Author: Wylie Jordan

Acapulco, Mexico – May 2000

May
Holy Week brings a horde of tourists down from México City, and I’d advise against coming to Acapulco during the week before or after Easter Sunday. But that’s the ideal time to visit México City, for most businesses are closed and people are out of town (and here). We expect relatively few visitors durng the rainy season, which will begin in June and run through September.

Festival Acapulco opens Friday, 19 May – a music and entertainment festival which is centered at the International Convention Center but actually takes place there and at beaches all around the town. Runs until Sunday, 28 May.

Restaurants
Luxury
The consensus is that Madeira’s, on the hillside in Las Brisas, is clearly the best restaurant in town. An associated restaurant, Le Jardin des Artiste, across from the Continental Hotel, has also had good reports. El Olvido, on Diana Circle, is set on a terrace just above the beach, and is quite good. El Campanario has a magnificent view, but the food, according to reports, is only fair. You might want to go for drinks. Casa Nova and Coyuca 21 are the most expensive in town.

Economy
For more economical fare, La Fogata, just a block off the Costera, next to La Comercial Mexicana Centro and not far from Fort San Diego, has really good shish-kebab (“alambre”), chopped beef tacos (“tacos de res”), and smoked port chops (“chuletas ahumadas”) – for the equivalent of about US$3.

Closer to Caleta beach, on the street leading to the bull ring and across from La Jolla Motel, is the little family restaurant La Cabaña de Pedro, which has daily luncheon specials for US$3.00 and a wide variety of good Mexican (not Tex-Mex) food. I recommend pechugas con mole or carne a la Tampiqueña. For seafood, most Acapulqueños recommend either of the two Pipo’s – one near the convention center and the other behind the “CROM” building on the Costera, just two blocks west of the Zócalo.

Sightseeing
City Center
The somewhat “eastern-looking” Cathedral, built in 1936, faces the little town square, or Zócalo, which was re-done in the 1960’s and again in 1997.

Divers
The cliff divers perform at La Quebrada, about six (uphill) blocks from the Cathedral. You can watch from the Hotel El Mirador Plaza las Glorias, where drinks will cost you a bundle, or you can walk down the outside steps to a viewing area where you can watch for free – except for the tip which the divers or their assistants will collect. Twenty pesos per person should be enough.

Las Brisas
The beautiful Chapel of Peace beneath the huge cross has lovely gardens and the most spectacular view of Acapulco Bay.

Shopping
For good merchandise and honest pricing, go to Sanborn’s, on the Costera just two blocks east of the Zócalo. They handle everything from Cuban cigars to jewelry; from excellent pastry to electronics, and they have a good restaurant. For fine jewelry, try Margarita’s in the basement of the Oviedo Building between the Zócalo and Sanborn’s – but be prepared to haggle over price. For handicrafts, look in the little shops around the Zócalo – that’s where most of the beach vendors buy their merchandise. There are flea markets all over town – the one across the street from Caletilla Beach is better than most.

Beaches
In the Bay
All beaches are public to the high-water mark, and you can walk for miles on sand. Virtually all the better hotels have roped off their beaches to discourage vendors, who are arrested if the guards can catch them. The beaches in front of Papagayo Park – where there is a gigantic flagpole on the Costera – are popular and wide open; you can cross the street to Gigante to buy snacks and soft drinks.

Outside the Bay
Caleta and Caletilla Beaches are on the ocean side of the peninsula, and are protected by the island of La Roqueta. The sea is cleanest and waves are low.

La Roqueta is usually peaceful; a “direct” round-trip ticket costs about $3.00US; a 20 minute, glass-bottom boat tour of the channel between Caleta and the island will cost about $4.00US. You get to see the underwater shrine to the Virgin of Guadalupe. If you like a short hike, check out the path up to the lighthouse on the summit of la Roqueta, you can see the coast from Pie de la Cuesta to Puerto Marqués.

Bonfil – East of town, just beyond the Mayan Palace Hotel. The best surfing, but there are no life guards.

Pie de la Cuesta – West of town, the “Sunset Beach”. The waves and the sunset (if there are no clouds) are impressive but you should not plan on entering the water: this is where they fish for sharks, and the “remolinos” (rip currents) are very strong; an experienced California swimmer drowned here in 1998. ALWAYS ask for prices in advance.

Charities
Be wary of donations to private organizations. One group of “friends” spends much the greater part of its income (65%) on salaries and administrative costs. The Board secretary, for example, operates her private business in the organizational offices, and draws hefty “honoraria” (in lieu of salary); her secretary makes more than all the medical personnel in the “clinic” put together.

If you wish to help Acapulco’s children, you can make a direct tax-free donation to either of two organizations providing assistance:
(1) D.I.F. (Contact Dr. Luis Rodrigo Barrera Ríos, Director General, Desarrollo Integral de la Familia, telephones 483-3032 / 483-3442 / 483-9812); or
(2) The Salvation Army (Contact Major Daniel Guerra, telephone: 482.3974)
The Author
I was born in the geographic center of Texas (Brady) on Texas Independence Day (2 March), but left at 16 and have lived in Madrid, New York, San Francisco, Manila, Albuquerque, Galveston, and Iowa City.

In my other life I was a practicing psychiatrist. I wore black western boots when I was on the Rodeo board in Austin; now I wear sandals (except when in the classroom).

I like Acapulco best and I’ve been here for the past five years. I enjoy the peace, the friendly people, and the low prices. I avoid boredom by teaching English in an up-scale private academy and at a Seminary.

I can provide fairly comprehensive information on Acapulco, and limited help on México City and Oaxaca.