Negocios | « Teotihuacan, Mexico Ciudad Prehispánica | Mexico Travel | Going from San Diego to Tijuana Mexico » | Mexico Travel Videos
What to do in Acapulco
By Anna Bahney NYTimes - Acapulco, for a certain generation, is suave Frank Sinatra songs and Elvis Presley movies, Kennedy honeymoons and Elizabeth Taylor weddings (O.K., only one of the eight weddings). The high-flying Hollywood crowd took Acapulco to the moon with it in the 1950's and 60's then went on to their next playground. Although the names of the clubs, the style of the music and the clientele have changed since La Perla was opened in 1949, Acapulco has always been counted on for night life.
Now a new generation of impresarios is taking over the clubs that their parents built, and raucous foam parties on the beach and writhing on dance platforms until 4 a.m. is often followed by more dancing at an after-hours club until morning breaks. The disco anthems will be ringing in your ears all day as you lie on the beach and recover.
The scrambling for a beach space or deck chair poolside begins at about 8:30 a.m. Most of the large hotels along Condesa Beach have elaborate pools that open directly onto the beach. Condesa, and to the east, Icacos Beach, are the beaches that international and Mexican tourists flock to, even if sun worshipers are occasionally hassled by vendors pushing sarongs, seashell necklaces, henna tattoos, wind chimes or hair-braiding services.
On Sunday afternoons January through April, visitors can see a bullfight at 5:30 at the Plaza de Toros, Caletilla. Tickets are $4.45 for general admission and $11 to $31 for reserved seats. The stadium was built in 1955 and can hold 10,000 people, though these days the ring is not nearly full, and most who show up are tourists. This is not a sanitized exposition -- things almost never end up well for the bull -- but it is a chance to get to another part of town and sit in the late-afternoon sun with a cup of beer or cola while a Mexican marching band plays festive tunes.
What to Do at Night
Night life does not wake up until midnight, although the clubs along Condesa Beach begin to stir around 10 p.m. Brian Rullán, 25, runs his father's hillside nightclub dynasty Palladium and Mandara, while on Condesa Beach at the more informal and rock 'n' roll dance club, Disco Beach, Jonathan Rodriguez, 21, prepares to take over for his father.
Disco Beach, Avenida Costera Miguel Alemán 111, is the alpha male along this strip. Since 1980 it has pulled in young partiers (and throngs of spring breakers) with live bands on a rock 'n' roll stage (and a fleet of scantily clad house dancers) on the street level, while downstairs the D.J. area opens onto the beach. The cover changes depending on the entertainment, theme of the evening and time of year, but is generally about $30 for men and about $24 for women.
Heading east, Baby O, Avenida Costera Miguel Alemán 22, (52-744) 481-1035, www.babyo.com.mx has been open since 1976, although now it is across the street from a Hooters and next to a Wal-Mart. The club, with a multileveled labyrinthine space with a vaguely jungle theme, is open only Wednesday through Sunday starting at 10:30, $9 for women and $35 for men, and does not have an open bar.
Palladium, Carretera Escénica, Las Brisas, (52-744) 446-5483, www.palladium.com.mx, seems to be the club where everyone eventually ends up now. On a recent night the crowd included a musician from Montreal, a designer from South Africa, a chef from France, D.J.'s and club kids from Brooklyn and young Mexicans working in government, media and fashion. The huge pleasure dome is perched high on a cliff with a wall of windows 160 feet wide and 30 feet tall with views of the entire bay. The dance floor, ringed by banquettes, cantilevers out over the cliff so that young men in button-down shirts and leather shoes and women in form-fitting tank tops and short skirts appear to be dancing in the sky. A man painted silver with an Aztec headdress makes a high-energy appeal for continued partying with a dance performance between 3 and 4 a.m.; a spray of fireworks outside the windows follows his appearance. A sister club, Mandara, is just down the street and has a similar, if smaller, dance space. It also has a relaxed piano bar. If the right people are met while dancing, visitors may score an invitation to the after-hours lounge Privado, which starts at 3 a.m., also housed in the Mandara club. Admission to each club is $22 for women and $31 for men, with open bar for everyone.
Where to Shop
The open-air marketplaces that are called mercados des artisanías are generally little more than flea markets with an endless array of T-shirts, sarongs and ceramic frogs. Most of it is probably made in Asia, but the markets are fun to stumble through.
Intergalerias S.A., Avenida Costera Miguel Alemán 120, (52-744) 484-4992, has some bright and interesting Mexican art (most of which would certainly not fit in an overhead compartment). Oversized pieces of wooden fruit fill the gallery and sculptures of centaurs and mermaids by Sergio Bustamante and vibrant paintings by Gustavo Martinez. Most works start at about $500.
How to Stay Wired
There are plenty of Internet spots, though not necessarily Wi-Fi hot spots. Along the Costera strip, Santa Clara cafe, which offers coffee, pastries and ice cream, has Internet service for 90 cents for 20 minutes. Open 9 a.m. to 11 p.m., it is at Avenida Costera Miguel Alemán 136.
Mexico Travel July 4, 2005 11:15 AM | Visit Machu Picchu Inca Trail Tours
Acapulco Baja Cabos Cancun Ensenada Guadalajara Huatulco Ixtapa Manzanillo Mazatlan Mexico City Monterrey Morelia Nayarit Oaxaca Puebla Puerto Escondido Puerto Vallarta Queretaro Rosarito Rocky Point Tijuana Veracruz Zihuatanejo --> Turismo MexicanoCancun Cozumel Isla Mujeres Playa del Carmen Tulum Riviera Maya --> CampecheCiudad Juarez - Mexicali - Loreto - Spring Break Mexico - U.S. Border Telephone Numbers