Ixtapa translates to “white beach” in ancient Nahuatl, and to jet-set travelers, Ixtapa means glittering nightlife. But boaters visiting south of Manzanillo find at least four other good reasons to spend time in and around the young resort town of Ixtapa.
Located about 170 nautical miles southeast of Manzanillo and about 110 nautical miles northwest of Acapulco, Ixtapa’s man-made harbor -- together with its neighboring town of Zihuatanejo -- is the handiest stopover half way down the beautiful yet sparsely populated shoreline. With the jungle-clad Sierra Madre del Sur mountains rising right behind the beaches, this stretch offers very few anchorages for pleasureboats, and most of them are considered either “fair-weather only” or “marginal” for overnighting. So when the opportunity to break up a long coastal passage presents itself, boaters are always grateful.
At night, the pastel loom from Ixtapa’s high-rise hotels and jazzy nightclubs is visible in the sky from 10 miles up or down the coast, or even farther if there’s any moisture in the atmosphere. The European lifestyle pervades Ixtapa, so restaurants and discos don’t open until at least 9 p.m. (Don’t worry, Marina Ixtapa is safely beyond earshot.) But for first-timers, I don’t recommend approaching Marina Ixtapa at night. Even the latest DMA or SM charts have not been updated to show the new entrance to Marina Ixtapa, and several islands, reefs and rocks are best sighted in broad daylight.
I do recommend that southbound boats stay about four miles off the point of Lazaro Cardena. Cut straight across Bahia Petacalco to a point one mile west-northwest of Punta Ixtapa, and then enter Bahia San Juan de Dios by putting Isla Concepcion on their starboard beam, favoring a deep-water course closer to that island than to rocky Punta Ixtapa. Isla Concepcion is the most dome- or cone-shaped of the four small islands southeast of Punta Ixtapa.
Ixtapa Ahead!
The lighted jetty-lined entrance to Marine Ixtapa lies only two nautical miles east of Punta Ixtapa, on the west end of the long white beach that forms Bahia de Dios, as it’s called. For verification, the GPS position of the rip-rap entrance is 17 degrees 39.75 minutes N, 101 degrees 37.22 minutes W, but don’t use this as a waypoint to steer due to off-lying hazards. The south opening jetty is baffled with short rip-rap groins to block out summer swells, and a dredge is scheduled to resume operations in March. Meanwhile, the minimum depth in the entrance is seven feet, according to Harbormaster Elsa Zuniga Loeza.
Where the entrance channel divides, bear to the right toward the landmark eight-story tower with the lounge on top. This takes you into the larger yacht basin, or darsena, which is filled with 300 privately owned slips, about 100 of which are available to guests. Those are scattered around on docks D, E, F, G, H and I. To ask for a guest slip, call “Marina Ixtapa Harbormaster” in English on VHF 16 when you’re in range. They’ll give you directions and have a uniformed staffer on hand to guide you in and take your lines.
Amenities include 30 and 50 amp dock power, purified dock water, trash pickup and oil disposal, pumpout at the slip and telephones on the docks. Weatherfax reports are posted in the marina office building, which also houses marble-lined showers, laundry facilities and a golf and tennis club. Marina guests have access to the 18-hole links, lighted courts, private restaurants, dock buggies and more. After gunk-holing for weeks through dozens of remote and uninhabited anchorages, all this posh treatment can be staggering. Guest slips run 44 cents per foot per night on a weekly basis, or 39 cents on a monthly basis.
The fuel dock and the launch ramp are found in the southeast corner of the darsena, but the diesel pumps are temporarily out of service. The nearest diesel is five miles south in Zihuatanejo. (See next month’s Mexico Report.) Meanwhile, if you need a large quantity of diesel, ask about arranging a tank truck to deliver it to the side wall.
Nice shops, eateries and private villas surround this eastern basin, and the smaller western basin is all private (but it might serve as an emergency hurricane hole). All the big hotels and nightspots are located outside the marina, down both sides of the mile-long Paseo Ixtapa. Every five minutes, a bus heads over the hill to Zihuatanejo and the airport 12 miles away, so to sample the high-rise delights, hop on just outside the marina, hop off at the far end of the strip -- before the bus starts up the hill -- and then meander back at your own speed.
Yet More Reasons For Ixtapa
Ixtapa also offers excellent diving and fishing, nearby anchorages and the chance to leave the boat in safety while taking a few interesting side trips inland.
Underwater visibility ranges from 25 to 80 feet during the winter cruising season, and to 100 feet in summer, so scuba and snorkel divers are drawn to Sacramento Reef off Punta Carrizo, the four Islas Blancas (La Concepcion, La Merced, San Antonio and Placer Nuevo) just outside Marina Ixtapa, and both sides of Isla Grande, which lies one mile north of Punta Ixtapa, and the rock pinnacle north of Isla Grande.
From November through May, sailfish and pelagic tuna are taken within a half day of shore, possibly due to the closeness of the Mid American Trench and the controlled outflow of Rio Balsas just 35 miles up the coast. A wide variety of sea bass, dorado, Pacific porgy and edible shark show up for dinner year-round, as do lobsters, clams and oysters.
Get Away to a Hideaway
Isla Grande’s sandy beaches, hiking paths, funky beach bars, dinghy piers and three anchoring areas provide the prime hideaway spot in the Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo area. There are no hotels on this tiny island, so tourists who come on shuttle boats are gone by dusk. New moorings in the larger cove on the south side of Isla Grande keep anchors from damaging the delicate coral formations.
Each February, 400 million monarch butterflies finish their 3,000 mile migration by carpeting the jungle near Morelia for several weeks. To witness this spectacular yet little-publicized event, leave your boat safely at Marina Ixtapa, board an express bus or fly to either Morelia or Zitacuaro, where you can easily overnight and then catch a one-day tour bus out to the “mariposas monarchas.” Guides know which mountain peaks have the most butterflies on a particular day. (Sailors find a new meaning for “wing-on-wing” when monarchs sometimes densely cloak trees, huts -- even willing tourists.) Take a camera and binoculars. Collecting and smoking are prohibited.
For boaters, Ixtapa means a comfortable and safe marina between Manzanillo and Acapulco, one that’s adjacent to Zihuatanejo, with great diving and fishing, and unique side trips by land and sea.
SIDEBAR: Cocodriles make a comeback in Marina Ixtapa
Not many years ago, Marina Ixtapa was carved out of a lush natural lagoon, and many of the birds and fish species that were temporarily displaced during the construction have now returned. Most famous among boaters is the “cocodrile,” a three- to four-foot local crocodile that eats mostly frogs and small fish. Turns out that the new marina provides this critter with lots of shady places for a siesta (below the dock fingers) and well-stocked hunting grounds (below and above the dock fingers). Rumors of cats and small dogs being gobbled up may or may not be true, but local divers will not work on the bottoms of boats inside the marina. Harbormaster Elsa says there’s only one cocodrile left, but if you need to clean your bottom, anchor outside the jetty entrance -- just in case.
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