Would I Return to Zihua?

I have had the opportunity to travel quite a bit in and around Mexico and I always find it is exceptional for my soul. The country calms my thoughts and recharges my spirit of travel. For all it's expected similarities, Mexico is incredibly diverse regionally. Chiapas is very different from Puebla, Oaxaca from Quintana Roo/Yucatan, and Cabo from Mexico City. Zihuatanejo was my first real trip back to the Pacific Coast since a few trips to Puerto Vallarta when I was young and reckless.  

My excitement was palpable for various reasons. For starters Mexico is always my jam. Second, it was three years since I returned from my trip to Colombia and the Yucatan (Cancun, Merida and Valladolid) and I was overdue to pull the rucksack from storage and strap it on. Finally, the last couple of years I had made plans for a couple of extended trips. One was through Africa and the second was a return to SE Asia, but each time, about a month before I was to leave, I cancelled with the excuse of saving extra money for a better trip "Next Year." Yes, I actually found myself saying I will do it "Next Year!" The idea of planning a trip was more exciting than actually taking the trip, and that is a very slippery slope indeed.

** As an aside, my elder mother was aging and her health was starting to fail. We lost her in January of 2024 and I take credence in the fact that I was here with her when she passed and not half way across the globe. Everything happens for a reason, right?

Anyways, extended trips can be a challenge at the best of times but it took this trip to Zihua to remind me that it are those challenges that create the inspiration and memories. These can be as simple as trying to find food late a night in a new place, dealing with sketchy cab drivers, hotels that say they do not have your reservation to booking train or bus tickets in a language you do not know. Somehow it always works out and when it is not totally positive you have to shrug your shoulders, curse, grab a beer or coffee and regroup. Why? Well because the universe balances everything, so what you might be struggling with today will be forgotten when something amazing unexpectedly occurs. The kindness of strangers, exception and cheap street food, an attempted conversation with a local who knows very little english that always ends with laughter. 

To that point, I am behind on my personal goal of 100 countries and the experiences I want to have. I will tell you what Zihua did for me, it has awakened the travel beast within me.

Now, back to the title of this post, "Would I Return to Zihua?" The short answer is no. However, If it came near an itinerary that I was planning (I do want to go to Acapulco) then yes, of course, but as my directed destination, no. 

A quick review; the beaches were great and the water was clean. The people were exceptional, the food was delicious and the beer was cold. The diving was meh but I adored being back in the water. I was fairly lazy on this trip and that was perfectly fine. Zihua is sold as just a small fishing village, but it is anything but that. The influx of Expats, both permanent and seasonal is obvious and not going to slow down, but I did find that there were a large number of LBH (Losers Back Home) that wandered around shitfaced and being obnoxious, usually insulting to Mexicans that were serving them. That will present its own issues in the future. 

These past 5 posts were not my best effort, but I will remedy that moving forward. I might even go back and rewrite them but for now, they are what they are. From an observational point of view, the world is rapidly changing and you need to at least keep some skin in the game. 

“Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it”

-- Ferris Bueller (if you don't know who this is, well get off of Tik Tok and get on Netflix

This one is for you Mucker. Travel well, Long live Rock!

Zihua Diving

As I prepared for my first dive it reminded me of a great quote that is attributed to Confucius in 550 BC.“We have two lives; the second begins when we realise we only have one.”

I planned this trip to Zihua around diving. What I should have done was a bit more reading about the conditions in the area. I was excited to get back into the water. I also love when we are about to jump or fall backwards off the boat and someone yells "let's go diving." The Dive Zihua shop was a bit small and there were two dogs out front and child asleep on the floor, a true family operation. It turns out that Simeon and Maude were excellent Dive Masters and the focus on safety was paramount. I purchased the 10 dive package which cost me 8900 pesos, about $615 dollars. It was all inclusive with all gear, 2 dives per day and a small snack in between dives. Bananas and cookies, the divers dream snack. 

The first three days we fine. The water clarity was not the best and the currents were strong in places, but all very manageable. If you can not dive with current, you should not be diving anyways. Dives varies from 20 to 50 feet as there were some new divers but that was fine. It was great to acclimatize and get that spectacular feeling of being under the sea. There were a few sea turtles, various rays and eels and schools of fish which I like to try and immerse myself in, have the swim around me. As I said, visibility was not the greatest so there we no colorful "explosion."

This is also the season for whale migration, humpbacks and whale sharks doing their thing. On the second day, in between dives we were fortunate enough to have a mother and her calf give us a show, about 50 metres from our boat. Then one of my best diving experience happened on my next dive. We were in a cove with the Pacific to our backs and as we descended and started our dive we I could hear the distinct sounds of the whales singing and communication with each other. It started out faint but grew stronger as Simeon signal us to be buoyant and listen. Honestly, it was quite a magical moment and I was happy to experience it a few times during my week.

Day Four brought some challenges. My first dives started at 9:00 AM with calm waters, but this day we were leaving at 2:30 PM and the sea was a bit rough. I guessed the rollers to be about 2 feet, which may not seem like much, but trust me, when you are floating in them, it is noticeable. Nothing to panic about but you needed to focus a bit more that usual.  There were two other divers plus myself and Simeon so the dives were were going to be a bit more challenging with stronger currents as well. "Lets go diving." There are excellent days to sharpen one's skills.

La Piedra Solitária 

The first dive was at La Piedra Solitária or Solitary rock. As you can see from the photo above, the current is strong. We dropped in well off the whitewater for the safety of the boat and descended and swam towards it, about 20 metres. It was a nice dive as you just learned to go with the current and in this case the back and forth to the rock. We were moving about 3 or 4 feet right and left as we descended. It was a nice technical dive and as I mentioned, it really helped you focus on your breathing, buoyancy and remaining calm. We went to about 80 feet as we swam around the rock, emerging where we started about 45 minutes later. It was the next dive that I had a small issue.

El Faro runs along the coast just outside the bay where Zihua is and directly across from La Piedra Solitária, about 15 minutes by boat. Simeon gave us the instructions that this was an advanced site as we would get diving between various rock formations and then descending down to 100 feet. There was a good chance to see spotted rays along the way which added to the excitement. It was along the coast so much like La Piedra Solitária, Jesus would pull the boat close enough without getting into trouble as the waves were large and again, that damn current. "Let's do diving."

I go over and we are gather together and descent, and my mask starts filling with water. No big deal, it is an easy fix and clearing a flooded mask is one of the first things you learn when you dive. Head back, big blast of air through my nose and voila, down we go. Except, my  mask starts to fill again. I repeat the process. Now the thing I wanted to point out is the current is pushing the three others ahead of me and the water is murky so if I am not careful, I could lose sight of them. I clear my mask again just in time to see the three of my fellow divers drop over the ledge of a rock face and start their free fall, and my mask starts to fill up again. As all of this is going on, I can feel that the band of the right side of my mask had slipped and was loose but I could not get it tight while I kept clearing it. My dive team had now vanished and my mask would just not give me break. FUCK. Now in a situation like this, and I was only about 20 feet down, I waited for about a minute as is the rule, hoping for my team to return to find me. My mask was useless so I ascended to the top, inflated by BCD and waited. 

I fixed and tested my masked and then bobbed in the ocean as shark bait. I gave an emergency wave to Jesus (not the Christian God but the boat captain) who was about 100 metres away but he did not see me because of the swells so it was a good thing I was not having a real issue. It was only a few minutes before I saw the tell tale bubbles rise around me. Simeon was surfacing, as you do when you can not find someone from your dive party. The process worked successfully. The three of them bobbed up around me, each with a look of concern. 
"Everything alright?" Simeon asked to which I replied, "mask kept flooding because of my strap and I lost you guys." "You good to go?" was his reply.  "Let's go diving"! was all I needed to say, and we descended.

The Beach, Tacos, Beer and Diving

Normally when I visit a new place, my google brain goes into overdrive looking for things to do and places to explore. Mexico is flush with Mayan ruins and Xihuacan was a 45 minute bus ride from Zihua. There are turtle sanctuaries, fishing villages, Ixtapa to view crocodiles, parasailing and other touristy beach fun things. My plan did not include any of those things. I looked at the map of the area that I was staying at and it's proximity to the beach. It included everything I wanted for what I planned as the "laziest trip I have ever taken." This trip was all about the beach, tacos, beer and diving. Sure there would be a few "longish" walks to various beaches but other than that, my zone was going to be very local and very lazy.

First things first, I needed to get organized for diving. Dive Zihuatanejo is about 30 feet from Zorros, on the same street. Maude and Simeon owned this small shop and Angel was the boat captain. If you look at their bios on the website you will see that none of them are slouches when it comes to diving. Definitely do not disparage Angel as a "local dude who drives a tourist dive boat".  Simeon loves to talk diving and we chatted for about 30 minutes as I set up my diving schedule. The first dive would be the next day with 2 a day dives through the week including Christmas day.

Lazy Daze

With my dives book it was now time for my first beach message. There are two shops along Madera beach, each with advertising sandwich boards on the beach. I went to the first one with the intention of trying the second another time. I have had beach messages all over the world and NO, they are not the types of messages you are thinking about, although I am sure they are available somewhere in town. There is a large tent with 6 professional tables set up and the girls were dressed professionally in blue scrubs. The girl gave me a large bowl to put my things in and placed it under the table when my face was looking down so I could keep an eye on it, obviously so they do not get accused of theft. It was quite a clever solution. The message was excellent, if not better than any $100 message I get back home. However, this hour message costs 300 pesos, about $21 Canadian. I made a mental note to have a message every other day.

I walked the Malecon, which ran along the beach and returned past Madera beach and back into the touristy area. It was time a cold beer but I did not want to go to Zorros again  I stumbled onto Daniels restaurant, one of many along the beach. There was a cool little L shaped bar in the corner with about 20 bar stools. It was open aired with a full on view of the beach and the Pacific. I did not need to be asked twice. 

Now the thing that was quite obvious once I cleared the travel and time zone change fog from my brain, was that this was definitely a retired Expat community. It was about two in the afternoon and the bar was hopping, average age was about 65 and they were NOT staring at their phones. It was lively, everyone was quite chatty and the bartender Arturo was crushing it. He knew everyone, had a massive smile and actually seemed like he was enjoying himself. Beer was 45 pesos each but this was Happy Hour! I think it's always happy hour in Zihua.

Street Tacos, good for the soul

What started as a relaxing day wandering the beach turning into Happy Hour madness. The people at the bar were happy to chat, I think because I was a new face. It seemed everyone was from the west coast of Canada or the USA which made sense once you thought about it. Vancouver and Victoria in BC plus Oregon and Washington was the top of the charts. I did not stumble across any europeans at all during my time here. There were a few confused looks when I said I was from Niagara Falls. Not the town but the location being the east coast. I talked about the Yucatan, Cancun and Merida but I wanted to experience someplace new. This now drunken crowd, were the best Expat Marketers that Zihua could ask for telling me how amazing living or vacationing in Zihua was. 

My Happy hour turned into Happy "To many hours" and I had not eaten all day. Arturo asked my name and I told him Ken (remember the word "who" is spanish quien and it sounds the same.) He laughed quien es Ken, and so I just answer "Yo" to which he thought was hilarious. I followed up with I am "Ken sin Barbie" (Ken, no Barbie) and he love that. He poured me a tequila, laughed and said, "Lots of Barbies here." 

street food madness

I headed into maze of cobblestone streets looking for street food and it did not take me long to find what I was looking for. A "pop up" night market had been set up just behind Daniels and I could smell the tacos like wolf hunting a wounded deer. 100 pesos got me 5 and I devoured the chorizos in about 3 minutes, so I went back for seconds, this time spicing them up a bit with the nasty green chile sauce. I will worry about that in the morning.

My belly was full, I had more than enough beer, my message was great and I set up my dive schedule. I was heading back to my room and it was around 7PM, what a rock star. I had a feeling that "late nights" were not a thing here and I was good with that. My dives did not start until 9AM so there was ample time to get a jug of water from the OXXO and a good night's sleep. 

Mexico, I'm Back

I have been thinking quite a bit about 2025. I read a version of the following (I wish I had written it) and it nailed it. 

I am at a place in my life where I promise you
I am not dealing with anything I don't have to.
I'm leaving, I'm unfriending, i'm blocking
I'm removing myself or people from situations
That make me feel as though that I am not respected or valued
My peace of mind is a fucking priority.

With that said, let me take you to Zihuatanejo Mexico.

Nothing drops the stress from my neck and shoulders more than hearing  "Bienvenido a Mexico" cheerfully spoken over an airplane's sound system. As I mentioned in my last post, this was going to be a long travel day, and it did not disappoint. Train, Train, Shuttle, Plane, Plane and now my Combi to the hotel. I left on a 9PM EST Go Train from Niagara Falls on December 18th and I finally arrived in Zihuatanejo Mexico at 4:30 PM MST on December 19th. 

The Zihua airport is NOT the Cancun airport, thankfully. If you have ever flown into Cancun you know that it is usually a hot mess and it can be a massive stress zone if you allow it. Zihua is absolutely the anti - Cancun. First it is a small airport. There were only 3 planes on the ground including my WestJet from Calgary and one was already preparing for take off. Once landed we walked down a portable set of steps and then across the tarmac into the terminal. I always LOVE the walking the tramac experience. 

Here is a bit of a funny situation. The airport staff and WestJet opened both the front and back doors of the plane to unload some very excited passengers, which makes all the sense in the world as we were going to walk down the portable stairs and along the tarmac. I was in the middle of the plane, seat 18A, and just as I was headed to the back door I saw it close and was politely told that the remaining people need to use the front exit. OK, whatever, I am an hour away from drinking a cold beer facing the Pacific Ocean. This made me and the people around me  the last people off the plane, so we would also be the last in line for customs, DOH! We were the only plane unloading and so it was about a 15 - 20 minutes to get to customs.  I suddenly had "Cancun flashbacks" with its long antsy queues of very slow moving tourists.

One plane means one line that moved fast enough with four agents on duty. I was probably 20 minutes in line, but it did not seem that long. The Customs Agent was friendly, complimented my on using of Spanish but said English was fine and the 1 minute conversation was pleasant enough with the basic questions. He stamped my passport, gave me 180 days (which I honestly contemplated using instead of the two weeks I was going to be away) then happily asked me why "I am not getting my residency and staying in Mexico". Seriously, he was promoting his country as a residency for expats. As an aside, I always find that most of the international border security I have encountered around the world is not as intense as Canadian Border Security, but that is a post for another day. I will tell you the story of being pulled into secondary after coming back from Mexico and Colombia at the Hamilton Ontario Airport. I was sitting in a room with about 30 Mexicans, most of whom who could not speak English and I ended up acting as a translator for a few of them before I was released back into the world.

As I entered the arrivals hall I searched for a TelCel kiosk but to my tired eyes I was amazed that there were none, for any company.  OK, no worries I will get one in town. Out the door I went to the bright sunshine and warm air waiting to get harrassed for transportation. Nope, did not happen. There were about 10 white shirted drivers with name signs waiting for their people. The must have been at the luggage carousel because I only had a small carry on and was the third to last to get through customs. The parking lot had a scattering of vehicles, again this "aint no Cancun." My goal was across the parking lot and over to the street, which I read on enough Reddit posts to know that was where the Combi's were. Sure enough, my chariot was waiting for me, although it was pulling out as I entered the street and I had to give a yell and a wave, and one of the local shop owners caught the drivers attention and he stopped. I hopped aboard, said "buenas tardes" and took a seat. There were 4 others on aboard who smiled as the door slammed shut and we headed down the dusty road for the 30 minute ride into town.

As I have mentioned before, I like getting an airport pickup. It is nice to get off a plane, go through customs and are greeted with someone holding a placard with your name on it. It is never ever cheap, but it is fast, safe and easy. However, this is Mexico and I am very comfortable here. I did a quick scan online and found that most airport pickups were about $50. My Combi was 20 Pesos ($1.40) from the airport to the city centre. Sure, I would need to walk to my hotel but once I picked up a Sim card, that would be a breeze. Plus, I just saved $48.60 which I could certainly use for beer and tacos, as soon as possible.

I did have a quick chat with a nice looking lady who was curious about me being on the combi. When we were dropped off she took me to the nearest Telcel shop to buy a Sim card, smiled and said to have a great vacation, then turned and walked away. Just a person being kind. Man I love Mexico. I fired up good maps and my hotel was less than 5 minutes away (FU** you airport picked). I had been communicating with Celia on Booking (click to see my apartment) but we switched over to WhatsApp.

The entrance was certainly not pretty. It was a huge steel door for cars to enter and a steel man door for daily coming an going. Celia left the door open and into the courtyard I went. It was not beautiful but it was more than adequate. There were three levels of basic apartments that were a mixture of long term residents and short time tourists. Celia only took cash which was fine. I fully understood the whole "tired of paying banking/credit card fees" thing and promised to pay the next day. She showed me my room, gave me the keys (for the main door and my apartment door) and off I went. I dropped my bag and headed out. I was back in Mexico and excited to get a cold beer and a bit of a lay of the land.

The beachfront was an easy 10 minute walk. I found Zorro's and settled in pretty quickly. Beer was 35 pesos ($2.50C)  and it was 2 for 1 Happy Hour, I hate when that happens. My adrenaline was now in control and I knew I would hit the "Travel Day Wall" so I was not about to be silly my first day/night. There were quite a few expats who we easy enough to chat with, there was a football game on and it was a warm evening. That first beer did not stand a chance!

Zihuatanejo - Mexico

Zihuatanejo is always referred to as a small fishing village. Maybe in the time of Red and Andy but it is anything but that now. A seaside town of 125,000 people with it's twin sister city Ixtapa, pop. 30,000, it is a thriving destination town of resorts, hotels, restaurants and tourist activities. Sure, there is a thriving fishing community where you can purchase oysters covered in hot sauce and lime juice, ready to eat right on the beach, but this town has evolved and continues to grow. I wanted to explore it for myself, but for now let's just embrace Andy's mystic explanation of leaving the hell that is Shawshank for the perceived heaven that is Zihuatanejo

I have had a few extended trips planned out the last few years. One thing has lead to another and BOOM, here I sit still planning. I have not done anything since June when I went on the Alaskan Cruise with my sister and with winter approaching it was time to get out of town, even for a few weeks. I knew Mexico was going to be the destination, and Cancun/Merida was the obvious choice, but then it hit me. Pay the extra few $$ and hit the Pacific Coast and get to a place that is high on my "must visit list." Stand up and take a bow Zihuatanejo, I am coming your way.

I found a reasonable flight with WestJet with a stop over in Calgary. I did not put much thought into an booked it without taking into consideration the flight times and route. It was only after I was putting the details into my trip by booking a hotel room and deciding on how to get to the Toronto Airport for my 6AM flight that I realised my mistake. My flight took my to Calgary, which was 4.5 hours, a 2 hour layover then another 5.5 hours to Zihuatanejo. It does not seem too bad until you look at a map and notice how long this flight was. A direct flight from Toronto to Zihua is about 5 hours and with a bit of effort you could find a flight that was comparably priced. I get a big DOH! for that one.

To make up for my lazy stupidity I decided it was time to go "old school" when it was time to get to Pearson Airport in Toronto for my 6AM flight. The first option was to drive and then Park and Fly as it was the easiest, but as you all know, the easiest is always the most expensive. Honestly, I am exhausted of living in a society based on ease, comfort and convenience, then justifying paying for it. The price would have been $175 plus at least a half a tank of gas, so another $40, so $215. 

Next up, a shuttle service with Niagara Air Bus. Simple and quick pickup at my house and drop off at the airport, then the reverse when I get back. You are subject to their schedule which would have put me at the airport at midnight for my 6AM flight. Total cost $211.38 which included the early booking discount of about $10.

I thought about it for a minute and put together my third option. I quick scan of the Go Transit booking site showed an express train leaving Niagara Falls at around 9 PM and arriving Union Station in Toronto at 11:30, cost was $21. From Union I could take the Union Pearson Express for $12.50 which is a modern twenty minute train/shuttle service that I have used many times. It would put me at Pearson about midnight for $33.50. 

I could have put some serious effort into it and jumped on the TTC for $3 or whatever the one way fare is now taking the bay street line to the Bloor Line, then west on the Bloor line to Kipling station. There is an Airport Express bus from Kipling which I have also taken in the past when I lived in Toronto and before the Union/Pearson Shuttle Service existed, but I splurged. 

To recap:
Driving and Park and Fly - $215
Airport Shuttle Service - $211.38
Go Train and Union Pearson Express - $33.50

The choice was obvious and with a few unhealthy snacks, Spotify and fully charged Bluetooth earbuds my sister dropped my off at the sketchy and poorly lit Niagara Falls Train Station for my waiting chariot to Toronto.

Sure, I still arrived at Pearson six hours before my morning flight and needed to sit overnight waiting for security to open, but I had a good book, Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life, a hot coffee and the flowing adrenalin of heading to Mexico...yes via fu**ing Calgary, but Mexico still the same.