Playa Principal CLOSED

The canal that drains into the bay is an obvious problem. Putting a bed of gravel along the bottom for the last 400 metres or so would go a long way to help filter the bacteria - and a very cheap remedy. Are the sailboats out in the bay permitted to dump their waste into the ocean?

The ten thousand or so hillside squatters are also a major problem, but the "responsible authorities" keep allowing them to remain because they represent VOTES. They give new meaning to the old saying "when it rains, it pours." The sludge that washes down the hillsides from their open-air bathrooms is literally sickening.

The canal is apparently receiving discharges from clandestine sewage hookups to the pluvial drainage system as well as from the obsolete wastewater treatment plants by the Unidad Deportiva. Millions have been budgeted by the federal and state governments to fix the treatment plants, but though the money disappears no noticeable changes can be seen in the operation of any of our sewage plants beyond perhaps a coat of paint. It is criminal and some public servants SHOULD be prosecuted for it.

The Capitanía del Puerto is supposed to assure that the boats in the bay abide by the rules and do not discharge into the bay, and many boat operators have claimed they sail well outside the bay to discharge their tanks, pero no me consta.

Raw sewage is a worldwide problem. The pristine waters of Vancouver Island are not pristine near Victoria.
http://schoolworkhelper.net/sewage-dumping-in-victoria-british-columbia-venice-italy/

Something I think people ought to know, since few of us would believe the pollution is not spread about.
I have to admit, I became increasingly concerned about the water in Z bay on our recent visit. So much so, that if steps are not taken to deal with this health issue, we may look else where in future.
This is not something I take lightly, so please don't dump on me. I first visited about 25 years ago and fell in love with this place, and the beautiful bay. I don't wanna be sitting under a palapa some day watching garbage wash in and out on a brown foamy wave. It's too heart breaking to think about. I've been checking the Pacific coast out. There are no other little bays like Zihua!!! I don't want to watch an extinction!
I wonder if a petition from a couple hundred thousand tourists would help spur someone to action?

Who needs a petition when we have this wonderful resource I call my Message Board? Here any interested "responsible authority" can read your comments on the subject if they are interested. I will continue bringing the matter to their attention as I have for over 20 years since my first public meeting with a local mayor long before I became a nationalized citizen.

So post away and keep letting them know your thoughts on the subject!

We have decided to investigate other destinations on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, mainly due to a series of disappointments/concerns during our 8th trip to Zih in early March. The bay pollution was very near the top of the list. We may have noted these details due to the 2-year hiatus since our last trip, but regardless, they have given us cause to look elsewhere. We are heartbroken & it's been a difficult decision to make, as we have been in love with Zih, the people & the peace we found there from the very beginning, but there were noticeable differences this time which we just can't ignore.

The jetty should have never been built and should definitely be removed if we want Zihuatanejo to return to the days of past with clean water. Between the jetty not allowing the cleaning naturally of the bay and the inability of the govenrment of Zihuatanejo to fix the dirty water plants it is a sad mess. Yes, it is sad for tourists who come here and love our bay and town, but it is sadder still for the people of Zihua who pay their taxes and watch year after year their money disappear with the same old problems that keep confronting them and their children. The past administrations are not without fault, but who can make them change?

do not put bare feet or bury bare feet in the beach sands. There is a critter, commonly called 'sand fleas' that just love gringoes! The rash you describe could be the sand fleas. Or any number of other maladies-

I'm afraid you've got your vocabulary completely confused. You've confused "sand fleas" with "sandflies", because the only thing that could be called a "sand flea" here are the small crustaceans we call a chiquilique, but they don't bite.

What is known as a "sand flea" does not bite either nor does it survive long out of water.

What DOES bite that lives in the sand are what we call jejenes and what you call in English noseeums or midges, and they tear me up worse than mosquitos, though some people they don't seem to bother at all. They usually are out early in the morning at dawn and late in the afternoon, around 4PM or so. AUTAN is what we use locally to keep them off of us and it can be bought at almost any tienda or farmacia.

Autan has been hard to find, at least at La Comer and Bodega Aurrera. I used H24 in a spray can (43 pesos at La Comer) and it works fine.
The jejenes take cover in high winds, one of the pluses at Playa Larga....which is jejenes-Heaven on those unusual windless days there.

We have sand fleas up here on the BC coast and they are harmless little amphipods.

Very well acquainted with jejenes (and d***d mosquitos); they love me but don't bother my wife---must be her many meds.

Jejenes, in the a.m. and p.m. just as you describe SWARM on me like an attack on Pearl Harbor, expecially my back.

Go my first introduction to sand fleas at the enramadas in La Barra in 1999. feet and akles turned to raw meat. Asked the locals what they were and they called them "pulgas" or 'plugas'. Best I could understand that twisting bare feet into the sand stirrede sand that was impregnated with food particles dropped/swept from the tables and the sand fleas congregated on the sand to feed.

Anyay did some googling and there must be at least a dozen names for jejenes, sand flies, sand fleas, beach hoppers, no seeums, etc.

I was almost eaten alive by those things one day in Barra last year but they never seem to be a problem for me on La Ropa. Wonder why?