Acapulco:
One of the most exciting cities in the world, Acapulco is famous for its explosive nightlife, postcard beaches, unlimited watersports, first-class hotels, gourmet restaurants and the breathtaking physical beauty of Acapulco Bay! The town is built on a narrow strip of low ground, scarcely half a mile wide, between the shore line and the lofty mountains that encircle the bay. There is great natural beauty in the surroundings, mountains render the access to the town, though not difficult to access particularly since the construction of a 2-km-long tunnel to the waterfront from the hinterland in the 1990s. An earlier effort to admit the cooling sea breezes by cutting through the mountains a passage called the Abra de San Nicolas had some beneficial effect.

History of Acapulco:
A 1628 Spanish relief map of Acapulco BayAcapulco has been well known as a traveler's crossroads for at least a millennium. Its name is a Nahuatl word, meaning "plain of dense reeds". The earliest local remains, stone metates and pottery utensils, were left in the 3rd millennium BC. Much later, sophisticated artisans fashioned curvaceous female figurines.

Other artifacts resemble those found in highland Mexico. Although influenced by Tarascan, Mixtec, Zapotec, and Aztec civilizations, sometimes paying tribute to them and frequented by their traders, Acapulco never came under their direct control, but instead remained subject to local caciques until the Spanish conquest.

After conquering the Aztecs, Hernan Cortes sent expeditions south to build ships and find a route to China. The first explorers sailed from Zacatula, near present-day Lazaro Cardenas, Michoacan, on the coast 400 km (250 miles) north-west of Acapulco. By a royal decree dated April 25, 1528, "Acapulco and her land ... where the ships of the south will be built...." passed directly into the hands of the Spanish Crown. Voyages of discovery set sail from Acapulco for Peru, the Sea of Cortez, and to Asia. None returned across the Pacific, however, until Augustinian priest Andres de Urdaneta discovered the northern Pacific tradewinds, which propelled him and his ship, loaded with Chinese treasure, to Acapulco in 1565.

For more than 256 years, a special yearly trading ship, known to the English as the Manila Galleon, set sail from Acapulco for the Manila and the Orient. Its return started an annual merchant fair in Acapulco where traders bargained for the Galleon's cargo of silks, porcelain, ivory, and lacquer ware. This trade connection, which persisted up to Mexican independence, was instrumental in placing the Philippines on the east side of the International Date Line until the end of 1844. Acapulco's yearly treasure soon attracted marauders, too. In 1579, Francis Drake attacked but failed to capture the Galleon, but in 1587, off Cabo San Lucas, Thomas Cavendish seized the Santa Anna. The cash alone, 1.2 million gold pesos, severely depressed the London bullion market. After a Dutch fleet invaded Acapulco in 1615, the Spanish rebuilt their fort, which they christened Fort San Diego in 1617. Destroyed by an earthquake in 1776, the fort was rebuilt by 1783. The War of Independence (1820–21) stopped the Manila Galleon forever, sending Acapulco into a century-long slumber. The city of Acapulco. There are exports of hides, wood, and fruit, and the adjacent district of Tabares produces cotton, tobacco, cacao, sugarcane, Indian corn, beans, and coffee.


More About Acapulco: Acapulco as a holiday resort for many years. Acapulco has been a popular resort for holiday makers. The city has had its star-spangled times, prompting none other than Frank Sinatra to give the place a mention in his all time classic "Come Fly With Me". Modern Acapulco has a great appeal. The vast majority of the tourists are Mexicans, but many other foreign nationals make appearances in the numerous bars and clubs dotted around the bay.

In recent years, Acapulco has made some ground on Cancun for spring break's most popular resort destinations. Acapulco offers a relatively unknown experience and a larger, international student crowd than Cancun. Approximately 5 million people visit Acapulco every year. Apart from just the beach, Acapulco's best known island Roqueta, is a great resource which is typically reached by transparent-bottom motor boats (enabling clear view of the bottom sea).