Thursday, January 3, 2013

Bus to Mexico Beaches, Bus Acapulco from Puerto Escondido


Bus to Mexico Pacific Coast Beaches
Sunset Photos Puerto Escondido
 Bus to Acapulco from Puerto Escondido
Update 2013

Acapulco
From Puerto Escondido head north to Acapulco via Estrella Blanca Bus from Puerto Escondido’s first class/second class bus station. Estrella Blanca Futura or Alta Mar buses make the 8 hour trip for 435Pesos. They make many daily trips to Acapulco's Ejido Station.  Estrella Blanca Bus  (link) serves with Futura Buses.  The alternate is AltaMar buses.
 Buses from Estrella Blanca serve also Puerto Vallarta,  $1,264 Peso on Futura Bus service from Ejido Station, Acapulco.

Second Class buses that reach Oaxaca City from Puerto Escondido (link) are also available at the first class/second class station via Estrella Roja. They make frequent trips to Oaxaca City starting at 7:00 am ending at 11:30 pm. They go over the southern mountains via the town of Sola de Vega and make the trip in 8 hours. (cold buses, steep mountain roads)   Oaxaca City events and ruin sites(Link)      Oaxaca Street Parade Youtube
Motion sickness pills have been reported as effective in preventing motion sickness.  Travelers recommend taking one pill 2 hours before departure.  Dramamine is available over the counter and mention by many as effective.

From the beach area in Puerto Escondido the taxi to the bus station is 25 pesos. It is best to taxi to the station before your intended departure day and note the current bus schedules because the schedules can change frequently.
  • Van Service To Puerto Escondido
Vans also provide service from Oaxaca City to Puerto Escondido, Pochutla (for Zipolite Beach) and Huatulco,  150-160 Pesos,   6 hours,   2013 prices
  • Acapulco
Acapulco has many great beach options, not just the downtown high rise hotel beaches.

A good beach for camping and budget accommodations is the area of Pie de la Cuesta, (link) a nearly ten-mile, Southwest-facing beach area northwest of downtown Acapulco. Local buses serve the area with frequent service. Several campgrounds offer shady sites on the beach.

It is best to arrive in Acapulco during the day to have time to find an accommodation. In the Estrella Blanca (Ejido) terminal there is a list of hotels and prices. Cab drivers can be helpful but they usually work with the hotels for a commission and they won’t always give you good advice. Be sure to negotiate the price, have a firm price,  before entering a cab in Acapulco.
  • Ejido Bus Station
The night bus out of Puerto Escondido will arrive at Acapulco's Ejido Terminal in the morning and give you plenty of daylight to find an accommodation. There are not many good options of night buses out of Acapulco to other beach areas except the night bus to Lazaro Cárdenas (for Playa Azule, Michoacan State).  This is a first class bus that is listed as a local.
Some travelers prefer the day buses from Puerto Escondido to Acapulco for better security.  It is best to take an early morning bus when heading north from Puerto Escondido to Acapulco so that you arrive in Acapulco with daylight to spare.

To reach Pie de la Cuesta, cab from the Ejido Station to the zocalo and ask where the bus passes. The bus follows the beach road for a short distance just south of the zocalo. Watch for the bus marked, Pie de la Cuesta,  Playas Luces.
Playa La Ropa Zihuatanejo

  • Zihuatanejo
Zihuatanejo lies 150 miles north of Acapulco on Mexico’s Pacific Coast. Estrella Blanca buses serve Zihuatanejo from Acapulco’s Ejido Station.

Although the 1970s construction of the resort area of nearby Ixtapa, five miles to the north of Zihuatanejo on Route 200,  turned this fishing village in a wide sheltered bay surrounded by steep hills into the most popular Mexican tourist destinations after Cancun and Puerto Vallarta,  Zihuatanejo's older section (five miles south of Ixtapa) still retains the small village feel and is well worth a visit.

A lagoon south of Zihuatanejo offers ecotours by kayak to observe the birds and animals indigenous to the area. The Potosi Lagoon, Laguna de Potosi, is about ten miles south of the town of Zihuatanejo along a stretch of sand beaches near the airport. The beaches are open ocean beaches and can be dangerous for recreational swimming. Playa Larga, Blanca, and La Pozas continue south to Barra Potosi where the Laguna de Potosi offers bird watching kayak trips.

The ambiance of Zihuatanejo lies somewhere between the rustic surfing cabana village to the upscale resort community. It is a good place to enjoy a return to civilization after the rustic digs on the deserted beaches. The beaches in the sheltered bay of Zihuatanejo offer safe swimming.

Call taxi driver Rene Brooks Morales for a private tour of the area. He charges 200 pesos per hour, is very helpful and speaks English and Spanish. (Cell, 755-108-7043)

Bus service from Zihuatanejo serves to the City of Lazaro Cardenas where combis serve to the beaches of Playa Azule.


Playa Azule fishermen 
  • Playa Azule
North of Acapulco and Zihuatanejo, reach the city of Lazaro Cárdenas via Estrella Blanca bus. Exit the station and walk a block northeast to the Galeana bus Station and cross the main road where (combis) collective taxi vans make the 15 pesos run to Playa Azule.
Morning Playa Azule
Playa Azule is a southwest facing beach with a good surf.
There is little development and plenty of palapa restaurants and tent areas.

Playa Azule is a fishing community with few visitors except during Christmas and Easter vacation. These will be deserted south facing beaches for the most part where you will have good surf and great sunrises and sunsets.

Highway to Patscuaro
From the Galeana Bus terminal in Lazaro Cardenas, you can reach further north to Nexpa (Barra de Nexpa) 50 miles along the coast just a few miles beyond the town of Caleta de Campo (Cala on some maps). Get transportation in Cala (Caleta) de Campos to the access road to the Nexpa site, famed for its river mouth surfing. Find posada, restaurants and palapa shelters for camping on the beach.

  • Patzcuaro
From Lazaro Cardenas or Zihuatanejo, take a Parhikuni Bus inland to Uruapan for 315 pesos and then get a local bus for 48 pesos to Patzcuaro. These will be high elevation areas where the night temperatures drop.



Next Patzcuaro


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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Nice blog!
Good information for bus travelers to the coastal resorts. Do you or any of your readers have a good reference for moderately priced lodging near the beach at Puerto Escondido?
Thanks