Trip report October 21 - 28

First time back to the area for 5 years as ticket prices were just too high but now down to just a little over $400 pp. This was our 25 anniversary trip and first real vacation without our son who is now 18. Flew in on Alaska direct from LA on a Friday an hour late but no problems, I believe there direct flights are only on Fridays this time of year. Used the new electronic immigration forms one question to another agent then they were fine with it. Got some pesos at one of the airport ATM’s mainly just to be sure my credit union card was working. Grabbed a $520 peso taxi and off we went to the Azul Grand, stopped on the way for some soda and a bottle of Cuban rum for the room.

Hotel – Azul Grand
Check in was no problem but we were too late to book our 3 ala carts for the week, ended up being no problem the next day. Room was very nice, great view, comfortable bed and housekeeping was always on time. We ended up in the Lobby bar every evening as we enjoyed talking with the workers and getting their advice. We took down our own rum down but then discovered that they had plenty of top shelf stuff below the counter, you just needed to ask. Very few people at the Grand but their sister hotel (Azul Ixtapa) had a good bit more. Pools were perfect, never crowded and great service. Food was fine at the hotel nothing great but nothing bad either. Room service was included but there was a $70 peso fee for the service but you could order as much as you wanted. Towards the end we discovered that the food quality was much better using room service, in fact I had one of the best arrachera steaks ever and french fries actually came out hot! They roll in an entire table for you to eat on which made it very nice. Did the free kayak tour to Ixtapa Island with snorkeling and the bike tour, both were nice and would do again. We tipped what we thought was well but never saw anyone else tipping but everyone appeared to be getting good service.

Food
Since we were at an AI we did not get to as many places as I would like to but we were also away from most everything. For one lunch we tried one of the many places on Playa Linda and it was just ok, fish filet was paper thin and we ordered butter and garlic shrimp but received fried shrimp which were pretty good. Our first and my favorite dinner was at La Flachita, great barbacoa tacos and they are opened 24/7. Our second dinner was at Il Mare which we enjoyed very much and the prices were very reasonable considering the view. Took some fish to Deborahs in Ixtapa and they did an excellent job along with their chocolate cake. Did our anniversary dinner at Kau Kan, wife’s meal was excellent (whole huachinango), mine not so much but that was my fault for ordering sting ray. Prices were fair for the service except for the drinks, 4 crown and cokes were $640 a little pricey for Zihua but average for back home. We ate our last meal at Renita next to the airport, we dropped off our checked bag and then walked a short block to the restaurant. Not our best meal but still pretty good and way better than the airport, I would do this again.

Activities
We did 4 massages on Playa Linda, the one next to the Azul was $300 pp and the others were $200 pp. All were fine but we preferred the girls in the yellow shirts by the pier. Booked a zipline tour through an agency on the phone and had a good time, included transportation and 2 drinks for $57 pp. Ziplines were ok but nothing like Costa Rica, they did have some wire bridges to for a change of pace. Enjoyed the trip but not something we would repeat. Went fishing with Ramon Oleaja twice and had a great time as always. Fishing was not great but got some action both days along with enough for a few meals. Split both trips with Dave that owns a condo in Ixtapa. $190 usd for the entire boat for a day which is a steal, I always fish with Ramon. Took my wife shopping for some silver as it was our 25th and Ruby’s in Ixtapa got me for $250 for a necklace and earrings. 2 days later when my wife put the necklace on for the first time it broke in about 5 minutes. Our favorite taxi driver took us to Ruby’s on the way to Kau Kan and they had a second one to replace it with so no problems. She actually bought another pair of earrings from Ruby’s at the airport.

Taxis
This is a sticky point on this board but you will pay more getting a taxi at the Azul Grand. To go to downtown Zihua they will charge you $180 and the desk will agree with it, they actually have a printed out rate sheet that they refer to. I do understand that the official rate is $125 but I would have to walk to Playa Linda to get that and that is not happening. That is the way that it is whether you agree or not. I did try being a jerk one afternoon and when I was told the rip off rate by the driver I told him “especial por gringos” and he got a little heated about it. It’s pretty much the same deal as the airport and this taxi driver ended up being our favorite. He took us to Lupita’s to drop off some school supplies and asked around for us when Lupita was not home, didn’t realize that her store was closed for October. We decided to go have lunch and come back, once we turned the corner there was Lupita so everything worked out great. I have only meet Lupita a few times when dropping off school supplies but I can tell she is a super nice person that really enjoys helping the kids. I also left her a few pesos for school uniforms but she is very uncomfortable taking money so I don’t know if that was the best idea. So back off to Flachita for more tacos with our new favorite taxi driver, yes we bought him lunch and reserved him for later to take us to Kau Kan. We have his cell number and will use him for a trip to Santa Clara del Cobre next year.

Summary
Really enjoyed the trip and consider this more of a Mexico experience than Baja or Playa del Carmen areas. We found the hotel to be a good package deal for about $2K for 7 nights with direct air from Los Angeles even though we have to drive 4 hours each way from Fresno. You really get more for your money here except for when I called Ketavi tours and asked for a price for a 10 hour Petzcuaro and Santa Clare del Cobre tour, $500 usd, Ulises is a great guy but that’s just plain nuts! We will be back next year if we can find a similar package deal.