Marina Ixtapa

Marina Ixtapa is the yacht basin at the western end of Ixtapa's hotel zone, 12 km by road from downtown Zihuatanejo. It is a sheltered harbour tucked behind the west end of Playa El Palmar, reached from the sea through a channel lined with rock jetties, with a lighthouse by the entrance. A private concession runs it, with 583 slips offering drinking water, 30, 50 and 100 amp shore power and round-the-clock security, plus a launch ramp for boats under 30 feet and a boatyard with a 120-ton travel lift. By sea it lies about 110 nautical miles from Acapulco and 180 from Manzanillo, and the dock staff speak English. Channel depth shifts with the seasons, from 5 to 12 feet, and the entrance is now and then closed for dredging.

Around the basin grew a development of some 173 hectares with condominiums, private villas and the Marina Ixtapa Golf Club, laid out by the Texan designer Robert von Hagge and opened in January 1994: 18 holes, par 72 and 6,781 yards, with water in play on 14 of them. Calm, navigable canals wind between the course, the houses, the harbour and the clubhouse, and residents use them to get around by boat. Crocodiles live in these waters and sometimes turn up beside the fairways, which is why swimming in the marina is a bad idea.

If you are not arriving by boat, the appeal is a stroll along the quay past the moorings and a meal by the water. Restaurants and cafés with terraces over the basin ring the harbour; the best known is El Galeón, built inside a replica sailing ship that sits on land, serving seafood and pasta. The marina is also the start of Ixtapa's network of paved bike paths, which link the golf courses with the hotel zone and continue through the mangroves to Playa Linda.

Just outside the channel, where El Palmar begins, is Playa Las Escolleras, Ixtapa's surf spot: a right-hander with a steep drop over sand fed by the current running along the jetty. It works year-round on south and southwest swells with a northeast wind, the lineup is usually packed with surfers and bodyboarders, and the rip currents are dangerous, so it suits experienced riders.