La Unión is for you if you like: Getting off the beaten track, great surfing, everything being made from coconuts.
La Unión on Guerrero’s Costa Grande works as a pristine, tranquil base for anyone keen to explore a stretch of Pacific coastline that still feels largely local, with access to nearby beaches like Troncones, Majahua and Saladita, as well as lagoon and mangrove areas such as Laguna de Potosí. The town itself is small and functional rather than resort-focused, so the draw is the combination of everyday coastal life — fishing boats, small shops, simple seafood spots and day trips out to less-developed sands and coastal nature — rather than a built-up beach strip.
Staying here means planning to hire a car or make the most of local transport and treating La Unión as a hub: you’ll sleep and eat in a place that sees far fewer tourists than Guerrero’s big names, then fan out to surf breaks, swimming beaches and bird-rich lagoons within easy reach. It suits travelers who are more interested in seeing how this part of Mexico looks and works off the beaten path than in stringing together all-inclusive stays, and who are comfortable trading some convenience for a more everyday view of the Pacific coast in places like nearby Zihuatanejo.
Cocadas, copra and conflict: The coconut history of Guerrero’s coast
Guerrero’s coconut belt is the place where the humble palm moves from background scenery to main character, with cocadas on roadside stalls, tuba (fermented coconut wine), carved coconut masks and fresh coconut milk all speaking to a coastal economy long shaped by this one crop. Seen from here, coconuts are not a generic beach garnish but a thread that runs through work, land struggles and family histories along Guerrero’s coast.
For visitors, leaning into that story is straightforward: ask where the coconut in your drink, dessert or spa scrub was grown, look for stalls and shops that name their ejidos or cooperatives, and treat a short walk into the groves as part tasting, part history lesson. In doing so, you’re not just buying sweets and souvenirs, but stepping into Guerrero’s own long-running conversation about how to keep more of each coconut’s value, and each community’s future, in local hands.
30,000 trees in a week? The women behind this massive reforestation project say it’s possible
High in Guerrero’s Sierra Tecuani, hundreds of local women have taken the lead in bringing the forest back, spending their days hauling seedlings, digging holes and replanting slopes that were burned or cleared in recent decades. Working across several ejidos, they are restoring native pines and other species on communal land so that, over time, hillsides that once looked bare or degraded can again hold soil, shade streams and shelter wildlife.
The reforestation drive is part of a broader effort in this part of Guerrero to treat forests as living infrastructure, which is key to holding water in the ground, softening the impact of heavy rains and giving animals space to move between the Sierra and the lower valleys. Seen alongside coastal coconut groves and mangroves, it reinforces the sense of Guerrero as a state where daily life is still closely tied to its ecosystems, and where local communities are actively working to repair and protect the natural backbone that underpins everything else.
Safe to visit or not? The truth about traveling to Guerrero
Guerrero is Mexico’s great Pacific curveball: a state whose reputation has been shaped more by headlines than by the day-to-day reality along its sun-soaked coast. Stretching for hundreds of kilometers, its shoreline moves from the polished charm of Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo to Acapulco’s legendary bay and on toward low-key fishing villages where life still runs on tides and sunsets.
That disconnect between perception and experience is especially clear when it comes to safety. On paper, government advisories and news snippets can make Guerrero sound like a no-go zone, yet many visitors find that the areas they actually travel through feel far calmer than the dire warnings suggest. The key is to travel the way seasoned Mexico hands always have: stick to known destinations, move around in daylight, use reputable transport and accommodations and let locals guide you toward the smart choices. Do that and the “dangerous” label starts to look overstated, replaced instead by something far more compelling: a stretch of Mexico that still feels real, welcoming, and surprisingly accessible.
An Insider’s Guide to Zihuatanejo
Of course, if you’re craving some of the resort life that La Unión is lacking, you can head an hour down the coast to Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo. The bay curls around four main beaches — La Ropa, La Madera, Playa Principal and Las Gatas — each with its own role, from family-friendly swimming and palapa restaurants to fishing boats coming and going and small-scale snorkeling.
Away from the sand, in the center of town, visitors can enjoy cobblestone streets, galleries and handicraft shops, a small coastal archaeology museum and the pedestrian Paseo del Pescador linking town to the beaches. Eating and sleeping here tends to mean locally rooted places and mid-sized boutique hotels rather than high-rises, with options ranging from long-running classics to newer “barefoot luxury” properties, all within easy reach of the bay and the wider Costa Grande.
How to get there
By air
Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo: The closest airport to La Unión is also the best connected, with flights to nearly every airport in Mexico and a dozen more in the United States and Canada. The drive is under one hour and a straight shot up the Guerrero coastline.
Lazaro Cardenas: If you want to charter your own flight — or better yet, fly your own plane — then Lazaro Cardenas is located around an hour north of La Unión, in neighbouring Michoacán. The airport does not currently offer scheduled commercial flights, but remains open to general aviation year round.
Uruapan: With flights from Mexico City’s AIFA, Tijuana, Morelia, plus an international link to Los Angeles, Uruapan offers an alternative route to La Unión, for those who prefer a mountain drive. At a three and a half hour trip, the road takes visitors through the mountains of southern Michoacán and past the picturesque Zincuirán-Infernillo lake.
By road
Mexico’s coast road system in the area is not particularly user-friendly, with long drives, poor roads and occasional hazards. It is recommended to avoid driving at night in southern Mexico, although driving on toll roads and highways during daylight hours is considered safe.
Acapulco: 288km (179 miles), about a 5 hour drive.
Manzanillo, Colima: 389 km (242 miles), about a 7 hour drive.
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