Playa Principal Anchorage
March 11, 2018
We are wrapping up our time in fabulous Zihuatanejo. Checked out with the Port Captain, provisioned, got fuel, saying good-bye to friends. We spent a month here, a memorable time. Here are the highlights:
Raft-up Concert on Muskoka, Sail Fest
Unfortunately, we arrived at the tail end of this event. Cruisers donate their time and boats taking local people and tourists out for short cruises. We did enjoy one sunset cruise aboard Muskoka with gracious hosts, Scott and Laurie. The cruise ended with a raft up concert featuring José Luis Cabo, a renowned & beloved local artist. By all accounts, Sail Fest was a huge success with proceeds going to help fund education projects including the building of schools, scholarships, and more. Schedule permitting, we’d like to participate next year.
Bahia Zihuatanejo
Mateo, Dinghy Attendant extraordinaire
There are 4 beaches here: Playa Principal, Playa Madera, Playa la Ropa, and Playa las Gatas. We anchored primarily in the main anchorage in front of Playa Principal. Pros and Cons for sure. The water is green and gross which means no swimming or water making for us. It can also be rolly. We had a few days with big swells coming through the anchorage. We were able to dinghy to shore in spite of the wave breaks thanks to the friendly ever-present dingy attendants waiting on shore to help with all landings and launches for 10-20 pesos. We did have a couple of rough landings/launches when the waves were big, but no permanent injuries, just some wet clothes, groceries, dirty dinghy and frazzled nerves. A big plus here is Hilda & Ismael’s concierge service for boaters. With their service, we had laundry, diesel, and even beer delivered to the boat.
Cooling Off
Footloose at Isla Grande/Ixtapa
It’s quite warm and humid here. We went to Playa Ropa and nearby Isla Grande/Ixtapa and Petatlán just south for some cooling off, water making, boat cleaning, snorkeling and relaxation.
Cruising Community and Town
Dining with Friends, Patrice & Lou (Sonamara), Lisa (Footloose), Maureen & Bob (Paradisea)
On average, 20-25 boats were anchored here with us. There is a cruisers net Monday-Saturday, at 0830, on Channel 22 with volunteer hosts. We caught up with friends here, enjoying many meals and the Guitar Fest! With the heat, cooking is less fun. Fortunately, Zihuatanejo has no shortage of good restaurants. Every Thursday is “Posole” night. We tasted some at Any’s, delicious. Spectacular dinner at Kau Kan, serious food (tuna tartar with ginger, grilled lamb chops…) with a stunning view. There is no shortage of entertainment either with live music all around and sports. A few friends were able to watch the Olympics from one of the many sport bars here. Curling and Cerveza anyone? And the best is the basketball court right in the center of the beach walk. There is a very active league with players of all sizes, ages, and abilities taking it to the court. Very popular with the locals, who surround the court to watch in the warm evenings, snacking on popcorn or ice cream. I must give a shout out to Cuattro Cycle, a cool (air-conditioned) cafe, with excellent service, food, coffee, WiFi and is pet friendly. We spent hours parked at a table with laptops, coffee, green tea, and baked goods catching up on business, surfing, and writing.
International Guitar Festival: XV Anniversary 2018, Mar 3-10
Opening Night, Carlos Uribe & Jossy Gallegos
What a week this has been. A stage is set up right off of Playa Principal with beach concerts every night, 8-11, as well as gala events at various restaurants. Opening night on the beach stage was a great introduction to all artists. We thought we could listen to some concerts from our boat, but often there were conflicting sounds drowning out the guitarists. Better to go to the beach to hear concerts for only $100 pesos each ($5 cover)! We also attended a couple of gala events, seeing Jossy Gallegos and Nick Vigarino at Coconuts and Goh Kurosawa and Tom Lumen at Bistro Delmar. Many different styles. We really liked Leonardo Parra Castillo who played “delta” blues. Listening to him, I’d swear he was from Mississippi, not Colombia. Another night featured Eric McFadden and Omar Torrez. Wow. I could go on and on. We have some new music for our boat collection!
Moving Day
Last night we enjoyed one more meal on the beach with our friends, listening to the Guitar Fest finale. Today it’s quiet. Many boats are pulling up the anchor, time to move on. The fleet is changing once again, as new boats come in replacing the departed. We will linger another day and then it is our turn.
Thank you Zihuatanejo, next stop somewhere near Manzanillo…