Book Affordable Bus Tickets to Acapulco

Acapulco de Juárez sits on a deep, sheltered bay that made it a vital Pacific port in colonial times, the terminus of the Manila galleon trade that linked Mexico to Asia. The old fort of San Diego still guards the harbor and houses a museum tracing that history. In the 1950s and 60s the city reinvented itself as a glamorous resort, and the area now divides loosely into the traditional, lower-key Old Acapulco around the zócalo and La Quebrada, the high-rise hotel strip along the bay-front Costera Miguel Alemán, and the newer, upscale Diamante zone to the southeast with its calmer beaches and resorts.

The bay itself is the main attraction, ringed by beaches that range from the busy, family-friendly sands of Caleta and Caletilla to the broader stretches of Condesa and Icacos along the Costera. Boat trips run out to Roqueta Island and to glass-bottom viewings of an underwater shrine, while the Laguna de Coyuca offers calmer waters and birdlife. The signature spectacle remains the La Quebrada cliff divers, who time their leaps to the incoming swell from heights of around 35 meters. Evenings bring fresh seafood, sunset cocktails and the nightlife that made Acapulco famous. The climate is hot and tropical year-round, with a rainy season from summer into early autumn.