ZIHUATANEJO, Mexico: Part of ‘The Shawshank Redemption’ Plot
Posted by: kirsty_wilson in North America, tags: Beaches, Mexico, The Shawshank Redemption, ZihuatanejoWhere is Zihuatanejo?
Zihuatenejo
Zihuatanejo is located on the Pacific Coast of Mexico approximately 240km northwest of Acapulco. Its name means “place of women” because it was a matriarchal society. The main attraction of Zihuatanejo is the sheltered Bahía Zihuatanejo with safe swimming for families. Several beaches surround the bay which have made this an attractive tourist destination. Zihuatanejo has a very informal, relaxed atmosphere which drawns back-packers to the area, however its sister town ‘Ixtapa’ and only only 5km away, is a modern tourist resort.
Zihuatanejo gained a lot of exposure in the movie ‘The Shawshank Redemption’ during 1994. When the character Andy Dufresne dreams about one day being able to own a small hotel on the beach in Zihuatanejo. If you haven’t seen the movie, it’s a must – now we’re doing movie reviews!
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One Great Reason to Visit Zihuatanejo
One great reason to visit Zihuatanejo is for the relaxed beachside atmosphere that drew Andy Dufresne from ‘The Shawshank Redemption’ there!
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Probably the most chilled out leg of that trip and any other I’ve taken. We stayed in a great place between the two main beaches (it’s at the view at 3.26 into the clip above). I can’t quite remember it’s name (maybe Pelican apartments or something like that), and none of the current lists ring any bells. It was run buy a very elderly German lady who we only saw when we left.
Anyway, we mostly went down to the beach, had a Corona or two and shrimp cocktails at Restaurant La Perla. The mariachi band was great fun but with there being only bar, it was hard to shake them. The town is pretty chilled out, and there’s a nice little beach across the bay with restaurants & snorkel hire for the mini reef. The interesting thing is that the final Shawshank scene isn’t in the bay, it’s on the ocean along the coast.
We arrived by bus from Acapulco, and left with AeroMexico from the local airport heading to Guadalajara. It was back in 02, but I doubt much has changed. I bet the fella doing the road works outside the apartments is still there working on the same bit of road. When it got to 9am he just stopped work – mañana, mañana and all that.
#greatdays
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Looks like an amazingly chilled and colourful spot. The scenery looked awesome too. I bet cocktails on sunset is a must!
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Just a few clarifications. First, the website listed as the “Official Town Site” is not the official site, and neither is mine (www.zihuatanejo.net). I and some other folks do what we can to try to help potential visitors find reliable info since the Mexican tourism authorities, whose website is the only one that really could be called official, appear to be steering folks to the big hotels in Ixtapa instead of Zihuatanejo, and their info is somewhat incomplete, at least in my humble opinion.
Second, no scenes from Shawshank Redemption were filmed here. That was the Virgin Islands. Supposedly Sandy Point in western St. Croix, but a local guide there says he took the filmmakers to a small island near Jost Van Dyke, they just couldn’t name it in the movie credits for “legal” reasons. But we have many beautiful beaches here in Zihuatanejo, too.
Third, I believe the place Tim stayed was Bungalows Pacíficos located near Playa La Madera, not Playa La Ropa as shown in the video. It’s owner, Anita is of German and Mexican heritage. Not too much has changed since 2002 when he says he was here, but the downtown area is currently undergoing a major facelift which should look very nice when finished (and my neighbors and I are getting our homes painted for free!).
The snorkeling beach across the bay accessible by water taxi is called Playa Las Gatas. It also has a good swimming area for children. My favorite restaurant there, Chez Arnoldo’s, is shown in the video at about the 2:49 mark.
If anyone has any questions or would like to know more about Zihuatanejo I hope you’ll post them on the Message Board at my own website. ¡Bienvenidos!