Ixtapa & Zihuatanejo: Private City Tour with Market Stops

4.98

(140 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

We rolled out of our hotel in Ixtapa just after breakfast—our guide, Martín, waved from the front seat and joked about “air conditioning Mexican style” as he cracked the window. First stop was one of those quiet neighborhoods tucked behind the main drag. Not touristy at all. The houses here looked proud but lived-in—bougainvillea spilling over walls, a guy fixing his bike under a palm. Martín told us how Ixtapa was planned out in the ‘70s (I never knew it wasn’t always here), and pointed at some fancy condos that used to be mango groves. It’s weird thinking about how places get built up like this.

We headed toward Playa Linda next—the air suddenly thicker and salty. There’s a lagoon right by the beach, full of birds I couldn’t name (Martín rattled off names in Spanish; I caught “garza” but that’s about it). And crocodiles—real ones! You could see their snouts poking out from the reeds if you looked close enough. My partner kept inching closer for photos until Martín laughed and said, “They’re faster than they look.” The market nearby smelled like grilled corn and sunscreen; I bought a weird fruit I still can’t pronounce.

After that we wandered through the farmers market in Zihuatanejo. It was loud in a good way—kids chasing each other between stalls, vendors calling out prices for chayote and tamarind candies. Martín explained what was grown locally versus brought in from farther south. He handed me a slice of jicama dusted with chili powder—cold, crunchy, kind of sweet-spicy. We didn’t rush; nobody seemed to mind if we lingered or asked too many questions.

The last stop was the marina—a little quieter than I expected. We stood by the lookout while Martín pointed out which yachts belonged to who (or so he claimed). The light on the water was sharp enough to make you squint; pelicans gliding low over the rocks. He mentioned how much those condos cost—I pretended not to listen because honestly, it’s wild money. Anyway, I still think about that lagoon sometimes when things get noisy back home.