A sunny warm day in Acapulco….
Acapulco has a population of around 2 million people living in various communities around Acapulco Bay. The neighborhoods range from Old Acapulco to very ritzy sections known locally as “Acapulco Gold” and “Acapulco Diamond” (top tier).
Ellen and Acapulco Bay
I am here as well…
We are tour today - “Acapulco Highlights and Cliff Divers” (in a van because all of the huge busses are all full). We pass Fuerte de San Diego, a fortress built by the residents to protect the city from the buccaneers intent on raiding the town.
Fuerte de San Diego
The van makes its way through the heavy downtown traffic on its way to the other side of the bay (“Acapulco Gold”) where we have a great view of Old Acapulco and the Island Princess at the pier.
Acapulco Bay and Island Princess
Looking good in front of the Bay
View Spot to View Spot: We now have a great view of Diamond Point – part of “Acapulco Diamond”. This is where the celebrities of the day have homes or stay (Bruce Willis and Madonna et al.)
Diamond Point in the background
The tours continues through Acapulco Diamond and the various top flight hotels and condos – there are two golf courses, one of which has a teaching academy run by Lorena Ochoa (Mexico’s newly retired golf star).
Lorena Ochoa’s Golf Course
The tour decompresses by going back to Old Acapulco passing the Central Plaza on its way to Quebrada and the famed Cliff Diver Show.
Acapulco Central Plaza
At Quebrada, which is in the old part of town, the van parks a few blocks away from the Mirador Hotel. The Perla Bar at the hotel is where the Cliff Diver Show is held. I thought I heard that the divers do this show on the half hour but it is more complicated than that.
Perla Bar (Mirador Hotel) for the Cliff Diver Show
There are about six divers in the show – after warming up with a feet first dive from about 20 feet or so, each diver then scales the steep cliff to the 100 plus top. When they all arrive at the top, the show actually starts. Two divers go off of a lower ledge and a lone diver makes the plunge from the very top. It was pretty warm and we were lucky to get a good vantage point (complimentary diet coke also helped).
Cliff Divers of Quebrada (Top Left: Two divers enter water simultaneously – Top Right: Close-up view; Bottom Left: A single diver in mid dive from cliff top; Bottom Right: Close-up view
The La Perla Bar has a storied history and has been visited by famous folks throughout the years and going pretty far back. This is documented by their famous room of autographs. We found a good spot for Ellen to stand – she is pointing to Vera Ellen’s autograph. Look carefully and you will see some other recognizable names.
We got back about 40 minutes early from the tour but it was so hot that we opted not to walk around the neighborhood near the pier (just didn’t look inviting). A cool ship and something to eat seemed to be the better decision.
Tonight’s show of choice is in the Universe Lounge: Dan Bennett – Comedian Juggler (“Antics and Semantics”). His references are lightning fast – reminds me of Dennis Miller. He said he was a math professor at UCLA before becoming an entertainer and his act contained a lot of scientific terminology (I checked him out and he did get a master in math from UCLA – go Bruins).
A nice day ends…
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