Thursday, July 1, 2010

Port of call: Acapulco, Mexico

May 10 2010 Acapulco

A misty morning in Acapulco but still very warm. As the day progressed the sun dissolved the mist and it became very hot.
We’d booked a tour with Acapulco Rosie. Her van was full and we were on the second van with her associate who also spoke perfect English, probably due to the years he spent living in California. Rosie’s van was slightly behind us for most of the tour and for some of the stops she and her group also arrived before we left. Ten of us on a 14 passenger van was very comfortable and a five hour tour for $35 was extremely reasonably priced. We departed the cruise port at 9:30 am.

Here's a photo of some of the beautiful homes on the hillside that enjoy incredible views of Acapulco Bay.
The first stop of the day was high on the mountain overlooking Acapulco – the Chapel of Peace. This section of land was owned by a wealthy family whose 2 sons were killed in a plane crash. The parents erected an enormous white cross and built a chapel there to their memory. The parent’s remains are interred there as are other people who have purchased a final resting place at the chapel. The daughter sold off the surrounding land where fabulous houses are owned by wealthy occupants and she still owns a house nearby.

Kerry with Acapulco Rosie at the Chapel of Peace overlooking Acapulco Bay. I highly recommend her tour. Contact Rosie through her web page http://www.acapulcorosiestours.com
Best view in town! Its still hazy over Acapulco but if you look closely at the waterfront, kind of center left at the white thing that's a little larger than everything else, that's the Island Princess.
The next stop was at the Princess Hotel which is on the south side of Acapulco, a different bay than the famous one associated with most photos of Acapulco. A lovely hotel, expensive at $200/night. The swimming pool was closed and we walked down to the beach to see a sign warning that it wasn’t safe to swim in the ocean due to the currents. No pool or ocean to swim in makes $200/night not worth it in my opinion. It was nice to have a bathroom break at this resort, though.

Beautiful beach set up with cabanas and loungers. That's a turtle sculpture in the foreground.
Beautiful beach, but don't swim in the ocean.
On a driving tour around Acapulco. In the old part of town we saw a mural by Diego Rivera.
On to the Casablanca Hotel which was built in the 1930’s. The hotel has seen better days. Its fallen into a state of disrepair. We wandered inside and up to the roof and patio areas to take photos. Take care not to lean on the railings here!

The view of the boats in Acapulco Bay from a rooftop patio at the Casablanca Hotel.
Another view of the Island Princess waiting at the dock.
Then it was on to the La Quebrada Cliff Divers. We saw 6 divers in about 30 minutes. No visit to Acapulco is complete without seeing them. By now the sun was quite high in the sky and we were getting hot. Fortunately Rosie supplies a cooler with water and sodas that we drank throughout the day.
Our last stop was the Flamingos Hotel, made famous in the 50’s by Hollywood stars Johhny Weismuller, John Wayne, Red Skelton, Fred McMurray, etc. A lovely hotel on the north side of the Acapulco Bay with lovely ocean views but no city views from here. The hotel looks like it has recently undergone renovations and was fairly nice as a hotel that is over 50 years old can look. We went into a couple of the rooms and they were large and airy. No air conditioning but they had fans. They also had mosquito netting for over the beds. Apparently the restaurant serves very nice meals here, but we didn’t want to have lunch here, preferring to return to the cruise ship on time to catch Mexican entertainers that were performing in the theatre that afternoon. There’s a nice swimming pool and on the far side is the round house portion of the hotel where Johnny Weismuller lived out his life. I didn’t find out what the round house rates are, but the hotel rooms we saw are $100/night. Not bad for the history and ambiance surrounding this hotel, but I don’t know that I’d want to spend too long in Acapulco without air conditioning.



Due to the sun and heat we were all happy to return to the cruise ship by 2:30. A wonderful tour that I highly recommend doing when in Acapulco. The price may vary depending on how many people are in your group, but it includes the admission to the cliff divers and sodas and waters.