Zihuatanejo: The Sleepy Mexican Gem That Stole My Heart
the sun was setting over zihuatanejo's bay when i realized i'd forgotten to check the weather. i just checked and it's 23°C there right now, feels like a warm hug from a distant relative. perfect for wandering around without a plan.
"You're going to Zihuatanejo? That place is magical,"
the guy at the bus station had told me, his eyes glazing over like he was remembering a past life. i heard that from three different people before i even got there, so expectations were sky-high.
walking through the streets felt like stepping into a movie where nothing dramatic happens, but you're still completely captivated. the humidity was doing that thing where it makes your shirt stick to your back in the most inconvenient places. i'd packed way too many clothes for this trip - rookie mistake.
if you get bored, *Ixtapa and Petatlán are just a short drive away, though why would you be bored here? the seafood at the market was making my stomach growl before i'd even seen it. someone told me that the ceviche at the corner stand near the pier is life-changing, but also that the guy running it might be running from something. who knows?
found myself at a little bar where the bartender kept calling me "jefe" even though i'm pretty sure i'm younger than him. the local beer tasted like it had been sitting in the fridge since the 90s, but in a good way? hard to explain.
TripAdvisor has a million reviews about the beaches here, but none of them capture the feeling of walking on sand that's still warm from the day's heat. i kept thinking about how i'd read somewhere that this place was a fishing village that accidentally became a tourist spot. seems about right.
my phone died around 8pm because i forgot to pack a portable charger (another rookie mistake), so i just sat on the beach watching the stars come out. the ocean made this rhythmic sound that's impossible to describe without sounding like a bad poet. someone once told me that the best travel moments happen when you're completely disconnected, and sitting there in the dark, i believed it.
woke up the next morning with sand in places sand should never be. typical. grabbed coffee from a place that looked like it had been there since before i was born. the barista had a tattoo of what might have been a fish or might have been a very abstract interpretation of his ex-girlfriend. hard to tell.
Yelp* would probably give this place three stars for "ambiance" and complain about the lack of oat milk, but i was in heaven. sometimes the places that don't try too hard are the ones that get under your skin.
if you're planning a trip here, just go. don't overthink it. bring sunscreen, maybe a book you'll never read, and prepare to slow down in a way that might make you question why you ever moved so fast in the first place.
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