What's on in Zihuatanejo, Mexico through the year

Busy — Christmas and New Year peak, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in January.

Still on: Sailfish season (1 Nov – 31 Mar (usually)), Humpback season (15 Dec – 20 Mar (usually)), Christmas and New Year peak (18 Dec – 5 Jan)

Busy — one of its best months for weather

Nothing new starts in February.

Still on: Sailfish season (1 Nov – 31 Mar (usually)), Humpback season (15 Dec – 20 Mar (usually))

Busy — Semana Santa, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

• Festival

  International Guitar Festival

  1–10 Mar · usuallyMajor festival

  A week of guitar concerts in the plaza and small venues in early March, a volunteer-run thing that has drawn serious players to a fishing town for two decades. Source ↗

• Holiday

  Semana Santa

  20 Mar – 20 Apr · usuallyEaster & Holy WeekCrowdedBook early

  Mexico's own beach week and the busiest of the year here, with families in from Mexico City and Morelia. The bay beaches are shoulder to shoulder and the road in from the airport crawls. Source ↗

Still on: Sailfish season (1 Nov – 31 Mar (usually)), Humpback season (15 Dec – 20 Mar (usually))

Busy — Semana Santa

Nothing new starts in April.

Still on: Semana Santa (20 Mar – 20 Apr (usually))

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

• Hazard

  Pacific hurricane season

  15 May – 30 Nov

  The eastern Pacific season opens in mid-May and runs to the end of November, with September the month to watch on this stretch of coast. Most systems pass offshore and leave rain behind. Source ↗

Shoulder season — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

• Season

  Rainy season

  15 Jun – 15 OctMonsoon

  Storms at night and in the late afternoon, hills behind the bay properly green, and half the visitor businesses shut through September. It is the cheapest and emptiest the town gets.

Still on: Pacific hurricane season (15 May – 30 Nov)

Shoulder season — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in July.

Still on: Pacific hurricane season (15 May – 30 Nov), Rainy season (15 Jun – 15 Oct)

Quiet — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, one of its worst months for weather

• Nature

  Olive ridley nesting

  1 Aug – 15 Dec · usuallyTurtle nesting

  Olive ridleys nest on Playa Larga and Barra de Potosi through the autumn, and the camps hold hatchling releases at dusk most evenings in the season.

Still on: Pacific hurricane season (15 May – 30 Nov), Rainy season (15 Jun – 15 Oct)

Quiet — school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it, one of its worst months for weather

Nothing new starts in September.

Still on: Pacific hurricane season (15 May – 30 Nov), Rainy season (15 Jun – 15 Oct), Olive ridley nesting (1 Aug – 15 Dec (usually))

Quiet — one of its worst months for weather

Nothing new starts in October.

Still on: Pacific hurricane season (15 May – 30 Nov), Rainy season (15 Jun – 15 Oct), Olive ridley nesting (1 Aug – 15 Dec (usually))

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

• Season

  Sailfish season

  1 Nov – 31 Mar · usually

  Sailfish and marlin are offshore through the cool months and the town's small fleet is built around them, most of it now catch and release. The pier fish market at dawn is the free version.

Still on: Pacific hurricane season (15 May – 30 Nov), Olive ridley nesting (1 Aug – 15 Dec (usually))

Busy — Christmas and New Year peak, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

• Nature

  Humpback season

  15 Dec – 20 Mar · usuallyWhale season

  Humpbacks come into the bay and the water off Playa Larga through the winter, close enough that the pangueros run short trips out of the pier before the fishing boats leave.

• Holiday

  Christmas and New Year peak

  18 Dec – 5 JanChristmas & New YearCrowdedBook early

  Ixtapa's hotels and the Zihuatanejo bay fill with domestic holidaymakers for a fortnight, prices roughly double and the beach restaurants take bookings for New Year's Eve months ahead. Source ↗

Still on: Olive ridley nesting (1 Aug – 15 Dec (usually)), Sailfish season (1 Nov – 31 Mar (usually))