What to Do in Playa La Saladita: Accommodation, Food, & Activities

Located on the pacific coast less than an hour from Zihuatanejo is the beautiful Playa La Saladita. I had never heard of this beach until some of Jorge’s friends started planning a trip here for a long weekend. It’s known as an excellent surf spot, but unless you’re a surfer it’s still under the radar. Even if you don’t surf this is still a long, picturesque beach that’s worth visiting.

Playa La Saladita is a short drive from other popular destinations like the bustling Zihuatanejo and Troncones. There’s not much of a town and most of the action is along the beach. There are many hotels/ vacation rentals to choose from on the beachfront and there are a couple of restaurants but not a real variety. It’s the ideal destination if you want to escape from the crowds and enjoy a relaxing few days on the beach.

How To Get To Playa La Saladita

Getting to La Saladita is fairly simple. Most likely you will need to fly into Zihuatanejo International Airport from Mexico City or even from select airports in the US. We flew from Mexico City early Friday morning. The flight was less than an hour and twenty minutes long. From the airport, you can either rent a car or take a taxi for around $70 USD for 4 people.

We ended up renting a car which made it easy to go to the grocery store and stock up on food and we were able to drive to Zihuatanejo to spend an afternoon there as well.

What To Do In Playa La Saladita

1. Surf La Saladita’s Point Break

The most popular attraction of La Saladita is the surf. I’m not a surfer (yet) so I can’t give you all of the juicy details about the waves here, but let’s just say that a professional Hawaiian surfer showed up a day after we left to ride these waves. The waves aren’t crazy big so with a longboard you’ll catch some decent waves and have loads of fun no matter your skill level. It seems like a longboarder’s paradise with consistent swells that offer longs rides. These left riding waves are actually some of the longest in Mexico. I’m dying to give it a go next time we visit.

Bring your own board or rent a board for $200 MXN or about $10 USD per day. Lessons are available as well at any of the beach shacks by the break. Also, be careful, there are urchins out in the water by the rocks and they are a real pain if you step on one.

2. Relax in the Hot Springs

Hidden just 15 minutes from Playa La Saladita is an all-natural, undeveloped hot spring. The hot springs have been kept in their wild, natural state so you can relax in the wilderness at your own leisure. The best way to access the springs is by colectivo (mini-bus public transport) or by rental car. The colectivo will drop you off on the side of the main road where there is a dirt road that leads off to the hot springs. You’ll need to walk about 40 minutes or so until you reach the hot springs. Alternatively, if you have a car then you can try and drive directly down the dirt road to the hot springs if there hasn’t been too much rain.

Here is the location to the entrance off of the main road. https://maps.app.goo.gl/FT7mZHeW2Zk5k27m6

3. Take a Kayak Tour

Take a 20-minute taxi ride to the neighboring town of Troncones for a kayak tour through the biodiverse estuary.

4. Explore the Beach

There is a reason why ‘“long walks on the beach” is such a popular line for dating websites and Playa La Saladita is great for just that. Go for an evening walk to catch the sun setting over the ocean. Stop at one of the beach shacks for a drink or some ceviche. Walk to the point to watch the surfers ride some long waves. The water is more catered to surfers than swimmers as the water near the shore is a little rough and not ideal for a relaxing dip in the ocean. At least that was the case when we went in March.

5. Visit Troncones

Only 20 minutes away is the town of Troncones. Also known for good surf, this town has a little bit more action than La Saladita. Come here if you want more of a variety of restaurants or just want to check out a different beach or new surf.

What to Eat in Playa La Saldita

Your options as far as restaurants are pretty limited in La Saladita. There are a couple of restaurants on the beach, but nothing to write home about as far as we saw. If you don’t want to cook on your vacation then you can definitely find a couple of decent places to eat at or even take a short taxi ride to Troncones where there are more options.

On our last day, we were in Zihuatenejo waiting for our flight and we chilled at a beachfront restaurant called Triton at Playa Ropa with some truly amazing food. It’s a pretty unassuming place with a more affordable and creative menu than others nearby. Everything we ordered was delicious, but the star was the tuna tostadas, cubes of raw tuna coated in a sweet soy glaze and mixed with red onion and mango, served on a giant crispy wonton. I think were ordered at least fifteen for our table of seven. We just kept ordering them they were so good. They had a variety of raw seafood dishes, which is how I prefer my seafood, but they also have plenty of cooked dishes like fish tacos. I would make the trip from La Saladita to eat here at least once if I were you.

If you like to cook then I think the best way to go is to get a rental with a kitchen. One of the highlights of our trip was buying local seafood and preparing it at home. You’ll find fishermen on the beach in the mornings near the surfers. We got lucky one morning just as the fisherman was bringing in bags and bags of freshly caught oysters. We snagged two dozen oysters for $7 USD and they were absolutely delicious. We tried going back the next two mornings but didn’t manage to find any fishermen those days. We also went into town and bought some shrimp, but didn’t have any luck finding any fish. It seemed hit and miss with the fresh seafood, but definitely try your luck if you can because what seafood we did get did not disappoint.

Where to Stay in Playa La Saladita

We stayed at Casa Cucharra, a beautiful beachfront rental with a killer infinity pool overlooking the ocean. From the right angle, you couldn’t tell where the pool ended and where the ocean began.

There were loads of other beachfront rentals from what we saw so you should have plenty to choose from. There are also camping and cabins if you are looking for more budget options. It’s a small beach so I can’t really recommend one area over the next as everything is really close together.