about 10 pesos which is really cool. Or like a 40 to 60 peso taxi ride. Yeah. And did you know Playa la Ropa got its name because at one point a boat crashed off the coast and it was carrying clothes and they covered the entire beach? So it became clothes beach. I was kind of hoping it was the no ropa beach and we'd be going in the fresca, nude, but hey what are you gonna do? You can't have it all! You can't have it all! Let's continue down the beach! So all along the beach here you're gonna find a lot more restaurants and hotels. We have noticed that the hotels over here are more expensive than
in el centro like where we're staying so it just depends what you're looking for. If you're looking for a more lively area over in el centro or like a more quiet, not secluded, but a little more exclusive area on la ropa. Aww our favorite! You know that we are suckers for a good turtle conservation program and guess what, Zihua is one of those magical places. From June until December
turtles are coming in they get leatherbacks, olive ridleys, green turtles all coming here and laying their eggs. They relocate them right here to this little turtle hatchery and when the when the eggs are ready they take them out and release the turtles. Let me tell you from personal experience releasing a baby turtle into the ocean makes your heart wanna go (BLAST) out of your chest! Remember Winston and Josh? Oh Winston and Josh! From Puerto Escondido. I just picture them out there holding their little flippers together swimming out in the sea together and free. Aww that's a wonderful
image! And when the weather is good on this beach they also have banana boats and tubing as well as parasailing. I think that's right. I always get confused between paragliding but it's parasailing. And we asked the prices the other day and they were 800 pesos each so about $40 USD each to take to the skies. And today obviously it's a bit too windy for that. We want you to be safe and not end up out at sea! All right let's keep going. When you're on the beach do you ever try to walk in people's footprints? See if it's the same size foot as yours? Oh yeah and this beach would definitely be a good place to come if you like running on the beach or having long walks on the beach. I don't like running and long walks are... you know if I'm going someplace, like to eat! Yes I will walk a long way! And this place behind Adam right here looks really nice. I could definitely spend a couple of days there chilling by the pool! And as you're coming down the beach there's a little turnout that goes into the town. There is a Playa la Ropa Artisanal Market. So definitely come
in here, maybe grab a souvenir. Check it out. Earlier today we showed you that really cool whale artist. Look at this. She's got another whale and her hair still looks really cool! I think I'm having some hair envy! Yeah why don't you put your head in the middle. Oh yeah! How's that? We got it good. There are a lot of great restaurants on the beach right here but we have heard that Triton has some delicious food so let's head in and get a snack. So we're taking our chances and are sitting outside they do have an inside area so we can always run in over there but we just got our drinks. I got a mojito but instead of rum it has mezcal, so it's a mezcaljito! And I got a mango margarita so instead of a margarita it's a mango margarita! That doesn't even make sense. We're waiting on our food and we actually just read that they do happy hour
here from five to seven so I think that would be cool to come back here, get a couple of drinks for you know under five bucks and just enjoy the view. But you do have to purchase food. I understand and I am okay with that stipulation. Of course you are! Wow! I like your shorts.
Thank you! Adam's a shorts guy! I am a shorts guy. I don't ever want to be in pants. In fact I don't even own pants. Yeah that's true actually. That's true. It's a life goal people. And he just bought these ones while he was here. They look really nice. And look at that aguachile. It's a shrimp and it looks like it's in coconut milk. Seems like a very unique kind of mix. I've never had coconut aguachile with shrimp before. But you love coconut shrimp so this is like a different type of coconut shrimp. That's right let's get this on a chip. Aguachile, the shrimp are raw and then they're curedI believe in lime and then with the coconut here. It has some habanero as well.
I think it's any kind of acidic fruit that does it for it. Let's jump into this! Oh it's got some onions it looks like. Wow! A little bit of jicama. That flavor is mind-blowing! Wow it's spicy on the tip of my tongue with this beautiful sweet coconut and the shrimp consistency is just... Very fresh? Mmmhmm. And they even have chunks of the coconut meat in here. I feel like I've just had a coconut day! Remember I had the coconut in my eggs this morning? All right let me try this. Wow! And it gets you with a little kick on the back there. Like you said it's on the tip of your tongue!
iIf you like spice, shrimp and coconut - man this dish is for you! And one of the waiters just came up to us to see how it was and he was talking to us and saying that this place has a lot of stuff you won't see anywhere else in Zihua. Like they have green ceviches and black ceviches. A lot of nice raw bar. Very unique flavors that come from all the regions surrounding it. And they have this thai tuna tostada that sounds like you would like that too. Absolutely and Thailand is not one of the surrounding areas in case you're not good at geography. Just a little bit of influence you know? But yeah we definitely recommend this, 10 out of 10! Well family unfortunately we are gonna have to wrap this video up as I think the weather has finally hit us. Our luck held out and we are so
grateful that you stuck with us all day so before we go we want to share a few of our recommendations from town with you. Yes the first one is El Sabor Casero. It's an economical kitchen. They do packages for breakfast and lunch. For about 80 pesos you get a drink, starter, entree and handmade tortillas. They also have a great restaurant called La Porteña. It is right downtown by that main dock. They have some delicious italian food if you're looking for a fix. And the last one but certainly not least is La Papa Loca! It is literally a crazy potato like you have never imagined! Yeah it's incredible. They have a lot of other stuff on the menu but you have to go for the baked potatoes they're out of this world. Heidi had one that was stuffed with pastor
pineapple, and cream. I had the rib meat, chorizo and green peppers. I've never seen anything like it and so when you come here definitely go there. But yeah thank you.. He wants to continue.. We couldn't even finish them they were so big! Yeah but thank you so so much for being here with us! It would have been nowhere near as much fun if you hadn't been here to share it with. Yeah so if you enjoyed this video please give us a big thumbs up, comment, subscribe and don't forget too... DLING, DLING, DLING, DLING the bell! We'll see you, next time! Adios!
2022-06-29 01:56
