Zihuatanejo

Zihuatanejo is the older, quieter half of the Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo pairing on Mexico's Pacific coast, a former fishing village that kept its own identity while the resort strip grew up next door. The bay itself is sheltered and calm, ringed by four beaches, with the daily catch still landed and sold near the municipal pier each morning. Basilio Badillo, the pedestrian street through the old town, fills with seafood stalls and jewelry stands after dark. The town gained pop-culture notice as the fictional destination in The Shawshank Redemption, though little of it was filmed here. Humidity runs high, the bay stays warm year-round. Talent covering Zihuatanejo lists here on a subscription basis, and the platform handles the booking and the payment.