My parents visited recently, and I’m a little embarrassed to write that Ali and I have not done a proper sunset cruise in the five years we’ve lived here. We did a sunset cruise to help raise money for Sailfest about three years ago, but that really doesn’t count. It’s only available a few days a year, and it’s not really a regularly scheduled tourist event. You make a donation and then get to ride on someone’s sailboat out into the ocean to watch the sun set during the week of Sailfest in February each year. If you get an opportunity you should do that, but this is about the actual sunset cruise available pretty much year-round.

While my folks were here we finally signed on for the Picante Catamaran Sunset Cruise. The cost is $75USD per person, and we paid via paypal in US currency. The location is about a 12minute walk from the main pier near Centro, they operate Monday through Saturday, and the sunset cruise starts at 5pm and ends around 7:30pm. Although the times may change depending on what time we see the sun set.

We went in pretty blind. I didn’t even know if we would need a bathing suit (you don’t). I had no idea how many other people would be on the cruise, and when we arrived it looked like we may be doing the cruise with 15 or 20 other people (turns out there were around 100 people). And I didn’t know what kind of food or drinks they would serve, only that there was a light dinner and free drinks. The dinner was light, but nice. They also did a great job in keeping the drinks flowing. I assumed there would be bathrooms, and was happy to see that there were two bathrooms when we got on the catamaran.

The cruise left promptly at 5pm. There was a staff of 7 or 8 people working. The “MC” gave some local history about the beaches, the Parthenon, the wildlife, and Zihua and Ixtapa in general. We did the cruise in late January, and lucked out by seeing a couple of whales putting on a show near Ixtapa. The Picante catamaran went from Zihuatanejo to Ixtapa and back. When the MC wasn’t talking, there would be music playing. The cruise is timed to be just outside the bay as the sun sets and it’s really nice to come back into the bay in that window between sunset and dusk.

I thought it was a great experience. We lucked out and jumped into the front of the catamaran, which is the best place to be seated. Ali and I took a dramamine before, just to be safe. Fortunately it was a fairly smooth ride. The cruise is geared towards first time visitors to Zihua or Ixtapa, but it’s fun for anyone. And if you haven’t done it before then you should definitely do it.