Heather Houtman

Our trip to Ixtapa Mexico started in Chicago, IL. We have discovered that it can be a significant cost save to depart out of Detroit or Chicago. We leave the night prior to our departure (start vacation early ??) and stay in a park and fly hotel. If you don’t know what that is, it is a place that typically offers parking for your car while you are on vacation and has a shuttle to the airport. You get up in the morning board the shuttle with your luggage and they bring you to the correct area for your flight, super easy!Upon arrival into Zihua airport you disembark the plane on the tarmac (love this) the warm winds and salty air welcome you! You enter the airport and fill out your customs forms if you have not prior and walk up to the next officer. He will check your passport, paperwork, ask why you are visiting, and you are on your way! Next you will enter a security check point like the one in the US, X-ray machine for all baggage, then on to the green/red light, they will ask about items you are taking into to Mexico and will be welcomed. The airport is very small so once you exit the customs area you are in the main stream of the airport. Walk towards the exit and there Amstar was waiting with a Houtman Family sign. He took us to the van packed out luggage in and away we went to Ixtapa.The roads we in good condition, clean, street lights and I felt like we could have rented a car in this area. Our condo was just a bit over a mile out from town center, there were nice sidewalks and a great bike path in the area.While we were in Ixtapa we took a taxi to the grocery store (like a super Walmart) to get breakfast, lunch and snack items. We walked or took a taxi into Ixtapa most evenings for dinner, there are so many places to eat. Most places had many options on the menu, traditional Mexican dishes, spaghetti and alfredo, hamburgers and pizza.Let’s talk money- We had pesos but in most places we used a bank card that did not have international fees to use, this way the exchange rate was a little on our side. There were places that took the US dollar but I will warn you that they will give you pesos in return and it can be difficult to know the exchange rate as it varied from place to place.The reason that we chose to visit Ixtapa Zihuantejo are was because of the fishing, we love to fish and be on the water. My husband did some research to find a company that he would want to fish with, he found Gitana Fishing. We met with Santiago (owner) on Monday morning to do some open water deep sea fishing, we loaded up on the boat and headed out of the bay towards the ocean. What a beautiful morning that would be, amazing sunrise on the water. We caught a few bonita (small tuna) as we trolled out, saw some dolphins and even got to see a sailfish in the water. Unfortunately, our day was cut a bit short but we still had a good morning. Wednesday and Friday the guys went back out fishing, they were able to hook up on some Mahi Mahi and Sailfish. I am sure they would say this was the highlight of the trip for them.We went out on one of the Gitana boats out on Tuesday for a full day of snorkeling. We started the morning out by fishing to the perfect spot to get in the water. We all got our gear on (we brought our own) and entered the water, there were fish everywhere! This wasn’t an area with coral it was mostly rocks but the sea life was great, we saw many schools of fish and Alison and I even got to see a Sea Turtle- WOW! We loaded back in the boat and trolled north towards Ixtapa Island, on the way were able to catch some more Bonita for lunch. Once we got close to the Island we heard some Whales surfacing and we got to see a few but one of them came up and surfaced, we saw a giant tale come out of the water! AmazingWe stopped at Ixtapa Island for lunch, they took the fish we caught and prepared it several different ways for us to eat. We were presented with sashimi, fried and garlic butter fish with rice and beans, tortillas, guacamole and chips. They had a full bar with the best Pina Coladas and buckets of Coronas on ice. It was great island for food, snorkeling and sea glass hunting. Gitana team then took us over to Playa Lynda pier so we could catch a cab back to tour condo building. I would recommend this day and Gitana Fishing for any family.The guys had chartered the same Gitana Fishing Team for Wednesday and Friday. On Wednesday they were able to land two Mahi Mahi, this was Ryan’s first experience in open ocean fishing. Friday they spent all day on the water looking for Sailfish, the last 2 hours they were able to land 2 nice ones. Ryan had his turn first and reeled in the Sailfish, then it was Bryan’s turn and he was able to get it in the boat as well. The Gitana Team places a tag on the fish and then releases it back into the water unharmed, they believe in the catch and release aspect of fishing!Most of our days were spent floating in the pool and talking with the kids.