Most hotels offer National and International Long Distance services to their guests with the charge to your room account. Some big hotels will accept Credit Cards and Telephone Cards calls from their premises.

All hotels in Ixtapa and most hotels in Zihuatanejo will allow Collect calls with a reasonable local charge for the operator service.

In some shops you will also find Long Distance Service Telephones that are operated by private companies. Their services can be used for Collect, Credit Card and/or Telephone Company Card to USA and Canada only but take into consideration that their rates may be a lot more expensive than if you paid for the service locally. Ask the cost and compare before you make the call, so you won't have an unpleasant surprise later on.

Also, you may purchase at many shops Pre-Paid-Phone-Cards for Long Distance calls from many companies (Telmex, AT&T, etc.). You can use them in any public or private phone. Just call the "toll free" number listed in the Phone-Card and give the security code to the company's operator. If you do it from a private phone (Hotel, etc.) you may be required to pay an additional service charge.

If you are planning to buy pre-paid long distance cards in your country to use them during your visit to Mexico, please be sure they are the type that are valid here or they will not honor them (inquire at time of purchase).

To use a Public Phone you must purchase a Ladatel-Card (Phone-Card) at shops, drug stores, etc.; just watch for signs. Equivalency values, approx. US$3.00, US$5.00 and US$10.00. (they look like a credit card with an imprinted chip, don't put it beside a magnet or your credit may be gone).

Cards will have different advertisement figures

Long Distance calls from Public Phones usually have the cheapest rates with discounts in evenings and weekends. The cost of long distance calls in Mexico have been drastically reduced since the opening of competition in services, but nonetheless, be aware that even the lowest rates may be more expensive than in the USA and Canada.

We have a large number of Casetas de Larga Distancia (Long Distance Service Shops) and their rates may be similar to that of the Public Phones, but check first.

To make a direct long distance call (without operator assistance) you must dial...

The vast majority of the 800's numbers of USA, Canada and other countries are NOT "Toll Free" from Mexico. If you dial and get a recording, it means you must use the 880 digits instead of 800 and you will have to paid for the portion from Mexico to the boarder with the country receiving the call.

Local calls from Public Phones cost MX$1.00 (approx. US$0.10) per minute. Remember that you have to use your Ladatel-Card (Phone Card) to make a call. From hotels and other phones the service may be a little higher.

If calling from abroad to a regular phone here, dial "your country's international long distance access code" + 52 + 755 + Phone Number (e.g. from USA: 011+52+755+Phone Number).

We have three Cellular Providers in town (TelCel, MoviStar and IUSACel) that have national and international "roaming" service, so your cell phone may work here if you are coming from abroad (inquire in advance with your local provider to be sure).

All our cellular phones have a 7 digits number and they usually start with 556, 557, 558, 559, 100, 101, 102, etc.

If you want to call a local cellular phone from a local regular phone you must dial 044+755 before the cell number. Here are some basic tips for connections between regular and cellular phones...

From foreign regular phones you must dial "your country's international long distance access code" prior to our country code (52). From foreign cellular phones, ask you cellular provider.

Beeper service is also available.

The cost to send a post-card by air mail is approx. US$0.50 to any point in the Americas and US$0.90 to Europe and Asia. You can purchase the required stamps at the Oficinas de Correos (Post Office) or at many shops (look for signs). We have six Buzón Expresso (Express Mail Boxes, located 3 in Ixtapa and 3 in Zihuatanejo) were the postman will collect the letters several times a day, this will assure you that your mail will be processed the same day.

We recommend the use of the mail boxes located at hotels, the "Expresso" type find on the streets or at the Post Office, so your post-card will get there before you do.

The TeleComm office (Telegrams) is located beside the post office. Hours from 9:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. from Mondays through Fridays.

Many hotels offer Fax Service (incoming and outgoing) for their guests but also many of the long distance shops will have them for the general public use (rates vary from shop to shop).

Some hotels offer e-mail service (send-receive) free of charge for their guests or Wi-Fi internet (free or with charge, you'll have to inquire). You can also get e-mail and internet navigation services through local Internet-Cafe, Cafe-Net, Cyber-Cafe or Bar-Net shops located in many places in Zihuatanejo and a few in Ixtapa; the best ones are air conditioned.

In Zihuatanejo shops you can rent internet time for approx. US$1.50 per hour and US$2.00 in places with air conditioner. In Ixtapa for about US$3.00 to US$5.00 per hour, also with air conditioner. Near Ixtapa (backside) for about US$1.50 to US$2.00

Some shops break their time in 30 minutes spans so you won't have to paid for a full hour. "Pre-Paid" packages are also available in some shops, usually from 10 hours and up; inquire at shop and check restrictions and rules for this service.

The fastest connections are found in shops offering DSL (512 kbps or 1024 kbps) or High Speed DSL (2048 kbps) and many of them clearly advertise it, so look around.
Note: kbps = Maximum transmission speed in kilobytes per second.

Some shops with "High Speed DSL" service offer similar rates to those with lower speed (512 or 1024) or regular (dial-up) connections; check around if speed is a must but you don't want to spend too much money (mainly in Zihuatanejo).