For our day in Acapulco we purchased a 4+ hour guided tour through the Viator website. We had heard that Acapulco could be a bit rough around the edges, so weren't sure if we wanted to just walk off the ship on our own. The tour would also give us a good overview of the city. And the bonus was that it included a stop at the daily cliff-divers show that Acapulco is famous for. There were a couple of people from our previous tour (in Puerto Corinto, Nicaragua) along on this one, and we crossed paths through the day with others from that tour as well. Acapulco turned out to be a mix of affluent and poor, old and new, maintained and dilapidated. And despite the armed military presence around town, or maybe because of it, we did feel comfortable enough to wander out for a while on our own. I think, for now, Acapulco's bad rap is a thing of the past. We enjoyed the whole day, and would like to visit again sometime.
Our first stop was a photo op with panoramic views of the harbour and the city. Our cruise ship was docked somewhere just off the top left of the view. We had driven from the dock through the busy downtown area on our way to this lookout.
We then drove on, through the small town of Puerto Marqués, a village of mostly locals, although there are a few tourist resorts here too. It seemed a more colourful, but less developed area than what we had seen so far of Acapulco.
One of the many street-side vendors we passed by. We didn't make a stop in this village, it was just a drive-by for a look-see.
After we drove through some of the most expensive and exclusive areas of Acapulco, our next stop was the Chapel of Peace, high up in the hills. "Capilla de la Paz (Chapel of Peace) is a contemporary church that features a 130-foot white cross that towers over the Bay of Acapulco. The Chapel of Peace first opened in 1971 as a tribute to the land owners' sons who died in an airplane accident."
The sculpture "Las Manos de la Hermandad" "(Hands of Brotherhood), two right hands asking for peace, made by the famous carver Claudio Favier, is one of the many works of art that give character to the place."
Our next stop, after driving through several (less expensive) neighbourhoods, was this viewpoint. Our ship can be seen in the centre of the bay above. We then made our way over to the far side of the bay for the "La Quebrada Cliff Divers".
Along the drive, off of the main drag, we passed many street vendors in some of the poorer neighbourhoods.
The stands and storefronts were all pretty small. This stand was next to a restaurant - the restaurant seating was inside, the cooking was done outside on the sidewalk.
A colourful display built on discarded crates. I wondered what they did with the stuff at the end of the day?
One of the armed military-types that we saw throughout the drive. This one guarding a (Canadian) bank. Others we saw were riding around town, providing a presence. All of this has helped to control the underworld side of Acapulco that caused it's fall from grace with tourists. We felt neither threatened nor apprehensive during our visit there - so I guess their efforts are paying off.
Our next point of interest was the famous ceramic mural by Diego Rivera. "Created in 1956 and located on the side of a house, this mural is one of the city’s most important cultural artifacts." We didn't have the chance to get out of the van - so the larger image is the only shot I got of the mural. The smaller image is what it actually looks like, and that is just one half of the murals at this location.
Now on the western side of Acapulco Bay, our ship was more visible, with the city we had just travelled through in the background. This viewpoint was our last stop before seeing the famous La Quebrada Cliff Divers of Acapulco.
Here the divers are just jumping in to warm-up the audience, and to get over to the right-hand side, where the higher cliffs will provide for the real show.
The diver in the orange bathing suit is mid-dive. He started a bit lower than the rest of the divers, gathered at the top cliff. "The depth of water in the "Gulch" can vary from 4.8 meters(16 ft) to 5.8 meters(19 ft) depending on the waves. The width of the channel varies from 12.8 meters(42 ft) to 14.6 meters(48 ft)."
On the left, three divers jumped in sync. On the right, they hit the water. "Timing is crucial for the divers."
This is the last of the divers, with a spectacular somersault dive into the water. "The 1963 Elvis Presley film Fun in Acapulco brought the cliffs to worldwide attention." The whole spectacle was a lot of fun to see, and gave us a chance to "refresh" ourselves with a beverage as we watched.
After we returned from the excursion, we had a bite to eat onboard, and headed out to explore the downtown Acapulco area close to the ship dock. If you ever wondered where old VW Beetles go to die - looks like they end up as taxis for the locals in Acapulco. Most had removed the front passenger seat to provide easy access to the back seats for the customers.
One of the many colourful streets of the city we walked along.
"The Our Lady of Solitude Cathedral (also known as Acapulco Cathedral) is the main Catholic temple of the city of Acapulco. The space occupied by the building has been used for public worship since the creation of the Parish in 1555."
"Details of both the neocolonial architecture can be seen, along with the Moorish and Byzantine style, the latter in the dome and the towers. The interior of the church is decorated with gold tiles and mosaics."
Another side street in the downtown area, this one decorated with "Papel Picado" - tissue paper banners.
We checked out the offerings of this small store, but most were candy and other "stuff" that we weren't really interested in.
"The (star shaped) Fort of San Diego … was built by the Spanish Empire, and was one of the most important Spanish fortifications along the Pacific coast. First built in the 17th century, it is an important landmark in Acapulco, and is open to the public as the Acapulco Historic Museum"...which we had intended on seeing, but by the time we got back out in the afternoon, it was closed for the day. This picture was taken from the ship, as we set sail for our next port of call, Cabo San Lucas.
Next: (Day 15) Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
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Panama Canal - Jan 2018