Zihuatanejo is one of those places you just wish you could get stranded in for a very long time. As I’ve said before, there’s much to love about the place. It’s a small fishing village on Mexico’s Pacific coast, and it’s just bursting with local flavor.
Just up the road is the sterilized resort town of Ixtapa–the Cancun of the West Coast–but the two places couldn’t be more different. Nestled in a protected bay with a coastline of alternating rocky headlands–a bay in which fishermen head out in their small boats–it has great ocean views from all around the bay. A vibrant village market forms a fascinating maze to get lost in, and the beach fish market is both unique and quintessentially local. It is quite a gem.
ANDY: Think you’ll ever get out of here?
–The Shawshank Redemption (1994; dir: Frank Darabont)
RED: Sure. When I got a long white beard and about three marbles left rolling around upstairs.
ANDY: Tell you where I’d go. Zihuatanejo.
RED: Zihuatanejo?
ANDY: Mexico. Little place right on the Pacific. You know what the Mexicans say about the Pacific? They say it has no memory. That’s where I’d like to finish out my life, Red. A warm place with no memory. Open a little hotel right on the beach. Buy some worthless old boat and fix it up like new. Take my guests out charter fishing.
Related: Zihuatenejo also has an interesting historical link to 1960s psychedelia. You can read about it here.
