Blog Post 39 – Z-Town to Acapulco

04/15/16 - 04/18/16

16.50.41N – 99.54.13W

The trip from Z-Town to Acapulco was an easy sail. It was only 110 miles and we thought a night sail would be best due to the heat. We left Z-Town at 3:30 and arrived 15 hours later at 8:30 AM. The heat is starting to become an issue while underway. The water is considerably warmer and the humidity is increasing more and more the further south we go. Usually the breeze from the ocean will cool you off but with the water so warm the interior of the boat never cools down. In order to sleep comfortably you need the fan right in your face.  Thankfully we have plenty of them. The trip was uneventful and that is just how we like it.

Acapulco has a rich history and has been inhabited for centuries. The name Acapulco means “Place of Reeds” in the local and ancient Nahuatl language. It was inhabited by Tlahuican Indians since 2500 BC and then was conquered by the Aztec Indians around 1400. The Spanish explorer Hernan Cortes (of whom the Sea of Cortez is named) arrived-in 1530. It also has a rich pirate history having been stalked and sacked by both Sir Francis Drake and Henry Morgan (think Captain Morgan rum). It was an important city in the age of discovery as Hernan Cortes built his ships here that would eventually be used to conquer the Philippines and establish the Spanish trade route to the east. It was a stepping stone and major port city in that trade. All the booty pillaged from Asia would come through Acapulco then be shipped overland across the Isthmus of Panama and eventually to either Panama City (which Henry Morgan also sacked and burned to the ground) or Cartagena, Columbia and eventually through the Caribbean and across the Atlantic to either Seville or Cadiz, Spain. The reverse route brought much needed supplies the other way. As you approach the bay you can see why it was such a jewel in the crown, if you will. The bay is stunning. It is huge, 3.5 miles wide, and is backed by very steep mountains to the east, very easy to defend.

The sail into Acapulco as the sun was rising was magnificent. The approach from the north takes you through the sheltered and very narrow and shallow (1000ft wide and only 100ft deep) Boca Chica Channel. On your right is the uninhabited Isla Roqueta and on your left are stunning mansions, both old and new, that dot the steep hillsides. You can easily how the protected bay and would appeal to Mariners of any age or type.

Unfortunately for cruisers, Acapulco is not that accommodating. There is a major marina and slip shortage in the bay, with very few available and those that are, are very expensive. Acapulco is a mere 200 miles from Mexico City and has been the playground for the rich and, not so rich tourists, for a long, long time. Most of the available slips are taken by locals. Most cruisers do not make it this far south. Z-Town is usually the last stop before they turn around and head back towards the Sea of Cortez. Most cruisers that make it this far, get a mooring as those are much more affordable. But for us, after a long sail, what we want is to plug into shore power and get Wi-Fi. Remember, we have an Internet starving 12 year old on board. We stayed in a new marina (if you could call it that) called Santa Lucia. It was basically a concrete pier that you tied up to. It presented a problem, as when you have a stationary dock is does not rise and fall with the tide, so not only do you risk scratching and damaging the hull against the concrete you must have rubber bumpers at all levels, that will accommodate the high and low tide lines. The marina might have been crude but their friendliness and helpfulness more than made up for it.

As you all know by now, we do not like big cities, tourist meccas, and expensive resorts. Acapulco is all of those things. When you look around the bay all you see are high rise hotels. It is more crowded and congested than Puerto Vallarta. As Acapulco was the first tourist town in Mexico, it has old, outdated and mostly unkempt buildings. There is only one road around the bay and that is a 4 lane street, which is always reduced to 2, as there are cars, buses and taxis that were always double parked in the right hand lane. We rented a car to explore the city and boy were we disappointed. Every time we got in the car, all we did is sit in traffic as we fought our way around the bay. The narrow and steep side streets leading up the mountains running along the bay are all but impassable and only lead to dead ends. There were some historic sites to see, like the old Spanish fort and some museums but it was mostly hotels, restaurants and various tourist traps. We did have some great meals there though.

We pretty much all agreed that we did not want to stay there long. Where we were staying was in the old part of the city, in the western most part of the bay. There it was pretty. To get out of the marina to the street you had to drive up a very steep switchback driveway that climbed almost 1000 feet to the road. The other thing about Acapulco that was disturbing was the large military presence in the city. There were trucks and armored personnel carriers, its soldiers carrying automatic weapons, everywhere. They had commandeered a hotel right on the road to the marina so we had to drive by their vehicles every time we came and went. One bright spot of our stay there was meeting Chris and Shawna from SV Sirena. There are a lovely couple who have just started cruising this season, as we have, and are headed in the same direction, south to Panama. I was starting to get a little freaked as we had met no other boats headed south. The further south we travel, we see much fewer cruising boats. We decided to buddy boat south. It is better to travel with others as you can assist if there are any issues. We ended up sticking together all the way to Chiapas.

We had been warned by other cruisers and our guidebooks that Acapulco was a dangerous city, with lots of crime and drug cartel violence. We did not have any issues while we were there but it was all the more reason to get on our way. Next stop Huatulco.