Article# 4 - Ixtapa & Zihuatanejo (Twin Cities): Ixtapa is worlds away from Zihuatanejo, at least in ambiance, but these fraternal twins on Mexico’s southern Gold Coast lie only about 5 sea miles apart. In and around this double destination, we find great fishing, diving and anchorages – plus the amenities of yacht slips and a reliable fuel dock. For boaters, Ixtapa primarily means Marina Ixtapa. Located inside its own sheltered basin two miles east of Punta Ixtapa, Marina Ixtapa contains 320 full-service slips, a nice two-story clubhouse with showers, laundry and an upstairs restaurant overlooking the golf course. Ixtapa has the only marina with slips for pleasureboats within many miles. You’d have to cruise about 185 miles northwest to reach the Manzanillo/Barra Navidad area, or about 110 miles southeast to reach Acapulco. What’s New at Ixtapa? Good news: Marina Ixtapa, which was built by Situr Marinas in the 1990s, was recently purchased by a consortium of bankers and property managers. Like Marina Nuevo Vallarta near Puerto Vallarta and Marina Mazatlan north of Mazatlan, this marina at Ixtapa had been on the market for a few years. According to the dockmaster, the marina’s new owners are catching up on any deferred maintenance to the docks and around the yacht basin, and they’re also dredging the marina’s entrance channel. Right now (during January and February), Marina Ixtapa’s jetty-lined entrance channel is open to boater traffic for four or five hours per day, timed to coincide with high tides. Except for those open hours, a dredge and barge is working in most of the narrow channel, operating day and night to get the job done as quickly as possible. By March, the dredging will be completed for the year. The job is to remove silt buildup that naturally accumulates from runoff after summer storms. Bahia San Juan del Dios is a shelf surrounding the jetty entrance and the Blancas Islands, just offshore. Southerly surge prevents silt in the entrance channel from being washed out across the shelf and out to sea. Hence the need for the dredge to bring the channel’s minimum depth back to 8.5 feet. Some spots inside the basin are a 7-foot minimum depth. By late next summer, the entrance channel could be as shallow as 5 feet in some spots. So, call ahead on VHF Channel 16 to make sure Marina Ixtapa is accessible when you arrive here. Boaters anchored at Isla Grande, Islas Blancas or inside the marina basin can hear the dredge schedule and depth reports every morning over the local VHF radio cruisers net. My GPS approach waypoint -- at 17 degrees, 39.50 minutes north latitude; 101 degrees, 37.22 minutes west longitude -- lies just outside the lighted jetties, yet northeast of Isla Concepción, the northernmost of the Islas Blancas. Here, the high-rise hotels will all be east of you, on the dazzling white beach. The riprap entrance channel is not long, but it contains two groin baffles. Once you’re in the channel, bear starboard to enter the east basin where the marina is located. The landmark lighthouse tower rises from the west seawall. Head just north of that, to the marina’s guest registration docks in the northeast end of the basin. The arching footbridge is visible in front of the clubhouse, and the marina office is located inside the clubhouse. Restaurants, shops and residential villas line most of the marina basin, and an 18-hole golf course is visible north of the footbridge. Another golf course has been added east of the high-rise hotels. Marina Ixtapa’s office can clear your papers with the authorities in Zihuatanejo, which otherwise is a 9-mile bus or taxi ride over the hills. Marina Ixtapa’s floating docks have 30- and 50-amp power, filtered water, cable television and phone hookups, trash pickup and all the services of a full-service marina. However, the staff now also offers some slips, large and small, without shore power, for a much-reduced rate. Perhaps the marina is taking its cue from Marina Mazatlan, where this alternative has proved very popular. Many big boats would rather run their own generators than rely on local power, and many long-term cruisers rely on solar panels, wind generators and inverters for their minimal needs -- especially when they’re off the boat and exploring inland much of the time. Also new for some boaters, the area code for Ixtapa and Zihuatanejo has been changed to 755, and all the local phone numbers now contain seven digits. To call Marina Ixtapa by land line, cell or satellite phone, the new numbers you dial are (755) 553-2180. If you’re calling from the United States, you’ll need to first dial (01152), the long distance access code. If you don’t speak Spanish, ask for Ilsa, or someone else at the facility who speaks English. I hope this important marina’s new owners will soon have their Web site set up. Z What You Can See Nearby Zihuatanejo (pronounced “see-what-ah-NAY-ho”), has plenty to see. The collection of anchorages inside Bahia Zihuatanejo and the quaint town itself were considered a major cruising destination long before the marina was built at Ixtapa. When traveling between Marina Ixtapa and Bahia Zihuatanejo, be careful to avoid the Sacramento Reef, a wide patch of rocks awash and submerged that lie less than a mile west of Punta Carrizo. There’s deep water on all sides of this reef, which often has small fishing or diving boats anchored around it. Welcoming boaters to Zihuatanejo, the lighted pinnacle Roca Negra stands in 66 feet of water a mile south of the natural entrance to Bahia de Zjihatanejo. The picturesque Punta Garrobo Lighthouse graces the cliffs on the eastern side of the entrance. My GPS approach waypoint at the entrance was at 17 degrees, 37 minutes north latitude; 101 degrees, 34 minutes west longitude. From there, the natural entrance narrows to about half a mile. Then the bay opens north to reveal the municipal pier, several beaches lining the bay, and hillsides dotted with colorful hotels and haciendas. When entering, avoid the little reef to starboard off Punta Las Gatas. Zihuatanejo’s large municipal pier on the east side is reserved for local excursion boats. The navy base and port captain’s office are both near the head of the pier. Playa Municipal anchorage is just north of the pier, and it is closest to town. Playa Madera is farther north in the bay, so it has much less traffic. Across the bay, Playa La Ropa anchorage is just south of the small reef off La Ropa beach, and it’s serviced by the seafood cantinas on that popular beach. Zihuatanejo has no marina slips, but fortunately, it does have the only fuel dock for pleasureboats in this region. (The nearest pleasureboat fuel docks are at Acapulco and Manzanillo.) Puerto Mio is Zihuatanejo’s fuel dock, located hard to port just after you enter Bahia Zihuatanejo, behind the small breakwater on the western arm of land. If you proceed until the seaward end of the municipal pier is abeam, you’ve gone too far. Puerto Mio’s 60-foot-long floating fuel dock regularly handles yachts up to 100 feet in length, because there’s room for them to hang off either end. Puerto Mio’s few remaining slips are reserved for local excursion boats -- sportfishing, diving and sightseeing vessels. A scuba diving center and a small chandlery are ashore, near the fuel dock. You’ll need to pay in cash, but automatic teller machines are found all around Zihuatanejo. Boaters needing a diesel mechanic or other repairs in Ixtapa should ask the marina office for a recommendation. Boaters in Zihuatanejo should contact the local navy base on VHF Channel 81 or Channel 83 to ask for a recommendation. What’s There To Do Here? Sailfish season runs almost year-round at Ixtapa and Zihuatanejo, except for a lull in April. Yellowfin tuna are taken by local boats every month except September and October. Marlin season is December through May. Year-round catches include barracuda, grouper, shark and snook. Diving is good around the nearby Sacramento Reef, Islas Blancas, Punta Ixtapa and Isla Grande. Rocas Potosi, a few miles south, offers excellent open ocean diving. Getaway anchorages outside the sheltered bay and marina basin are found at Isla Grande, Playa Quita, Isla Concepción and Punta Morro de Potosi. Small cruise ships now occasionally anchor outside Bahia Zihuatanejo and shuttle their passengers ashore. A market of stalls offering Guerrero arts and crafts is found near the head of the municipal pier. Many of Ixtapa’s hotels, restaurants, discos and nightclubs now offer discount coupons to marina guests, hoping to lure us to their bright lights. Despite these steps toward more land-based tourism, Ixtapa and Zihuatanejo remain attractive and unspoiled cruising destinations. Capt. John E. Rains has been delivering yachts worldwide since 1976. He is the author of “Cruising Ports: Florida to California via Panama” and “MexWX: Mexico Weather for Boaters” and is co-author of “Boating Guide to Mexico” and “Passagemaking Handbook” with Capt. Patricia Miller Rains.