Las Pozas (The Wells) are parts of the same long stretch of white sand that runs from north west of the airport, past the airport and down to Barra de Potosí. Total length of these beaches in about . Swimming is strongly discouraged off any of these beaches as they face open ocean and have heavy undertows riptides and current. Behind the beaches are coconut groves, small huts and mango trees. Cacti grow on the hillsides, sometimes down to the beach itself. Actitivies that are recommended for this area include whale watching from December to February and dolphin watching all year round, both of which can be done from the beach. There is horseback riding on the beaches and into the adjoining hills. The beach is dotted with open-air restaurants with roofs thatched with palm fronds, tree branches and flower. Volleyball net and soccer posts are set up in front of many of the restaurants as well. On the southern end of these beaches is the village of Barra de Potosí. There is a lagoon here, called Laguna de Potosí and islets called Morros de Potosí. The lagoon area has a large mangrove estuary filled with bird wildlife. Birdwatching, kayaking and fishing are popular here. The lagoon opens to the ocean and the beaches contain many "enramadas", palm-thatched outdoor restaurants. Many of these enramadas are decorated with colorful paper or plastic cutouts, especially during the Christmas season. The Morros de Potosí are offshore and is a popular place for snorkeling, with red-billed tropicbirds, brown boobies and brown pelicans nesting on the rocks. In the winter season the bay hosts humpback whales, mother/calf pairs and some males are seen leaping from the water. There is a whale study project, Whales of Mexico, that takes place in the winter as well. Inland there are a couple of attractions. La Vainilla is an ecological park located from the town of Zihuatanejo on the hilly terrain of the foothills of the Sierra Madre del Sur mountains. It covers approximately , and contains 428 species of plants. These are distributed in three plant communities; bosque tropical subcaducifolio (semi-evergreen seasonal forest), bosque tropical caducifolio (deciduous seasonal forest) and bosque en galleria (gallery forest), with the first type most prevalent. There is also one small archeological site named Tierras Prietas. Aside from tourism, fishing continues to be a way of life for a large number of families,