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Once the swimming pool of Tarascan kings (source)

Yet, the contrast between the two resorts could not be more striking: whereas Zihuatanejo is a charming, traditional fishing village on a beautiful bay, Ixtapa was created from ground-up as a modern, concrete-built luxurious resort on a pearly beach 5 miles away.

Ancient Tarascan settlement

Zihuatanejo means "Place of Women" in the Nahuatl dialect. Long before Columbus sailed to America, Zihuatanejo was a sacred sanctuary for indigenous nobility. The legend says that a tarascan king, selected the beach of "Las Gatas" as his place for rest and ordered a breakwater to be built so that the maidens of the town could swim without danger.

In the century XVI, the Spaniards departed for the Philippines from Zihuatanejo, which was then a center of trade and refuge for merchants and pirates. It was a matriarchal society where weaving was the dominant industry, as indicated by Pre-Hispanic artifacts, figurines, plentiful bobbins, ceramics, stone carvings, which are still being found in excavations from archaeological sites in the area, verifying the presence of civilization dating as far back as the Olmecs (3,000 B.C.). More than 900 artifacts have been found, many of which are exhibited in the museum located in Zihuatanejo.

For a long time, the Tarascans were the last tribe of the region to resist being subdued by the Aztecs. After the Spaniards granted Acapulco the exclusive right to receive the Galleons of Manilla, Zihuatanejo, like all other coastal towns, fell into a long slump, until the arrival of the Mexico City freeway in the 20th century that started the tourism boom.

Nowadays, besides being a vibrant magnet for eco-tourism, Zihuatanejo is a well-known paradise for sport fishing. And for cost-conscious travelers, it's a slice of affordable paradise.

Next: Downtown Zihuatanejo

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