Fast Facts About Acapulco
Getting There & Departing
The airport (airport code: ACA) is 22km (14 miles) southeast of town, over the hills east of the bay.
From this station, Turistar, Estrella de Oro, and Estrella Blanca have almost hourly service for the 5 to 7 hour trip to Mexico City, and daily service to Zihuatanejo .
Car & Bus Travel Warning Eases-Car robberies and bus hijackings on Highway 200 south of Acapulco on the way to Puerto Escondido and Huatulco used to be common, and you may have heard warnings about the road. The trouble has all but disappeared, thanks to military patrols and greater police protection. However, as in most of Mexico, it's advisable to travel the highways during daylight hours only not so much for personal safety, but because highways are unlit, and animals can wander on them.
Visitor Information
The State of Guerrero Tourism Office operates the Procuraduría del Turista, on street level in front of the International Center, a convention center set back from the main Costera Alemán, down a lengthy walkway with fountains. The office offers maps and information about the city and state, as well as police assistance for tourists; it's open Monday to Saturday from 8am to 11pm, Sunday from 8am to 8pm.
City Layout
Acapulco stretches more than 6km (4 miles) around the huge bay, so trying to take it all in by foot is impractical. The tourist areas are roughly divided into three sections: On the western end of the bay is Old Acapulco (Acapulco Viejo), the original town that attracted the jet-setters of the 1950s and 1960s and today it looks as if it's still locked in that era, though a renaissance is slowly getting under way. The second section, in the center of the bay, is the Hotel Zone (Zona Hotelera); it follows the main boulevard, Costera Miguel Alemán (or just "the Costera"), as it runs east along the bay from downtown. Towering hotels, restaurants, shopping centers, and strips of open air beach bars line the street. At the far eastern end of the Costera lie the golf course and the International Center (a convention center).
Avenida Cuauhtémoc is the major artery inland, running roughly parallel to the Costera. The third major area begins just beyond the Hyatt Regency Hotel, where the name of the Costera changes to Carretera Escénica (Scenic Hwy.), which continues all the way to the airport. The hotels along this section of the road are lavish, and extravagant private villas, gourmet restaurants, and flashy nightclubs built into the hillside offer dazzling views. The area fronting the beach here is Acapulco Diamante, Acapulco's most desirable address.
Street names and numbers in Acapulco can be confusing and hard to find many streets are not well marked or change names unexpectedly. Street numbers on the Costera do not follow logic, so don't assume that similar numbers will be close together.
Getting Around
The fashion among Acapulco taxis is flashy, with Las Vegas-style lights -- the more colorful and pulsating, the better.
The best place near the zócalo to catch a bus is next to Sanborn's, 2 blocks east. CALETA DIRECTO or BASE-CALETA buses will take you to the Hornos, Caleta, and Caletilla beaches along the Costera. Some buses return along the same route; others go around the peninsula and return to the Costera.
For expeditions to more distant destinations, there are buses to Puerto Marqués to the east (marked PUERTO MARQUES-BASE) and Pie de la Cuesta to the west (marked ZOCALO-PIE DE LA CUESTA).