You get quite a choice of places to stay in Ixtapa, Zihuatanejo and beyond. The local hotel association lists nearly 30 members in Ixtapa and Zihuatanejo alone, and not all hotels are members of the association. Then, too, there are villas and condos that can be rented all the way from Troncones to Barra Potosi. Ixtapa and Zihuatanejo are between these two. In Ixtapa, you will find new names on many of the older properties. Las Brisas began as a Camino Real, Barcelo as Sheraton and now the Dorado Pacific has become the first Sunscape, an AMResorts hotel.

          Ixtapa is the younger sister of Cancun, which was the first of the Fonatur Master-Planned Resort Developments. The two siblings resemble each other not at all. Few spring breakers sign up for revelries in Ixtapa. Tranquil and sedate, Ixtapa appeals mostly to families seeking a nice, quiet vacation spot.

          That may be about to change. The previously rutted road up from Acapulco – 230 kilometers distant – is being converted into a four-lane highway, which should bring the Guerrero ports within two or three hours of each other. And the highway down from Lázaro Cárdenas, across the Rio Balsas in Michoacán, is being improved, bringing Ixtapa closer to Morelia and even Guadalajara.

          Curious thing about Ixtapa is that while it was built with the aim of attracting foreign tourists and their dollars, the foreigners seem to prefer Zihuatanejo, although few of them can pronounce it. Zihua, as they call it, looks out on a lovely bay washed by the gentlest of waves. Over in Ixtapa, the surf pounds the beaches to such an extent that red flags warn guests that swimming will be safer in hotel pools.

          Zihuatanejo now is the address of some of the most exclusive and costly lodging on the Pacific Coast. Many of these hideaways share the hills with the ruins of El Parthenon, former villa of Lopez Portillo’s Mexico City police chief Arturo Durazo. The structure is as much a ruin as the original in Greece. Rumors that it was being refurbished for Saadi Qaddafi, apparently were untrue.        

Zihuatanejo long has attracted an eclectic array of characters. Consider ''The Shawshank Redemption,'' the 1984 film in which two convicts daydream of the ultimate good life in Zihua. They finally get there. Residents for a time speculated in which of their neighbors might have inspired the film.

          Foreigners with less shady pasts have been buying a few homes on or near Barra de Potosi, our along Playa Largo and not too far from the airport. The al fresco seaside restaurants have a special appeal. Nowhere will you ever dine on fresher fish. En route to Barra, Antonio Mendez, our guide, brought our group to what I suppose could be called a coconut farm. It proved to be illuminating. Coconuts are good for much more than serving as containers for cocos locos.

          Off in the other direction from Playa Largo is Troncones, one of those “best-kept secrets” that travel writers and guide book authors are fond of revealing. Aside from being what Zihuatanejo used to be, Troncones claims to be the best surfing spot in Mexico. Some argue that Puerto Escondido and Zipolite are better, but we’ll let others slug it out. Sports fishermen like Troncones, too, as do vacationers into eco-touring and yoga.

          If anybody cares, I am more of an Ixtapa kind of guy. Exercise for me is taking an elevator down to the pool with a beach just a few steps beyond.  I enjoyed the refurbished Dorado Pacifico with its new Sunscape name. Yes, the surf makes the Pacific here too rough to swim in, but once you stop to think about all the animals that live in the sea, the pool sounds nicer. True, some children fail to emerge from the water when they need to go to the bathroom; what about fish?.

          While Sunscape is all-inclusive, it does not require guests to wear paper bracelets or sign an indenture to obtain a towel. Guests do not even need to ask for towels, which are laid out and waiting on the lounges by the pool and beneath the palapas on the beach. Disappointing is the way hangers in the closet are designed to thwart thieves and there is a fee for connecting to the Internet, but on vacation the Internet should be forgotten, right? Massages at the spa cost extra, too, but who can complain about that? What I really like about all-inclusives is the way nobody stands around waiting for a tip and how you can finish a meal, get up and walk away without waiting for a check. Something else nice was mentioned by Alejandro Zozaya, big boss at AMResorts, which includes Suncape among its many brands. “In view of the violence we read about all around us, people feel especially secure on the premises of an all-inclusive,” he said recently. “You don’t feel like you are risking your life when you go out for dinner. At Suncape, you never need to leave the premises.”