Ixtapa - Zihuatanejo, Mexico | Zihua-Ixtapa . com

Barra and Laguna de Potosi are located several kilometers to the south of Zihuatanejo and the Ixtapa Zihuatanejo airport.

There are two access routes to the area, the main one being from the town of Los Achotes along highway 200 to the south of the airport. It provides the easiest and most direct access.

The second route, dustier but infinitely more picturesque, is accessed by taking a turn to the right just before reaching the entrance to the airport. The beachside dirt road skirts the airport, going in what seems to be the wrong direction, since Laguna de Potosí is at the southern end of the long white stretch of beach known as Playa Larga and Playa Blanca. Numerous new homes, restaurants and both small economy and posh boutique hotels and condominium complexes are going up along this beachfront route.

Arriving in the village of Barra de Potosí, there is a large parking area in the palm grove. The beach is lined with Enrramadas... sparsely thatched palm-roofed structures affording shade during the hot day.

The Enrramadas offer a wonderful variety of food, especially fresh seafood such as whole huachinango (red snapper), oysters and shrimp as well as other typical Mexican dishes. They also give you the opportunity to have a cold beer, soda or refreshments such as fresh coconut milk, hibiscus or tamarind water.

Many of the Enrramadas are festooned with colorful paper or plastic cutouts and colorful frills during the Christmas / New Year holiday season.

Though not normally so, crowds can be thick on weekends and holidays and there are often numbers of tents strung out between the Enrramadas, where the campers surely take advantage of the food and facilities under the palms. Musicians wander through the Enrramadas periodically, serenading hungry diners for a low per-song fee. Venders of balloons, coconut oil and candy, nuts and other snacks ply their wares in and around the restaurants. Several kiosks offer colorful and cool beach attire.

One of the attractions of Barra de Potosí is the large lagoon, where you can tour the mangroves and watch the intense birdlife in small boats. Birdwatching in this area is an astounding experience, where quantities of waterfowl are to be seen at close quarters.

Barra de Potosi with Bear - photos and a recounting of Bear's trip to Barra de Potosi and Zihuatanejo's "Long Beach"