Locations
Acapulco
Acapulco (Officially: Acapulco de Juárez) is a city and major sea port in the state of Guerrero on the Pacific coast of Mexico, 300 km (190 miles) southwest from Mexico City. Acapulco is located on a deep, semi-circular bay. It is a port of call for shipping and cruising lines running between Panama and San Francisco, California, USA. In 2003 the estimated population was 637,000 people.
For most of a century exotic and historic west-coast Acapulco, the origination of the famed Acapulco Galleons treasure ships, has been a popular resort for tourists taking long holiday weekends and cruises from the United States, the Mexican interior and countries in South America. Eventually, it began competing directly with east-coast Cancun as a super-tourist destination in the recent three decades long era of affordable air fares as international airlines added flights and infrastructure was emplaced to support the increasing air travel. The two beach resorts are essentially located on opposite coasts oriented due East and West from the other at essentially the same latitude . The city has had its star-spangled times, prompting none other than Frank Sinatra to give the place a mention in his all time classic "Come Fly With Me". Modern Acapulco has a great appeal and is a featured destination for many Pacific cruise ship packages and international air carriers. The vast majority of the tourists are Mexicans, but its balmy subtropical climate and pleasant year round temperatures draws in many other foreign nationals year round providing the volume to support the numerous bars and clubs dotted around the bay. Whether seeking a break from northern climes, winters or heat, or the southern hemisphere's seasonal analogs, the resorts proximity to the equator on the narrows of the North America continental isthmus gives it an economically important geographic centrality rivaled by only a few resorts in the world.
In recent years, within the younger crowd, Acapulco has made up some ground on Cancun as a popular spring break destination. This growing popularity may be because Acapulco offers a different unknown experience and a larger, international student crowd than Cancun due to its prominence as an international tourist mecca with many available international transatlantic and transpacific flights. Apart from just the beach, Acapulco's best known island Roqueta, is a great attraction which is typically reached by transparent-bottom motor boats (enabling clear view of the bottom sea). As in Cancun, water sports such as water skiing, para-sailing, scuba diving, deep sea fishing, sailing and snorkeling excursions are available in many price ranges amongst the picturesque coastal waters.
Several real estate, hotels and timeshares had been developed in the Acapulco Diamante (Diamond Acapulco) zone. A very important development has build by Mayan Resorts the largest vacation club and golf operator in Mexico.
Source: Wikipedia. English Version. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acapulco [Visited in 03/03/2007]
Mazatlan
Mazatlán [masaˈtlan] is a city in the Mexican state of Sinaloa; the surrounding municipio (municipality) for which the city serves as the municipal seat is also called Mazatlán. It is located at 23°12′N 106°25′W on the Pacific coast, just across from the southernmost tip of the Baja California peninsula.
Mazatlán is a Nahuatl word meaning "place of the deer." The city was founded in the 1820s. By the mid-1800s a large group of immigrants had arrived from Germany. These new citizens developed Mazatlán into a thriving commercial seaport, importing equipment for the nearby gold and silver mines. It served as the capital of Sinaloa from 1859 to 1873. They also influenced the music, Banda, which is an alteration of Bavarian folk music.
Mazatlán, with a population of over 400,000 as of 2006, is the second-largest city in the state and Mexico's largest commercial port. It is also a popular tourist destination, its beaches lined with resort hotels. A car ferry plies its trade across the Gulf of California from Mazatlán to La Paz, Baja California Sur.
In 2005, Mazatlán hosted and won the "Serie del Caribe," which is an annual baseball tournament with teams from México, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, and the Dominican Republic.
Every year Carnival is celebrated during the week before Ash Wednesday. There are a lot of festivities, including the election of a Queen, parades, and balls. This is the third largest Mardi Gras in the world, behind the celebrations held in Rio de Janeiro and New Orleans.
Mazatlan is served by Gral. Rafael Buelna International Airport
Source: Wikipedia. English Version. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazatlan [Visited in 03/03/2007]
Puerto Penasco - Rocky Point
Puerto Peñasco is a small city of approximately 42,000 people in the northern state of Sonora, Mexico. Located on the shore of the Gulf of California (also known as the Sea of Cortéz), the town is known for its fishing and tourism industries. Puerto Peñasco is alternatively known among many of its English-speaking visitors as Rocky Point.
It is a popular destination for tourists, particularly those that reside in the U.S. state of Arizona, for whom it is contains nearest beaches. It is also a popular Spring Break destination with students from Arizona, New Mexico, and California. Puerto Peñasco is located in the 'free zone' where tourists are not required currently to obtain immigration papers in order to visit. However U.S. Border Patrol agents advise that as of January 2008 a passport will be required to re-enter the United States.
Puerto Peñasco is also slated for upcoming marina and other boat-related developments as part of the country's 'Escalera Nautica' efforts, which call for a chain of 'tourist-class' marinas sprinkled up and down the Baja coast in an effort to promote nautical tourism.
Source: Wikipedia. English Version. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puerto_Pe%C3%B1asco [Visited in 03/03/2007]
Puerto Vallarta - Nuevo Vallarta
Puerto Vallarta is a resort city in the Mexican state of Jalisco. It is located at 20°40′N 105°16′W. Some English language speakers call the city P.V. for short, due to the difficulty some have in pronouncing the double "L" in "Vallarta", (IPA pronunciation: [puɛrto væ'jɑrtə]).
The city fronts the Bahía de Banderas on the Pacific Ocean. The city is important primarily as a tourist destination. Shipping traffic consists of cruise ships which arrive almost daily, and occasional visits by U.S. Navy frigates. The Mexican Navy maintains a base at the port, as well as a well-known naval hospital in the city center, which is now a Naval Museum, the new hospital is close to the bullring. In 2003 Puerto Vallarta reported an estimated population of 165,800 and about 5 million overnight stays by tourists. It is also a popular spring break hotspot as well as particularly popular with gay and lesbian tourists.
Vallarta, (shortened from Puerto Vallarta) as it is referred to locally, is considered the jewel of the state of Jalisco. Many people from the city of Guadalajara-the state capital, come on weekend trips to it and during vacations such as semana santa and Christmas. Many affluent from Guadalajara own houses by the beach in Vallarta. People use this place much in the way Palm Springs is used in Southern California---as a local destination to get away from humdrum everyday activities. The attraction of the city is the relaxed atmosphere and beautiful landscapes made of tropical plants and sinous rock formations. Other popular destinations in the state include the area around Lake Chapala, and the pintoresque mountain towns of Tapalpa and Mazamitla.
Source: Wikipedia. English Version. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puerto_Vallarta [Visited in 03/03/2007]
Riviera Maya - Cancun
"Riviera Maya" is a tourism district following the highway 307 of Quintana Roo, Mexico. It historically started at Playa del Carmen and ended at Tulum pueblo, though the towns of Puerto Morelos to the north of Playa del Carmen and Felipe Carrillo Puerto inland are both currently being promoted as part of the Riviera Maya tourist corridor.
It is famous for its all-inclusive resorts located along the highway, as Mayan Resorts, and smaller boutique hotels located in Playa del Carmen and Tulum.
Source: Wikipedia. English Version. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riviera_Maya [Visited in 03/03/2007]