Mexico beach

Troncones beach

In January we spent 10 days at our favorite Mexico beach. It's about 3 miles long, tan sand, constant surf - sometimes gentle, sometimes not - with some rocky areas that provide refuge for tiny fish, crabs, sea urchins and other life. Snowy egrets, whimbrels, sandpipers and yellowlegs forage along the shore. Royal terns, seagulls, magnificent frigate birds and brown pelicans coast by or dive for fish.

snowy egret

Each night volunteers roam the beach and collect turtle eggs, re-burying them in a protected area. In season, which is January, there is a baby turtle release on an evening each weekend. Visitors and locals at Roberto's Restaurant to watch the tiny creatures race to the water.

Baby turtle release

baby sea turtle

reaching the water

Across the recently-paved road the land rises to hills. One hike leads to a bat cave. On morning walks up the dirt road near our guesthouse we spotted many regional birds, including flycatchers, orioles, tanagers, golden-cheeked woodpeckers, hummingbirds, and a Mexican gray squirrel. Bats nest in the palm trees and in the eaves of our room. Lizards and iguanas occasionally turn up.

Troncones beach, house, hills

One day I counted 100 people on the beach. About 90 of them were gathered in the area fronting the small town; the other 10 were scattered across two miles of beach.

There are no high-rise hotels on this beach but there are several lovely small hotels, guests houses and houses for rent, all tucked into the vegetation and on or near the beach. The lovely place we stay, Casa de la Sirena (House of the Mermaid), has no restaurant, but each room has a full kitchen. And at least five breakfast places are a short walk, across the street or on the beach. The town has so many fine restaurants that we never get to them all in one stay. They offer excellent, fresh seafood, steaks, Mexican standards and some remarkable fusion dishes.

View from a Casa de la Sirena mini-villa

 Casa de la Sirena has five double rooms in two structures and a house with three double rooms. Most of the rooms have additional beds to accommodate families. Our room, called a mini-villa, has a king bedroom, nice bath, and large front room with kitchen and a full view of the ocean. Cooking onsite is encouraged, although we just kept a little fruit, coffee and tea and enjoyed the restaurants nearby. Supplies of fish, fruit and vegetables come by regularly in trucks and other food and drink acan be purchased in town. Casa de la Sirena has a lovely pool as well as palapas on the beach, so there's always somewhere to read, rest, walk, swim, and chat with the other visitors.

Cafe Pacifico, nice breakfast and other meals

View from Costa Brava restaurant

In town there are a couple of small shops, surf board rentals, kayak rentals, beachwear and crafts. Or you can just wait for the vendors to stop by. This time I got a colorful ceramic bowl, two baskets, and a silver ring from passing vendors. You can also schedule a horseback ride directly from guides on the beach, or through your hotel.

Orbe wrapping bacon around shrimp stuffed with cheese

Troncones downtown

This place is called Troncones; it's on the west coast of Mexico about a half hour from Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo.

Sunsets like this every day

After about three days we felt ready to explore.