Palao
- September 20, 2007
- Rated 5 of 5 by
PerdidoBlonde from Pensacola, Florida
Another boat trip! We took a ride out to Palao, a restaurant at the tip of Acapulco Bay - another view of the harbor and a leisurely ride out. When you disembark at Palao, you have preselected your dinner and you wander around, can take your snorkel and fins or rent them there for $7. We took one of the earlier trips out during the day and came back on the last trip back in to enjoy snorkeling - not the best in the world but definitely fun! We had selected grilled baby lobster - oh, it was so fresh and wonderful! They were a little chintzy on the drinks in my opinion but we were there all afternoon! We weren't drinking alcohol and I felt that water or soft drinks (in small cups) should flow freely in the July heat! I finally just tipped our waiter $20 to just hold our table as we were back and forth snorkeling and enjoying the day - he then became very amenable. Palao is a cool little place and worth the visit.
You can pick up a trip out at the Public Pier - we got on one of the Glass-Bottomed boats, of which there are many. I was a little disappointed in it as the "glass bottom" was very small and very cloudy. This was an older boat, as many of them are, and the diesel fumes were a little disconcerting - might have just been unfortunate wind direction, though. If I did this again, which I would, I would definitely walk onto the boat and check out the bottom before purchasing a ticket, to get your full money's worth. You will visit the small outcropping in the bay that has statues of the Virgin Mary and gifts for her all over it (sorry, can't remember what it is called) - there is a sunken statue that the boat makes a determined effort to stop "over" with the glass bottom - with such a small view, it was more sand than anything, with all the backing and turning the boat did. If the "window/bottom" had been less cloudy and newer, I think we would have gotten a great view.
The trip out was entertaining, though - stopping along the way and young men diving in and catching sea urchins to show, diving for coins, etc. It was a joy to watch these boys take pleasure in the beautiful waters!
From journal A Week in Acapulco