To the Beach...anyone??

[Courtney W]

My husband & I are here in SMA until August 20, 2009. We would like to spend a few days exploring a Pacific Coast beach, whether Manzanillo, Zihuatanejo, etc. We do not have a car and the bus options are not desirable since most of them leave at night and travel thru the night (although the bus is very cheap & comfortable, we're not able to sleep on the bus and would therefore be cranky, achy and out of sorts.) We were wondering if anyone in SMA was already planning an upcoming journey to a beach and would have enough room for 2 adults. Of course we would pay for gas. Thanks!!
Courtney W.

[carol]

Not to discourage you, but you might enjoy a tour to someplace in the central highlands--Mexico City, Taxco and Pueblo, Guanajuato, Bernal, or Patzcuaro come to mind. I'll go check what Los Vagabundos is doing next.

Carol Schmidt

I'm back. Their upcoming tours are not while you'll be here. The Instituto Allende might be having a weekend trip to Mexico City, the pyramids and the Archaelogical museum soon because this is the period when many Texans traditionally come to SMA and it's our second high season. Check at the Instituto to see what they have planned. Their trips are excellent, even the one day one to Guanajuato, Santa Rosa, Dolores Hidalgo and Atotonilco.

You might consider hiring a driver and making that one day trip to Guanajuato, Santa Rosa, Dolores Hidalgo and Atontonilco. Another day you could go to Patzcuaro and make the tour around Lake Patzcuaro looking at all the delightful little arts and crafts towns. Another day you could go to Queretaro and Bernal.

Our last bus tour of the Pacific beaches in January and February, we started with a bus to Guadalajara, a good jumping off spot for many buses to the beaches. But the area is a destination in itself.

Tonala and Tlaquepaque are the arts suburbs of Guadalajara, a nice trip on their own. Tonala is the arts factory town with the cheapest prices and no sightseeing other than the arts factories, Tlaquepaque is the upscale shopping town where the best of the crafts are sold. Very pretty town with great restaurants.

From Guadalajara you might want to visit Ajijic and Lake Chapala, less than an hour away by bus, the towns along the north shore of Lake Chapala, which would give you the feeling of a beach visit since the lake is so huge. No swimming, though. That area is at around 5,000 feet and surrounded by mountains so it's pleasant.

If you really want to go to a beach, consider flying from Leon to one of the airports near one of the beach areas. I understand fares and hotel rooms are pretty low right now because of the economy, and it's low season at the beaches anyway.

Consider using Price Line, Expedia and the other discount online purchasing services. We scored a room at the Ixtapa Las Brisas that would have been at least $300 a night for ony $75 when we couldn't find an opening at Zihua, and it was wonderful! Private beach, and a huge private oceanfront balcony with a hammock. You might offer even less and see what you get. The hotel savings might pay for airfare on a Mexican airlines.

To get a larger audience for your appeal for someone to share costs with, you might post on Civil_SMA, a local email list that can get crazy but it does have the biggest readership. Go to www.yahoogroups.com and search for Civil_sma and follow the directions to join. Make sure to sign up for Digest only, or else you will get a hundred posts a day in your inbox. Good luck!

Carol Schmidt

[Courtney W]

Wow, thank you, Carol for your wealth of information!! It looks like we are going to go to Zihua afterall: We're going to take a bus to Mex. City and stay overmeet a friend of ours from the States who's flying in there. Then we'll pick up our rent-a -car at the Airport and all drive to Zihua. BTW, someone gave me the link to www.hotwire.com to rent cheap rental cars. It seems too good to be true, but we were able to find a mid-sized car with airconditioning for less than $15.00 a day. Have you ever dealt with rental cars thru hotwire.com? I'll give you a report when we get back to SMA!!

I booked a room at Bungalows Ley, right on Playa la Madera. I had stayed there once about 13 years ago and loved it. Quite cheap but good. WE prefer the lazy, relaxing Zihua to flashy Ixtapa anyday. Thanks for the advise, though. They are great suggestions, and we'll probably be hating the humidity there (the hotel clerk told me on the phone that it's 30 degrees C there right now with humidity). My husband is hell-bent on going to Zihua; he's never been there but feels compelled because of its mention in the film Shawshank Redemption.

I will keep your other suggestions handy, specifically re the central highlands at this time of year. We're here in SMA (except for the 5 days we'll spend in Zihua) until August 20. We come back for every Semana Santa and summer, so, the places you've mentioned are already on my "list". Thanks again.

BTW, I met you a few times around town, most recentlt at the Democrats Abroad 4th of JUly Party while standing in line for food. I am the middle school Spanish teacher here for the summer. Not sure if you remember.

Gracias por todo!!

Courtney W.