Isla Ixtapa . . .

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Today we were in the port of Zihautanejo/Ixtapa, a sort of double port. Our ship pulls into a bay and we tender ashore into Zihautanejo. But the next bay over is Ixtapa and the two cities are pretty much connected. Zihautanejo is in many ways still developing. It’s a bit rougher and it’s where many locals live. Ixtapa is very developed and is mainly lined with expensive resorts and condos.

This morning a group of us hopped into a taxi and rode over to Ixtapa. The drive was interesting, seeing the change in the buildings, landscape and roads as we moved from the local area to the tourist area. We passed by some spots we’re really interested in returning to - like a big waterpark! Another day, another day . . .

Our driver took us to a beach called Playa Linda where there is a small water taxi stand. We then took the water taxi across to a small island named Ixtapa where we spent our day.

Isla Ixtapa was like a little piece of paradise. We settled on beach chairs in front of a little restaurant right by the water. It was calm and made for good swimming. The water was warm, but still cool enough to be refreshing which was good because the sun was HOT! I spent much of the day lying in the sunshine reading my book. But at times it was so hot, I felt like I was going to melt!

On the beach there, you could rent jet skis and banana boats and things. JoJo, Clair & Chris all went out on the jet ski.

It was so pretty, with views across the water back to the mainland and the rocks at the ends of the islands with the water crashing up against them.

The island is very small and you could easily walk around the whole thing in not much time. Just behind the restaurant where we were lying, is the opposite side of the island. There the water is rougher with a constant wave. There is a reef with lots of coral so there is lots of snorkeling there. I ended up not snorkeling because I just felt to lazy (bad, I know) but I’ll go back another day and go for sure. I did go wading in the water on the snorkel side and it was nuts. Honestly, I was only in water knee-deep, yet there were fish everywhere! In all the beaches I’ve been to, all the snorkeling I’ve done, I’ve never seen so many in such shallow water. I could just stick my hand under the water with my camera and snap photos of the fish! It was crazy.

It was a little bit of heaven for those few hours we were there . . . But like every other port day, time to return to reality and to work always rolls around . . . Til next time . . .

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Photos

Playa Linda
Where we caught the water taxi to the island. I loved this row of palm trees with the mountains behind.

On The Water Taxi
JoJo, Me, Jazzy & Clair