Contiki Mexican Fiesta: Cuernavaca to Acapulco
(Updated June 2020)
Waking up in the morning in Cuernavaca was much better than in Puebla. For starters, I was feeling a thousand times better and could actually manage to make it to breakfast. Plus, we were leaving the countryside of Mexico and heading westbound towards the beach destination of Acapulco.
Acapulco is well known throughout the United States as a spring break destination. It’s not as popular as Puerto Vallarta or Cabo, but it still gets quite the spring break crowd. Regardless of popularity, I was excited to head from Cuernavaca to Acapulco for some beach time RnR.
The Morning Journey
The morning routine was a pretty typical one. Over the past few day on Contiki, the mornings all looked the same; eat breakfast at 7 am, get on the bus around 7:45, begin the day of travel to the next destination. Today, there weren’t many people complaining or dilly-dallying. We all had the same three things on our mind; Surf, sun and sand.
Our travel day was a little shorter from other days, estimated at around 4-5 hours. We also only had one major stop between Cuernavaca and Acapulco. As for the entertainment on the bus, most of the crew rested or napped. There were a few travel friends who played chess, but overall it was quiet. You get pretty use to these bus rides after only a few days. I chose to work on my computer a little, but generally, I’m just starring out the window.
Before heading to our hotel in Acapulco, we decided, as a crew, to go to a shopping center called La Isla for lunch. I think the main reason we decided this was that it provided us with different options. Several were traditional Mexican cuisine, but others were more chain like places.
Myself, the Stefani, Stephanie, Kristie, Amy, Aimee, and Nicola stuggled finding a place to eat. We kept getting lost around the shopping center and got easily distracted by a pond full of turtles. Thankfully, we ended up deciding on a local burger joint called Ruben’s Hamburgers. After lunch, Stef, Steph, and I enjoy some ice cream before getting back on the bus.
Accommodation in Acapulco
We stayed at the Crowne Plaza Acapulco Hotel along Playa Hotel Copacabana. Once we arrived, we all went our separate ways to our respected hotel rooms. Bec and I, however, had some major difficulties trying to enter not one, not two, but three different rooms. For some reason, our keys weren’t allowing us to enter into the first two rooms. Thankfully, the staff was wonderful and accommodating with finding a room.
It was starting to become annoying and frustrating, but in the end the view from the porch made everything worth it. Thirty minutes after arriving to my room, I was in my bikini and heading off to the pool with the rest of the crew.
We spent a few hours by the pool before Steph, Stef and I went for a little walk. We didn’t have anything planned until later that evening for an included excursion. Having the free time was nice, but I struggle with just sitting by a pool.
On the way down the steps to the beach, I decided my eyes were better set on my camera screen and not the stairs. I ended up tumbling down a stair, scrapping my knees and having a good laugh about it. Thank goodness nobody was there to witness it. I was recording it though and it was only one step.
Beach Time in Acapulco
Walking along Playa Hotel Copacabana was much different from the beaches in Cancun. This particular beach was a bit more rocky. I was hoping for more of a white sandy beach but it was still a beach none-the-less. Stef, Steph, and I spent some time enjoying the sunset and the waves crashing before deciding on dinner.
We were responsible for our own dinner tonight and neither of us felt like Mexican food. Together, we chose a local Italian restaurant not far from the hotel. As a trio decided on bruschetta, a salad and a MASSIVE pizza.
Unfortunately, Steph started not feeling very well. She did actually faint, which thankfully she was sitting. Another good thing is one of our other tour mates was a nurse and she came to check on Steph.
The funniest part of this whole saga was when the owner of the restaurant started slapping Steph in the face trying to get her to become alert. I looked at him, point to Jess and said “NURSE”.
Who does that? Who slaps someone in the face who just fainted?
THEN, he calls the ambulance. At this point, the other Stef, jets off to the hotel to try to find our tour guide since none of us speak Spanish. This whole ordeal took place in about 30 minutes. I must say it quite crazy of an experience. I have been to Mexico dozens of times and this was my first ambulance experience. Ish arrived around the same time as the ambulance and provided Steph with some reinforcements.
La Querada Cliff Divers
After our dinner dramatics, we had about an hour to get ready for our evening of activities; famous cliff divers and an all-inclusive night club. If you don’t know anything about Acapulco just know that Acapulco is a destination-resort-party town. The nightlife is superb. I couldn’t come all the way to Acapulco and not experience the nightlife scene.
The first activity planned was an included excursion with Contiki. It was a trip to watch the death-defying cliff-divers, known as La Quebrada Cliff Divers, or Clavadistas Professionales de La Quebrada.
These divers jump off of the La Quebrada cliffs at heights measured at approximately 35 metres or 125 feet. They jump into an area known as the Gulch. It only reaches depths between 6-16 feet and is all dependent on the waves. I don’t know about you but the math doesn’t add to and never would I jump from 125ft into water of 12 ft. Talk about craziness.
The Clavadistas Professionales, or cliff divers group, was formed in 1934. They have been featured in a few major productions within the USA. You can watch them in Elvis Presley’s film Fun in Acapulco and on ABC’s Wide World of Sports. These divers are crazy and brave at the same time, but according to Ish it’s part of their culture. They are brought up around these cliffs learning how to successful jump.
In order to jump, they first have to swim across the gulch. Then, they free-climb up the cliff. Literally, before placing themselves at risk during the dive, they place themselves at risk by free climbing.
Paradise Night Club
After the show, we were able to take photos with the divers. It was a pretty busy night, so it was just capture and move on. We were back on the bus almost immediately following the finale and making our way to a local nightclub called “Paradise”.
This nightclub is more than a nightclub. It has the option for patrons to jump from the high dive or to bungee jump. It was tempting, but no one on the tour opted to partake. The rest of the night was a pretty typical nightclub experience; drinking, dancing, talking, drinking, etc. However, we did celebrated Amy’s birthday so it gave us a reason to “party”!
I didn’t stay out the whole night with the rest of the crew. I called it a fairly early night at 2:30 am since I was scheduled to go on the optional day trip. Stay turned for tomorrow’s adventure in Acapulco to learn about what this optional day trip consists of.
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