How do you get to La Saladita?

Updated 2026-09-26

Fly to Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo International Airport (ZIH), then drive about 48 km north on federal Highway 200 to the village of Los Llanos de Temalhuacán and turn toward the coast; the beach is about 5 km from the highway. Allow roughly 45–60 minutes from the airport. Buses run along Highway 200 but not down to the beach. Every figure below is attributed and dated; this site has not measured the road itself and recommends no hotel, driver or transport company.

By air

The site’s own quick facts place La Saladita about 45 minutes north of Zihuatanejo (ZIH). The Surf Atlas guide (updated 8 January 2025, accessed 2026-09-26) describes the airport as about 45 minutes’ drive to the south with links to Dallas, Phoenix and Los Angeles plus domestic flights from Mexico City; the Miss Tourist guide (updated 20 December 2023, accessed 2026-09-26) gives the airport as about one hour from La Saladita by car or taxi and describes reaching it via a one-hour domestic flight from Mexico City. Airline schedules change and are not tracked here.

By road from the airport

Rome2rio (accessed 2026-09-26) lists the road distance from Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo Airport to La Saladita as 48.3 km and the drive as 49 minutes. The route runs from the airport past Zihuatanejo and then north on Highway 200 toward Lázaro Cárdenas. The tour page alber.tours (undated, accessed 2026-09-26) states: “La Saladita is located 5 km from Highway 200 in the village of Los Llanos plus approximately 40 kilometers north of Ixtapa Zihuatanejo”, and adds that it is 225 km from Acapulco on Highway 200 and 585 km from Mexico City. The beach’s own visitor page (dated 18 July 2020, accessed 2026-09-26) puts Los Llanos, “the entrance to Playa La Saladita”, at a 35–40 minute ride north of the airport. The Surf Atlas describes the last stretch as a 40-minute run “up not the greatest roads” from Zihuatanejo; this site has no independent assessment of the road surface.

Two orientation notes. Troncones, the better-known surf village, is on the same coast between Zihuatanejo and La Saladita; a local real-estate agency’s neighbourhood page (livrealestate.com.mx, undated, accessed 2026-09-26) describes the main access as “through the town of Los Llanos de Temalhuacán (15 minutes north of Troncones)” and repeats the 40 km and 5 km figures. La Unión, the seat of the municipality (La Unión de Isidoro Montes de Oca, the westernmost municipality in Guerrero, per Wikipedia, accessed 2026-09-26), lies further along Highway 200 toward the Michoacán border; the “Zihuatanejo Centro–La Unión” bus route therefore passes the Los Llanos turn-off.

By bus

There is no bus to the beach itself. What the sources say:

• The Zihuatanejo local-transport page at zihuatanejo.net (undated; copyright line 1997–; accessed 2026-09-26) lists a “ZIHUATANEJO CENTRO – LA UNIÓN” bus route at a fare of $70 (pesos), without departure points or frequency, and separately notes several bus lines with hourly runs to Petatlán (fares $52 and $88). Petatlán is south-east of Zihuatanejo, the opposite direction from La Saladita.
• The Surf Atlas (2025) describes the public-transport option as an airport bus into Zihuatanejo, then a local bus “going towards Los Llanos de Temalhuacán”, the gateway to the beach, with a taxi or a lift for the final stretch.
• Miss Tourist (2023) states flatly that buses do not go to La Saladita and lists a rental car or a taxi (it quotes about US$70, negotiable) as the ways in.
• Rome2rio (2026) lists only local minivans from the airport into Zihuatanejo (about 30 minutes, on demand) and a taxi from there.

Read together: buses and combis reach Los Llanos on Highway 200; the final 5 km to the beach is by taxi, a ride, or on foot. Fares and schedules above are as quoted on the dates given and will have changed.

Once you are there

The beach faces the Pacific with the Río Petatlán lagoon directly behind the village; the lagoon has American crocodiles and is never to be entered (see the safety page). Today’s surf call is on the surf-today page, the ten-day forecast at /forecast/, and the rain and storm watch at /weather/.

Sources

• Rome2rio, “Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo Airport (ZIH) to La Saladita”, rome2rio.com/s/Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo-Airport-ZIH/La-Saladita-Guerrero-Mexico, accessed 2026-09-26.
• Alber Tours, “Saladita Beach”, alber.tours/en/saladita-beach/, undated, accessed 2026-09-26.
• Visit Playa La Saladita, “La Playa”, visitplayalasaladita.com/la-playa/, dated 18 July 2020, accessed 2026-09-26.
• The Surf Atlas, “The Ultimate Guide to Playa La Saladita”, thesurfatlas.com/surfing-mexico/playa-la-saladita/, updated 8 January 2025, accessed 2026-09-26.
• Miss Tourist, “Your complete guide to La Saladita”, misstourist.com/la-saladita-mexico/, updated 20 December 2023, accessed 2026-09-26.
• ZihuaRob’s zihuatanejo.net, “Local transportation in Zihuatanejo, Ixtapa, Troncones and Barra de Potosí”, zihuatanejo.net/localtransport.html, undated, accessed 2026-09-26.
• LIV Real Estate, “La Saladita Beach” neighbourhood page, livrealestate.com.mx/neighborhoods/saladita, undated, accessed 2026-09-26 (used only for the Troncones orientation line).
• Wikipedia (English and Spanish), “La Unión de Isidoro Montes de Oca”, accessed 2026-09-26.

Cite as: “How do you get to La Saladita?”, La Saladita Field Guide, lasaladita.com/getting-to-la-saladita/, updated 2026-09-26.