ACAPULCO & PUERTO ESCONDIDO - MEXICO

Having filled in a few days heading south from Mexico city, I finally made it from Cuernavaca to Acapulco for the Easter weekend, in the search of some nice beaches and some massive parties. From all reports Acapulco was the place to be. During my time in Acapulco I stayed with a guy I had met in Mexico city and whilst this was a most generous and financially rewarding option, the location of the house (well out of the city centre) meant that getting into town to be a part of the festivities, was rather hard.

Acapulco as a city didn´t appeal to me so much and had only a number of sites worth visiting. With the exception of an enjoyable morning spent in the surf, just mucking around with a boogie board in the 10 foot swell, I also managed to check out the old fort and associated museum which detailed the importance of Acapulco during the early stages of Mexican history as the port linking Europe with Asia. It was very interesting to learn all about how silks and spices were brought all the way from places like the Phillipines and then traded for gold and so on in Acapulco before being taken onto Europe. Also, the description of piracy in the Carribean made the museum well worth a visit. I also managed to check out the world famous cliff divers of Acapulco, whereby a number of crazy Mexicans hurled themselves off 20 or so metre high cliffs into the shallow water bellow, somehow managing not to smash themsleves into a million pieces on the rocks. The last place of interest which I managed to visit during my stay was a great vantage point on the mountain range just outside the city, a position which provided some great views of the hotels lining the beaches all around the city.

Despite the difficulties in getting into town, I did manage to go out twice during my stay in Acapulco. Unfortunately, my mate Carlos wasn´t interested in going out so I did it solo but did manage to meet up with some friendly Argentines whom I had befriended on the plane from Santiago de Chile to Mexico and whom I had met up with (just by chance) in Mexico city. Although I did originally intend to at least spend one of my nights in one of the famous clubs of Acapulco, the US$50 cover charge (albeit with an open bar) made this option very unenticing and as such I decided to frequent slightly less up-market and more ´fun´ establishments. On both nights I had a good time and met some great people so that was the main thing but I wouldn´t say that the parties were the most amazing that I have ever been a part of.

After Acapulco I headed briefly to Puerto Escondido, another beachside town, famous for its great surf and nice beaches. The weather here was stiffling hot and I was forced to spend the majority of the day under cover for fear of shrivelling up and dying. Still in the earlier hours of the morning and later on in the afternoon I did manage to check out some of the coastline around the town, which was very nice and spent a few hours just relaxing and sleeping in a hammock at one of the restaurants located at one of the more popular beaches.

Whilst Acapulco and Puerto Escondido probably weren´t the most ineresting places I have ever visited they were still worth a look and the kindness shown to me by Carlos´ family in particular made it a pretty good Easter away from home.

Photo 1: Old fort in Acapulco.
Photo 2: Views of the city and coastline in Acapulco.
Photo 3: Location of the famous cliff divers in Acapulco.
Photos 4-8: Beaches and coastline around Puerto Escondido.