Acapulco was Mexico’s first great beach resort, the one of the 1950s and 1960s, when Hollywood stars came down to a nearly enclosed bay ringed by hills. That history still reads in the architecture of the Costera, in the La Quebrada divers and in the layout of the city. It also explains why parts of Acapulco have aged badly, while the Diamante sector further southeast grew with newer hotels.
The essentials in four lines
- No direct flight from Quebec: connect through Mexico City or the United States to Acapulco airport (ACA).
- Guerrero runs one hour behind Montreal in winter and two in summer.
- No sargassum. The bay stays warm year-round, around 28 degrees.
- The city was struck hard by a major hurricane in October 2023 and rebuilding continues: check the state of properties before booking.
Three Acapulcos
Traditional Acapulco
The old town, west of the bay: the zócalo shaded by fig trees, the cathedral with its blue dome, San Diego fort built in 1616 to protect the Manila galleon, and the market. It is the most authentic quarter and the cheapest.
Golden Acapulco
The long coastal avenue along the bay, with the hotels of the 1960s and 1970s and the beaches of Hornos, Condesa and Icacos. Much of it has aged, but this is where the city’s pulse is, and the beaches are calm since the bay is nearly closed.
Acapulco Diamante
Southeast, past the headland, a sector developed from the 1990s with the newest hotels, a golf course and two very different beaches: Puerto Marqués in a sheltered cove, and Revolcadero, open to the Pacific and often too rough for swimming.
La Quebrada
Since 1934, divers have launched from a thirty-five-metre cliff into a narrow inlet, timing the wave that must fill the pool at the precise moment of impact. Four or five performances a day, including a torchlit dive after dark.
It is the image that travelled the world, and it has stayed a family affair: the divers pass the craft down through generations and live on the audience’s tips. The show lasts forty minutes and is watched from a terrace or from the bar above.
The bay and what surrounds it
Acapulco Bay is deep and almost circular, which gives it calm water and a particular light at sunset. La Roqueta island is twenty minutes away by glass-bottom boat, with a pass over a statue of the Virgin submerged about ten metres down.
To the northwest, Pie de la Cuesta lines up a long ocean beach backed by the Coyuca lagoon. You go for the sunset and for a skiff trip through the mangroves; sea swimming there is discouraged because of the shore break.
Inland, the sierra villages and plantations produce the region’s coffee and coconut. Excursions remain limited: Acapulco is lived in the city and on the water.
What to know before booking
Two points deserve stating plainly. First, the October 2023 hurricane hit the city head-on and damaged a large share of the hotel stock. Rebuilding is advancing, but available supply and the condition of properties have changed a great deal: older brochure information is no longer reliable, and an advisor can tell you what is genuinely open.
Second, the Government of Canada publishes recommendations specific to the state of Guerrero. Consult the official page on Mexico before fixing your dates, and discuss it with your advisor.
All-inclusive in Acapulco
The format exists mainly in the Diamante sector, with a few large recent resorts, and to a lesser degree along the Costera. Rates are low compared with the rest of the Mexican Pacific, which reflects both competition and the destination’s situation.
Acapulco remains above all a city, with restaurants, markets and genuine nightlife: a room-only stay makes sense for anyone who wants to go out. Our criteria for choosing an all-inclusive hotel help compare, and our file on affordable all-inclusive resorts from Quebec puts the prices in context.
When to go
From November to April the sky stays clear, the air holds around 31 °C by day and humidity remains bearable. That is the dry season and the best period.
From June to October, heat and humidity climb sharply, late-day storms become daily and the Pacific cyclone season peaks, with a September and October maximum. Our guide on when to travel south from Montreal details those windows.
To plan this trip, see also our Mexique page, Manzanillo, Mazatlán and Punta Cana or Cancun.
