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| SPOTLIGHT | | Sandy
beach, is great for diving, swimming, sailing, snorkeling, and windsurfing. |
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| Acapulco Roqueta Travel Information
Acapulco
Acapulco is a city that gives you many choices when it comes to beaches. During
the day most of the focus in Acapulco is on the beach. The theme in Acapulco seems
to be Party All Night and Play on the Beach All Day. The whole bay is lined with
beaches, we will cover a few of them; you can check them all, time permitting,
when you visit. Many of the beachfront restaurants will put umbrellas, chairs
and tables in the sand so you can enjoy your food or drink right at waters edge.
Beaches Photographs
Playa Diamante and Playa Revolcadero, south of town near the airport
are areas of major development. Four of Acapulco’s golf courses are located in
this area, along with some serious resorts. Water sports of all kinds, waverunners,
ultra light airplanes and horseback riding are available here. This long stretch
of beach is open to high waves, so be careful if you are not an expert swimmer.
Because of the waves this is a great area for surfers as well as beachcombing
and collecting a few shells.
Playa Puerto Marques is part a fairly large
bay that is a favorite with locals. The entire beach is lined with tin roofed
restaurants serving up fresh seafood, cold beer and tropical drinks at prices
that are usually below those of Acapulco proper. The calm waters are great for
swimming and water sports, when there is room. This beach is busy every day and
is very, very crowded on weekends.
Playa Icacos is a calm beach, toward
the southern end of the bay, lined with high-rise hotels and condominiums. This
beach has all of the local watersports available directly from shore. This area
also is the home of the giant CiCi water park and very close to much many of the
discos.
Playa Condesa, in the heart of “Zona Dorado” or “The Golden Zone”
is one of the most popular of the city beaches, with many beachfront restaurants
and a lot of activity. Playa Condesa is also where much of the “pre” nightlife
originates, and is very close to many of the better restaurants and shopping centers
so that you have a choice of other things to do should you become bored with the
beach scene. Playa Condesa is also the home of the giant bungee jumping attraction,
Paradise Bungy, which always draws crowds of onlookers, along the sidewalk and
adjoining restaurant. The crowds are there to watch the brave jumpers, which sometimes
get dipped in the giant swimming pool, far below the jumping platform that is
situated 165 feet in the air.
Playa Caleta and Playa Caletilla are two
small beaches, located away from most of the tourist traffic. These small beaches
combine calm waters, great atmosphere and many beach front restaurants that serve
some incredible seafood at reasonable prices. Many of the beachfront restaurants
are shaded by giant trees which add a different feel to beach going. In between
the two beaches is the Mundo Marino aquarium and fun center. These are both great
family beaches which get very crowded on the weekends.
There are many
more beaches in Acapulco, to the north the Pacific beaches of Pie de la Cuesta
(see side trips) and the protected beaches of the Coyuca Lagoon, offer more diversion.
Rest assured that you will find a beach in or near Acapulco that will suit your
desire to get out in the sun and enjoy "la playa".
Water Sports Water
sports are a way of life in Acapulco. The bay is alive with waverunners, parasailing,
peddle boats, banana rides and even a beachfront water park. Sailboards and small
sail boats are readily available as well as numerous glass bottom boats that pull
right up on the beach to pick up their passengers. You usually do not have to
go very far to partake in your favorite water sport, almost everything is offered
directly from the beaches. Most of the scuba and snorkeling operations are located
along the docks near the zócalo. The beaches of Acapulco are always busy and weekends
can even get hectic, just remember to be careful and look in all directions before
going for a swim or leaving the beach on a wave runner.
Sportfishing
Sportfishing in Acapulco is as good as it is in most other Mexican resorts.
Acapulco is just not promoted as a sportfishing resort anymore. In the not so
distant past sportfishing was heavily promoted here and the good news is that
- the fish are still here. So, if a day on the water and the sound of a reel going
off is your thing, go for it. You will most likely not be disappointed. Look for
the sportfishing fleet on the docks near the zócalo and near the marina.
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Top Beaches |
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 Puerto
Marques and Revolcadero |
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Las Brisas, overlooking the eastern end of the bay, is
probably the most exclusive of all, its individual villas
offering private swimming pools and pink jeeps to every
occupant. Puerto Marques (buses marked "Puerto Marques")
is the first of the playas, a sheltered, deeply indented
cove with restaurants and beach chairs right down to the
water's edge. |
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| Playas
Caleta and Caletilla |
Very small - the two are divided only by a rocky outcrop
and breakwater - they tend to be crowded with Mexicans
(the foreign tourists who once flocked here have since
decamped east), but the water is almost always calm and,
by Acapulco's standards, the beach is clean.
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| Pie de la Cuesta |
Even if it weren't for the massive backbreaking waves
that dump on the beach, there are said to be sharks offshore
- but as good a place as you can imagine to come and watch
the sun sink into the Pacific or to ride horseback along
the shore.
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| Akumal |
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Akumal means “place of the turtles” and it is
still one of their favorite places for laying their eggs.
However what makes Akumal such a charming and fascinating
destination for tourists from around the world is its
spectacular protected bay area of transparent waters and
the sweet water currents that flow through its caves and
subterranean rivers. |
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| Cancun |
Though you're free to go anywhere, and signposted public
walkways lead down to the sea at regular intervals, some
of the hotels do their best to make you feel like a trespasser,
and staff will certainly move you off the beach furniture
if you're not a guest.
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| Conzumel |
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Nachi Cocom, south of Chankanaab, even has a swimming
pool, a good restaurant, and watersports equipment rental.
A little farther south you'll come to Playa San Francisco
and, south of it, Playa Palancar. Other beach clubs include
Paradise Cafe, on the southern tip of the island across
from Punta Sur nature park, and Playa Bonita, Chen R?o,
and Punta Morena, on the eastern side. |
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| Isla Mujeres |
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First there's the beach, then there's the sea. And when
you've tired of those, you can rent a bike, moped or even
golf cart to carry you around the island to more sea,
more beaches, a coral reef and the tiny Maya temple that
the conquistadors chanced upon, full of female figures,
which gave the place its name. |
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| Ixtapa and Zihuatanejo |
Zihuatanejo has the old-fashioned charm of traditional
Mexican culture. Fishing continues to be a way of life
for a large number of families, and the increasing popularity
of the area as a sportfishing destination has given new
impetus to their livelihood. .
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| Acapulco |
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Acapulco even though there are hundreds of thousands of
people here throughout the year - the town itself has
a population approaching one and a half million and even
out of season (busiest months are Dec-Feb) most of the
big hotels remain nearly full - it rarely seems oppressively
crowded. |
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| Playa
Condesa or Playa Icacos |
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Centro Acapulco, where the beach is far less crowded and
considerably cleaner. Here, too, it's easy enough to slip
in to use the hotel showers, swimming pools and bars -
there's no way they're going to spot an imposter in these
thousand-bed monsters. |
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