Area Markets and Sights
- September 20, 2007
- Rated 3 of 5 by
PerdidoBlonde from Pensacola, Florida
Just a few shots around one of the larger market areas in Acapulco. Shopping there was unimpressive to me. There were a couple of very nice jewelry stores but otherwise, nothing that was out of the ordinary.
Be prepared, when in Acapulco, to take a lot of taxis - most are unairconditioned VW Beetles - rates vary widely - always ask! If you choose to walk, the "downtown" area is doable - if you go to the cliff diving/El Quebrada, be prepared to climb hills. We did quite a bit of both!
You can arrange with a driver to take you to a location and wait for you - please be courteous and return when you said and the driver will wait all day if necessary to hold his promise to you. Pay him for his time and courtesy. Several times, we would do this in order to determine if a "sight" was really somewhere we'd want to stay a while - holding a reliable driver was nice to be able to do. If we decided to stay, we'd simply go back to him and let him know. He would always offer to return later and, if you arranged this, never failed you.
Some communication (I only speak English) problems with some taxi drivers but in general, was easy to get around.
Shopping, again, is not impressive but you can haggle and find some bargains. What I mostly saw were the cut-rate souvenir stuff.
The plazas were pretty, though. It was a little disconcerting seeing law enforcement with machine guns. No problems seen except one fight in the plaza pictured - police arrived quickly and broke it up with no incidence to outsiders. Otherwise, was a peaceful and friendly city.
From journal A Week in Acapulco
Acapulco Fishing
- September 20, 2007
- Rated 4 of 5 by
PerdidoBlonde from Pensacola, Florida
We visited the main Pier in Acapulco and rented the time of two young men, Humberto and Juan for a deep sea fishing trip. While I have been on many in and around Florida, this was my son's first. I selected to take it easy and document the trip by video. My son fished.
Suggestions: talk to the folks around the docks, check out the boat; if you want a nice, accommodating boat, you're going to certainly pay more. We paid $200 US for four hours. The boat was of sufficient size but was not "luxury" by any stretch of the imagination. We didn't expect this, however, we were out there to fish and enjoy a beautiful summer day.
The guys took us out of Acapulco Bay and into deep water, about 3 miles out. My son then hooked his first black marlin. He brought it into the boat within 30 minutes (GOOD time!) - was not huge but was thrilling to him. All the guys were excited - I opened another beer!
We then wandered and wandered for the next three hours, searching and fishing. I, being content to wander, was fine. My son was happy, hoping for another fish; he now had the "fever". Humberto then noted that no one was catching fish (we had seen several boats doing the same - just wandering and looking for fish) and did we want to head back in and maybe catch tuna. I agreed that this was probably a good idea and we had already gotten our time in. As we were discussing and deciding this, my son hooked a HUGE sailfish! The chase was on! Now, keep in mind, not a luxury boat - fighting chair was NOT bolted down, was sliding all over the deck! Todd, my son, fought the fish for three hours, finally bringing him up to the boat. Juan, the deckhand/brother of Humberto, was helping him as much as possible. When the fish got to the boat, Juan grabbed a gaff that is typically used to gaff from a pier, slung it towards the fish twice; on the second throw, he sliced the line with the gaff! My son, not realizing what had just happened, said, "What?" I told him Juan had just cut his fish loose. Juan was more upset with himself than we were in losing the fish.
It was a long ride back, with the captain and his mate being so disappointed. They constantly apologized for the mistake. We felt it was no problem - he caught the fish, just lost it, a story to tell! I think the major disappointment to them is they sell the fish in port.
To end the story - if you want to fish, they are there. Check out the boat, negotiate what you want. These guys stayed hours and hours longer than originally intended to try to get that fish. I, of course, tipped them well for their effort.
From journal A Week in Acapulco