Trips worth making
Zihua works best as a stay-put base, but a few nearby outings are worth a day. Keep them coastal and daytime, in line with how Guerrero’s roads actually work: the whole point of this trip is staying in the safe coastal corridor, so these are all short, flat, and easy. Ordered by value.
Playa Las Gatas (about 5 to 10 minutes by panga) — Barely a “day trip,” but it earns top billing. A short boat from the town pier reaches the calmest water and best snorkeling in the bay, with reef fish over the old rock breakwater and a row of seafood enramadas for lunch. Half a day, a small round-trip fare (approximate: 60 to 100 MXN), and easily the highest-value outing around. Worth it.
Isla Ixtapa (about 20 to 30 minutes plus a short boat) — Take a combi or taxi up to Playa Linda near Ixtapa, then a five-minute boat to the island. You get snorkeling coves, calm swimming, and beach restaurants, and the island genuinely beats Ixtapa’s resort strip. Combine it with a look at Ixtapa if you are curious, but the island is the reason to go. Worth it for the snorkeling; skip Ixtapa town itself.
Barra de Potosí (about 30 to 45 minutes south) — A sleepy fishing village on a long open beach and a lagoon (Laguna de Potosí) known for birdlife, with beachfront enramadas doing whole fish and pescado a la talla with your feet in the sand. Quieter and more local than anything in town, and the lagoon boat rides among the herons and pelicans are a calm, cheap pleasure. Bring cash; there is little else out there. Worth it if you want an unhurried, uncommercial beach day.
Troncones (about 30 to 40 minutes north) — A laid-back surf-and-yoga stretch of open Pacific beach with a few good beach restaurants and a very different, wilder feel from the bay. Good for surfers, sunset walkers, and anyone wanting rougher, emptier coastline. The catch is the water: this is open Pacific with real surf and rip currents, so it is for surfing and strolling more than casual swimming. Worth it for surf and atmosphere; mind the currents.
Playa Larga and Playa Blanca (about 20 to 30 minutes) — Long, open beaches on the way toward the airport, with horseback riding and simple enramadas. Lower priority than the above, but a fine, quiet stop if you have an extra half day and want more sand than scene. Worth it only if you have time to spare.
What to skip
Long inland excursions and mountain-town drives. They pull you out of the safe coastal corridor for little payoff, and they are exactly the roads the is it safe page tells you to leave to daytime buses. There is no ruins-and-mountains day trip worth trading the coast for here. Down the coast, Acapulco is a three-hour haul each way and its own destination, not a day trip from Zihua.
Stay on the coast, keep the outings short and daytime, and you get the best of the area without the risk. Two or three of these, spread across a four-day stay, is plenty; do not over-schedule a place whose whole appeal is slowing down. Back to the things to do in town if you would rather not leave the bay at all.