Acapulco has been well known as a traveler's crossroads for at least a millennium. Its name means "plain of dense reeds". The earliest local remains were left in the 3rd millennium BC. Much later, sophisticated artisans fashioned curvaceous female figurines. Other artifacts resemble those found in highland Mexico. Although influenced by Tarascan, Mixtec, Zapotec, and Aztec civilizations, sometimes paying tribute to them and frequented by their traders, Acapulco never came under their direct control, but instead remained independent until Spanish conquest.

View our Acapulco Villa Rentals, Hotels & Resorts

After conquering the Aztecs, Hernán Cortés sent expeditions south to build ships and find a route to China. The first explorers sailed from Zacatula, near present-day Lázaro Cárdenas, Michoacán, on the coast 400 km (250 miles) north-west of Acapulco. By a royal decree, Acapulco and the surrounding land passed directly into the hands of the Spanish Crown. Voyages of discovery set sail from Acapulco for Peru, the Sea of Cortez, and to Asia.

Since 1934, the La Quebrada Cliff Divers have performed their impressive jumps into the shallow water and dangerous tides at the bottom of La Quebrada. The Acupulco cliff divers were seen regularly on weekend sports programming in the United States during the 1970s. Acafest, an annual Acapulco music festival, draws huge crowds from all over Mexico during late May. A historical tour of Fort San Diego and other sites in Acapulco is available year round. Glass-bottom boat tours leave from both the beach at Caleta and the docks in front of the zocalo (which is the cathedral square at the center of the cities historic district) for a trip over a submerged bronze statue of the Virgin of Guadalupe while enroute to the Roqueta Island.

 

Passport Requirement

Please be advised that the Passport requirements for U.S. Citizens to re-enter the country from Mexico and the Caribbean is changing. Effective December 31, 2006 all U.S citizens traveling into the United States from Mexico and the Caribbean must have a valid U.S. passport. U.S. Birth certificates will no longer be acceptable as a travel document. On December 31, 2007, a passport or other accepted documentation is required for all air, sea, and land border crossings. Passport Information