A summary of the 3 days we spent at Playa Diamante in Acapulco, Guerrero.
Is Acapulco safe?
Before arriving in Mexico, going to Acapulco was not part of our plans. Even though it is only 5 hours and 500 pesos away from Mexico City (if you take the bus), I had read a bunch of scary articles describing Acapulco as an unsafe murder capital, which completely discouraged me of getting an Acapulco tan. After discussing with my classmates and a few locals, I found out that there actually are two Acapulcos: the old city and the new one.
The old Acapulco is composed of Acapulco Bay, where most of the restaurants and clubs are and where you can find the prettiest beaches. One of the most famous tourist attraction, the Quebrada (an impresive cliff where divers jump off) is also part of the old Acapulco. Unfortunately, this part is not considered the safest and we just went through it with a taxi.
The new Acapulco or Acapulco Diamante is the safest and it's where Vivien & I went. It is situated at the South of the Bahia. We went there by bus, which is a bit long but quite cheap (and safe!). During the drive, you get to see a lot of cactuses and beautiful landscapes so if you aren't in a rush, take the bus!
We stayed at the Holiday Inn, which I don't really recommand as it is a bit too far from the beach. Despite playa Diamante being public, there are actually very few public accesses: when we walked from the hotel to the beach, we faced a very long barrier of hotels which kept us from reaching the beach and we had to walk for almost 30 min before finally finding an access! My advice would be to just book an hotel which is on the beach, even if it is a bit pricier.
Playa Diamente
Beside its tough access, we really enjoyed Playa Diamante: it's huge, so we had a lot of space and it was not crowded at all. The water was warm (almost too warm to be refreshing!) and even though there was some waves and currents, it did not feel dangerous. You can also spot a few fishes :)
Even if we liked Playa Diamante, we looked for an other beach to go to during our second day in Acapulco and we went to Playa Majahua.
Playa Majahua
From what we had seen on Tripadvisor, Playa Majahua seemed prettier and less artificial than Playa Diamante. And it was not too far from our hotel when taking a public bus (they are only 8 pesos and are very frequent!). To reach the beach you have to go through Puertos Marques, which is filled with local restaurants serving seafood and little touristic shops.
The area is more authentic than Diamante and packed with locals. Which, surprisingly, was actually not that much of a good thing: when arrived at the beach EVERYBODY stared at us.
As a pale skin blond-girl with blue eyes, it was quite obvious that I was not from the area and I felt a bit unconfortable during the afternoon. The beach was also packed and quite noisy so we didn't stay too long there.
Other than that, the beach is indeed nicer, surrounded with vegetation. It also seemed much more lively than Playa Diamante. The sea is also much less dangerous as the beach is inside of a bay, which makes it perfect for families.
Where to eat in Acapulco ?
Vivien & I literally fell in love with the chain 100% Natural. We went there 4 times within our stay: for brunch, lunch and twice for dinner. There weren't that many restaurant around and 100%Natural menu had SO MANY yummy vegetarian options!
Why aren't there any Uber in Acapulco?
While we never use Uber in France, we use it almost everyday in Mexico City as it is quite cheap and more convenient than taxis. When our bus dropped us in Acapulco, we immedialty checked the app to find a driver who would drive us to our hotel, but SURPRISED! Uber does not operate in the area. As a joke, I told Vivien "Do you think that's because it's too dangerous here?".
A few days later, once we were back in CDMX (Ciudad the Mexico), we met a very sympathetic Uber driver and I took that opportunity to ask him if he knew more about Uber non existence in Acapulco. He answered "You know, Taxi drivers are all mafia in Acapulco, if there was an Uber driver there, he would quickly be sleeping with the fish"...
My conclusion about Acapulco is that if you go to the right place, you will be safe. It is worth the trip from Mexico City if you are in the area. Nevertheless, if you could only pick one place to visit in Mexico, I would recommand another place, where there are more activities & stuff to do.