Playa Municipal

Zihuatanejo’s Playa Municipal (Municipal or Town Beach)  lies, as the name suggests, right in front of the main downtown sector of Zihuatanejo. The beach is relatively protected and a great place to watch the townspeople, fishermen and visitors at their daily activities, but because of its proximity to the town activity, pier and moored boats, it is not a recommended swimming beach.

Playa Municipal

El Paseo del Pescador, or Fisherman’s Walk, is a pleasant, tree-shaded pedestrian walkway along the Municipal beach running between the Regional Museum and the fishing pier. Fisherman’s Walk is wonderful place to sit on the beach under an umbrella and people watch. It is frequented by both the local residents and tourists milling about enjoying a snack or cold beer on the benches or under the restaurant umbrellas and palapas. The walkway is surrounded by color — from the restaurants with their sunshades, to painted walls and flowers lining the sidewalk. During the evenings the Paseo fills with people socializing and dining as the sun sets and the stars come out over the bay. The restaurants along the Paseo offer seafood and many other delicacies, and there are also several shops selling typical Mexican crafts such as rugs, hammocks, masks, jewelry and regional textiles, as well as a shell market.

La Sirena Gorda Restaurant specializing in seafood and Mexican dishes, is located on the Paseo del Pescador… A good spot for an excellent breakfast or a late-afternoon fish taco. Other restaurant favorites on the walkway are Casa Elvira (seafood & Mexican specialties), Joey’s Casa Marina (great home-style food), Mediterráneo Restaurant for pastas and in particular, fresh tuna, Daniel’s Restaurant, which at times during the winter season features dinnertime music, Tata’s and Casa Arcadia, with happy hour all day long. And there are many more places to eat than just those!

Fisherman's Walk near the Museum

The Regional Museum of Archaeology is located at the south-eastern end of the Municipal Beach. The museum displays historical and archaelogical artifacts from the region. It stands beside the flood control canal that runs through Zihuatanejo dividing the downtown area from the Madera Beach district.

The plaza in which the town’s main basketball court is located along Paseo del Pescador and is considered Zihuatanejo’s town square, with benches and shade trees. The Gazebo in the square by the basketball court is sometimes used for music, at other times a play spot for the kids. There is a small acoustic shell where cultural presentations are put on by the Casa de la Cultura and the municipality every Sunday evening, featuring art shows and music concerts… as well as enthusiastic basketball tournaments and other activities in the basketball court itself.

The Zihuatanejo fishing charter and Port Captain’s office are located at the base of the pier. At the charter office you can buy your tickets for the small boats, or pangas, that taxi passengers between town and Las Gatas Beach across the bay. This office will also arrange fishing charters with the local boat coop. There is also a Cruise Ship greeting and rest area building situated at the entrance to the pier for the use of cruise ship passengers who come ashore.

Near the pier, the fishermen also set up tables at which fresh fish is sold to the restaurants and public every morning. The pier itself has been recently updated and shaded benches have been installed where visitors can wait for the boats to Las Gatas in comfort.

Fishing boats, Playa Municipal

Yearly, on the first weekend of May, Zihuatanejo hosts an International Sailfish Tournament that has been going on for over three decades. The event brings hundreds of fishermen and boats into town in the hopes of winning one of the many prizes offered for largest sailfish, marlin and dorado. The townspeople put out food and drink and the local oom-pah band plays up a storm. The pier, for three days, becomes a madhouse of human bodies and, unfortunately, slaughtered fish. Much to the detriment of the town, nature and the sport fishing industry, the May tournament organizers have not yet learned to foster the practice of catch-and-release, even though many of the local captains are beginning to follow this practice in their everyday sport fishing activities. All too slowly the Ixtapa Zihuatanejo area fishermen are realizing they, with every dead sailfish and marlin that is brought in, are cutting their own throats and contributing to the die-out of the very industry which is sustaining their families.

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