Travel notes: Troncones, Mexico
Part 1. A little known destination for surfing, swimming, yoga and food
Troncones is a small surfing and yoga village on the West Coast of Mexico about 30 minutes from Zihuatanejo. We were invited for a two-week stay at a rental called Casamar, a dream location for a larger group. It’s just at the tip of the point shown in the photo below. The ocean is literally just outside the house.
(This is all things I found wonderful about Troncones. Part 2 will be details about what happened after our visit. Stay tuned!)
As we drove into Troncones, I was struck by the overall crumminess of the little village. Tiny dusty shops lined the potholed one-lane roads. Skinny dogs darted through shadows. Flies. And dimly lit grocery stores the size of a one-car garage. It seemed like there was nothing in Troncones that I’d ever want or need.
Yet, the village is on the verge of transformation. Well-architected homes are under construction on the beach . If you can see through the scrubby trees and over rough walls, you’ll find several nice hotels. Nothing is apparent at first glance. It’s one of those places where you can still experience a fairly primitive lifestyle, then go to bed on clean sheets in an air conditioned room. When I was in my twenties, I was OK sleeping in a hammock on a Mexican beach and huddling in a public concrete block restroom in my wet sleeping bag in the middle of the night when the rain came. No more. Nope. I sort of want it both ways. I want the innocent primitive place, but I don’t want too many mosquitos. Until developers take over and ruin it, that is what you can have now in Troncones.
We settled into a routine of foraging for food, cooking, and swimming at a beach called Troncones Cove, which is just steps away from the house. Most of the shore is comprised of sharp dark rocks that are covered by sea urchins just below the water level. These beaches are PRISTINE! No trash. Nothing gross washed up from halfway around the world. (And no beach maintenance either.) I thought I’d never see another natural beach so nice.
We often swam in the mornings, then enjoyed a world class chicken caldo at Los Raqueros, a small inn on the ocean with the kind of beachfront dining you dream about. No reservations needed. Just wander up from the beach in your wet bathing suit and take a seat at a table in the sand.
In Troncones, I found ladies selling fresh snapper and shrimp in the mornings. We bought 3 kilos of shrimp (way to much!), some butter, chilis, lemons, garlic, white wine, rice, etc. and headed home. To ask six people to stop lounging by the pool and come help peel, devein and clean 3 kilos of shrimp is a true test of friendship. But they did. And that night we seared the shrimp fairly dry on a hot plancha, then heavily doused them in a garlic, chili, lemon butter sauce and served them with saffron rice made with broth from the shrimp shells and lots of fresh herbs. We had so much left over that we made a taco bar the next day for lunch with fresh tortillas, Mexican cheese, and all the fixings.
Our favorite restaurant, Indigo, is a small rustic Argentinean steak house by night with a small panaderia off to the side. Breakfast and lunch are also a rustic treat of traditional Mexican fare served open air by beautiful gentle people who are not in a hurry for anything.
And then, like it landed there from outer space, we found a gleaming modern glass air conditioned cafe and coffee shop, Cuatro, that is so spiffy it could be in Austin. I’m afraid it’s only a matter of time before more things like this crop up and crowd out the small family run restaurants. Still, it is a beautiful change of pace, and they do make excellent coffees and lunches.
During the next few days, we made our way into busy Zihuatanejo to buy delicate lettuce from the farmer’s market and fish from a fabulous fish market, Pescados y Mariscos Peke. And we discovered the best grocery store in Troncones, Fruteria Yahve, which turned out to have everything on my list! You just have to ask. Cilantro? A woman rummaged behind the milk in an old fridge and brought out some wet newspaper with whole cilantro plants tangled up inside. Roots and all. That sort of thing.
We found a sweet family operation to rent snorkels. And we discovered a tiny tortilla factory, Tortillerias Don Celso, run by lovely people just beaming with pride in their products. (Not to be found on the internet or Google maps. Just ask.)
This coastal area is on the path of the migrating whales in late winter. (We were there in late February.) We saw several pods of whales from our house. They must have been feasting on a dinner just along the shore.
Truly hard core surfers are drawn to this area. The Pacific ocean is no joke. An utterly ruthless bully. Not for sissies like me. But we swam out in surfer territory for some of the best snorkeling I’ve ever found straight off a beach. We swam with a huge sea turtle and were enticed out further along the rocks where clouds of fish enveloped us in waves of color. It was glorious. The rough water almost gave me a panic attack, but I enjoyed it more than I was afraid.
Slowly, over the next few days, I shed my squeaky clean spoiled American lens and discovered that just about anything I needed was in Troncones. I fell in love with the simplicity, the slow pace and the kind people. How can you sit outside a tiny shop on a wooden stool all day selling mangos and be filled with joy? Loving life. Erupting in conversation and laughter. They do it there. It’s a rare life skill that many of us lack. I’d go back in a minute.
Your friend,
Yvonne
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