|
There's plenty to do on and off the beach around here!
Both Zihuatanejo Bay and the Ixtapa Playa del Palmar Hotel row
have a huge range of beach activities and water sports for the
visitor to engage in.
Wave runners and jet skis are easy to hire by the half hour or
more, and water skiing is a popular pastime along Playa
la Ropa -- partakers in both these sports, please watch out
for the swimmers and try to keep your more daring antics for moments
when you aren't too close to shore!
Wind surfing is a great way to go for both the young and the
not-so-young, and the sails provide great splashes of color on
the water.
You can always just swim or bob out in the sea in front of any
of the many good restaurants
along the shore.
There've been a few groups of sand castle builders on Playa
la Ropa. Some have taken this sport very seriously, and they're
not armed with only plastic pails and shovels! Unfortunately,
all their efforts get washed away at the next high tide...
The more adventurous can always find parasail renters willing
to give them a special view of life on the beach and all the way
into town!.
Hobie cats are also available for an off-shore tour around the
bay. They're usually stationed up near the northern end of the
beach by Elvira's and Paty's Mar y Mar restaurants.
Kayaks make a quiet time of it on La Ropa -- at least the kayaks
are silent, if not the people in and around them! There are also
excellent kayak tour in the Barra de Potosi and Valentin Lagoons
- a birdwatcher's paradise! (see Activities,
Recreation & Sports)
Beach volleyball is very often set up in front of La Perla Restaurant
about half-way down La Ropa. It's a good way to work up an appetite
and the desire for a cold one!
Banana boats, those bobbing, slippery, slinky inventions, can
be found at almost any point along the beach, and are well taken
advantage of by groups of all ages.
In front of El Pirata on the southern portion of the beach, there's
often a group of horseshoe pitchers out, too!
Snorkeling is
great over at Las Gatas
beach and along the rocks between it and La Ropa. There's also
another little beach around the point behind Las Gatas, La Manzanilla,
accessible only by boat, that is a popular snorkeling spot. Another
excellent spot for underwater fish-watching is Ixtapa
Island.
Diving equipment and diving
instruction are available from Carlos Scuba on Las Gatas, as well
as the Zihuatanejo Scuba Center in the town of Zihuatanejo.
Fishing,
of course, is really a category of it's own -- here you can hook
up Sailfish, Dorado, Marlin, Roosterfish, , Yellow fin Tuna, Spanish
Mackerel, Bonito, Yellowtail Jacks and Barracuda. Various boat
captains and chartering services offer any range of fishing vessel
with equipment and expertise out of the Municipal Pier.
Annually, around the middle of November, sponsors the
Total Tag & Release Billfish Tournament, and the first
weekend in May is Zihuatanejo's International Sailfishing Tournament.
Annual San Jeronimito
River Regatta - Every year in October, local boating and rafting
enthusiasts get ready for the Annual San Jeronimito River Regatta
- a fun event that takes place in San Jeronimito (near the town
of Petatlan just south of Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo), with an exciting
river race, great food, music and conviviality.
There's often enough swell off Las Gatas to content the surfer,
and a lot of that activity's done at Playa Linda at the northern
end of Ixtapa too, although most like to take off outside of town,
both north and south from Zihuatanejo, to the more serious and
secret surf spots. Surfing at many of the nearby surf spots north
and south of Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo.
More
about Surfing in Guerrero!
See the Activities,
Recreation & Sports section of our directory for service
providers in the area. |
