So this post will be brief since it is a sin to talk about surf spots. After going to the beach and not surfing, I decided I needed to return to Zihua a few weeks later, as there are surf spots along the coast within a few hours. The end.
Ok ok, there is more……
Ok, so really I didn’t even surf this time either, I just explored the beaches along the coast. I checked out the other beaches in the Zihua area, and then headed South to do more of the same. I didn’t really have a plan, but figured I would turn around before hitting Acapulco, as I don’t read great things about it. Once I got to the Acapulco area I change my mind, as I usually do, and figure I should check it out, so decide I will stop for a night. Well, I don’t love it, but I also don’t hate it, and it is a stop I am glad I made. I end up staying 4 or 5 nights since the hotel was cheap, and as usual I can bring the bike inside. The food wasn’t super great, but I feel that way about most of the food I have found thus far on the coast, but you can never go wrong with fish tacos or shrimp, so it wasn’t bad either.
The centro is a bit worn down, not a whole lot to see as it is mostly commercial junk stores, but it is right near the beach and the hotels here seem to be cheaper than where the high rise buildings are, so I setup shop there. I don’t care about the cliff divers, but walked over to check that area out and see the sunset. The divers schedule has changed due to covid, so I don’t catch them anyway as I don’t feel like hanging around for an extra hour just to see them. They do have stadium seating a bit further to enjoy the sunset, which is pretty sweet, so I hit that up before returning to the hotel.
Another time I walk along the beach up to where all the bars are….though I forget the area now, but it is a nice section of town, and the bars are full of party goers risking covid at the outside tables. They also have these Disney like themed carriages, with lights and Mexican music playing. Churro only trusts me behind the handle bars, otherwise I would pay someone to drive churro around Mexico while towing me, playing sweet Mexican tunes, an impossible dream.
Only an idiot would be caught dead in one of these……
From here I turn around and head back towards Zihua hitting other beaches I had not stopped at on the way down. The hotel I stay at this time is a bit weird, I am the only 1 there, and the guy in charge dislikes hanging around so he locks me in and has me text him when I want to leave or return while he hangs out just down the street. This is no problem, but gets annoying fast, though I like having the place to myself and blast my music while chilling in the pool.
1 day when after breakfast I returned to my hotel only to realize my wallet was gone. I run back to the food stand I had eaten at knowing it fell out of my pocket where I was sitting, these board shorts were bought in Panama 10 years ago, so they are missing the button which closes them, but they are nice board shorts so I just deal with it. I get back to the stand and see the wallet is not on the ground, but when I ask about it they point me to a woman who is pulling it out of her purse. I was relieved to have my ID and cards back since it would have been a pain to get new ones, but luckily had enough money locked in my pannier bags to get back to Morelia and take care of it had I needed to. What really surprised me was when every single peso had been left in the wallet…I kind of assume and expect someone to take themselves a finders fee in these situations, but not this time, she didn’t want one.
I then went up the Michoacan coast, finally putting this tent to use a few more nights. I stopped at some more random beaches, one of which was absolutely covered in turtle tracks. I didn’t see any turtles, but there must have been a hundred nests….and since this is the time they hatch I suspect there were still eggs in many of them. I also hit some more autodefensa groups at some of the small town entrances. Once again they had no problem with me at all, and I got a few thumbs up or smiles due to Churro. Many autodefensa are now registered with the govt. but many have chosen not to go that route, which makes for a strange situation. As I was leaving a Pemex a man turned his head and pulled his jacket up over his face the instant he saw my camera. Since Michocan can be a bit rough, I am unsure if he was autodefensa, or just a bad guy who didn’t want to be seen, but nothing ever came of it.
Unlike Ixtapa, Michoacan is heavily protected by the locals, they don’t allow you to just go in and buy land on the coast, and there are no resort towns anywhere to my knowledge. Much of the coast is hard to get to, but it is beautiful and I hope there never are resort towns put in which will only ruin things there. After leaving the state I stopped at a beach in Colima, and wanted to puke. While it wasn’t necessarily a resort town, it did have hotel after hotel with big walls making it impossible to see the beach, and many of the hotels had water slides and other crap…..wtf no thanks. I eventually cut inland to head back to Morelia. The city of Colima is slightly inland, and has a volcano towering over it. It is on my list, but I have not yet made it there only seeing the volcano from a distance, so I will see what I can do next time I am out that way, but it was an impressive sight for the drive.
