[6] Recently, a new highway called the Autopista Siglo XXI was built to connect Zihuatanejo with Morelia, cutting the travel time from Mexico City to about six hours.

[6] In modern Zihuatanejo, there is an area called "La Madera" to the east of the port that may have been a shrine or sanctuary due to the significant number of pre-Hispanic clay figures that have been found.

Only a small part of the site has been excavated because most of it is owned by the local farmers who grow fruit trees, vegetables, coconuts for copra, and tobacco that they roll into cigars.

Today the local indigenous language has been lost and the only trace of the native population is a small archaeological site that was explored by INAH in the 1990s.

The Spanish used the bay as a point of departure to explore the Pacific coast as well as a port for the first ships to sail to the Philippines, the Florida, the Espiritu Santo and the Santiago.

With the disappearance of the native population, fields and forests were worked by Spaniards, leaving little in the way of the colonial system which was prevalent in other parts of Mexico.

The Spanish raised chocolate, cotton, vanilla, and corn here; however, the main export was tropical woods such as cedar, oak, walnut, and others.

Few, if any, vestiges of the haciendas of the area remain, mostly because lasting constructions such as stone mansions or aqueducts were never built, as they were in other parts of Mexico.

[3] The municipality was spared involvement in the Mexican War of Independence, except for its use by José María Morelos y Pavón as a logistic port in 1811.

[3][6] In 1926, a group called the "vidalistas" attacked the town which led to a secret agreement with the government to free a number of the compatriots.

The attacks occurred during a three-week period causing a "Jaws-like mania" and the construction of lifeguard towers and the establishment of a shark patrol for the beaches of Zihuatanejo and north.

[12] On 20 February 2009, a group of men in a pickup truck threw explosive devices at the installations of the Secretariat of Public Security of the municipality of Zihuatanejo, resulting in five persons injured.

[18] It is lined with restaurants offering seafood and many other dishes, as well as a variety of stores selling rugs, arts and crafts and souvenirs, and a small shell market.

The market also has silver from Taxco and lacquered objects from Olinalá, Guerrero, and ceramics and bark paper paintings from the central valleys region of Oaxaca.

Events include cocktail parties, concerts, auctions and sailboat races, chili cook offs and street fairs.

[21] The port is mainly used by fishermen who arrive to the docks every morning with their catch,[16] "pangas" and other boats that ferry passengers to places like Las Gatas beach, and fishing charters.

In February 2001, Sport Fishing Magazine rated the Zihuatanejo area second worldwide for sailfishing, based on the number of strikes per day and other factors.

The event brings hundreds of fishermen and boats into town in the hopes of winning one of the many prizes offered for largest sailfish, marlin and dorado.

[18] Fish that can be caught here include roosterfish, jacks, snook, grouper and small tuna close to shore between Wamaluli Point and Morro de Pampanoa, but they are not the main attraction here.

Room three features the Tierras Prietas site, the cultivation of food plants and use of natural resources such as the bajareque technique of walls made of interwoven branches and clay.

Some development projects, such as a dock for cruise ships and Punta del Mar (a complex of hotels, villas, pools and a marina) have been delayed due to the need for environmental impact studies.

The name Playa La Ropa (Clothes Beach) refers to the sinking of a merchant ship near the bay during colonial times.

Wave action is stronger, but not as strong as those beaches that face the open ocean as there is a coral reef and a man-made stone barrier in front of it.

[4] According to legend, Purépecha chief Calzontzin had a stone barrier built here to keep the waves down and the sea creatures out, creating a kind of swimming pool.

[3] Because of the climate's temperature and humidity, the beaches of Zihuatanejo are apt for the incubation of various sea turtles eggs such as the leatherback, hawksbill and olive ridley.

These corrals protect the thousands of turtle eggs collected during this time period by government staff and trained volunteers.

[4] At that time, the federal government decided to make a planned resort at Ixtapa, just north of the municipal seat of Zihuatanejo, constructed on what was once a coconut plantation and mangrove estuary.

La Vainilla is an ecological park located 162 km (101 mi) from the town of Zihuatanejo on the hilly terrain of the foothills of the Sierra Madre del Sur mountains.

[3] Aside from tourism, fishing continues to be a way of life for a large number of families, bringing in seafood such as shark, clams, oysters, red snapper, bass and mugil.

Timber area covers 13,835 hectares (34,190 acres) of the municipality and woods obtained include pine, cedar, mahogany and oak.