Unexpectedly Delightful

That's what we have found Acapulco to be! Prior to our arrival, both cruisers and Mexican locals warned us away from Acapulco saying it was too dirty, too much crime, too many people, run down, etc. But since we need to stock up on provisions prior to heading to the no mans land south of here, we decided to check out the city via taxi and walking in the tourist areas along the bay. To our delight we found more civilization here than we've encountered since leaving the USA. Starbucks Coffee shops dot many corners and restaurants ranging in quality from a Denny's to fine dining line the beach. We even happened upon a real US style mall where I was able to replace my well worn boat shoes with a new pair of Vans. Yes, there is crime here, but according to the locals it's limited to drug warfare between cartels and they tend to stay away from the tourists because tourism is the main source of income for the entire city. Marines, Army, Federal Police and local Police roam the streets and stand guard around popular gathering areas. The city near the tourist zones are safe and clean for Mexican standards, more so than most of the smaller towns. The poor areas and places off the beaten trail are simply off limits to tourists and anyone with a desire for self preservation. The taxi drivers won't even enter certain areas they told us. So we kept to the main road and enjoyed the fine dining.

Perched high upon the hill overlooking Bahia de PuertoMarques is a Mex-Thai restaurant named Zibu which we found to be one of the finest we'e ever encountered. The open air, thatched roof bar is surrounded by a glowing blue pool of water which flows down to the encircling dining patio. We strolled down the softly lit circular stairs to our table overlooking the bay hundreds of feet below. The lights of the city circled the bay off to our right, and below us the anchorage spread out, protected from the Pacific swell by the bulk of Punta Diamante. The anchorage was large and mostly empty and we discussed spending a few days there, but feel an urgency to keep moving south towards Costa Rica so as not to arrive too late into the rainy season there.

Since we arrived at Zibu a little later than expected due to the traffic we missed sunset, but as the sky turned from red to indigo we were enveloped in the mood of the place with the blue glow of the pool, gently lit greenery, and classic music from the USA playing in the background. Hotel California rocked softly around us as we sipped cool Chardonnay and enjoyed the tempura shrimp salad and freshly baked bread. The Thai cuisine was exemplary featuring seafood melded perfectly with noodles or rice and needing not even a drop of soy sauce to make it perfect. We lingered over coffee and cigars and watched as the restaurant continued to fill up even as the hour approached 9:30pm. The locals here share the typically Mediterranian habit of eating late, likely due to the hot, humid weather which makes coming out during daylight hours only enjoyable if you're dressed for the beach. All in all it was probably one of the finest dining experiences we've shared anywhere in our world of traveling...unexpectedly delightful!

Photos don't due this place justice, but I did not have my good camera with me and the light was fading fast.