Ixtapa and Zihuatanejo

The pairing is the point. Zihuatanejo grew as a fishing village on a deep, sheltered bay, and it still looks like one: pangas drawn up on the sand, a morning fish market, a walkable centre of low buildings, a paseo del pescador along the water, and a string of beaches around the bay - Playa Principal, the calm and family-friendly La Ropa, the snorkelling cove of Las Gatas reached by boat, and the surfing sand at Playa Larga outside town. Ixtapa, six kilometres northwest, is the opposite by design: a resort zone planned and built from the 1970s, with a straight strip of high-rise hotels along Playa El Palmar, a marina, golf courses and the offshore Isla Ixtapa for day trips of snorkelling and beach restaurants. Most visitors sleep in one and eat in the other. Around them the Costa Grande offers turtle camps, the Barra de Potosi lagoon with its birds and beachfront enramadas, and sportfishing that made the bay's reputation long before either the hotels or the film that made "Zihuatanejo" a byword for escape.

What you actually see

• Zihuatanejo bay - pangas, fish market and the pescador walk.
• Playa la Ropa - the calm swimming beach of the bay.
• Ixtapa's strip - the planned hotel zone and marina.
• Isla Ixtapa - snorkelling and beach restaurants offshore.

When to go

November to May for dry, warm weather; summer is hot, humid and hurricane-prone, with lower prices. Holy Week and Christmas fill both towns.

Honest expectations

Ixtapa is a purpose-built resort strip with little local texture; Zihuatanejo has the character but fewer big hotels. Surf beaches outside the bay carry rip currents. Taxis between the two are frequent and cheap.

Nearby

Barra de Potosi's lagoon lies south; Troncones' surf beaches are north up the coast.