Playa Condesa

Playa Condesa is the beach at the centre of the Zona Dorada, the Golden Zone that curves around the middle of Acapulco Bay along the Avenida Costera Miguel Alemán. It stretches about 650 m, from the Diana Cazadora statue to the Fiesta Americana hotel, and is backed by hotels, restaurants and shops; at its eastern end it gives way to Playa Icacos. About 200 m offshore rises Isla El Morro, also called the Farallón del Obispo, a small rocky island with a landing on its north side and a crumbling staircase up to the remains of a 1980s fountain on top.

The island has a legend of its own. In 1663, the story goes, a storm battered the port, and to calm the sea a priest, Father Olaguíbel, rowed out to the rock with two sailors and prayed for the tempest to end; the wind dropped, but the three men drowned trying to get back to shore. Today Condesa is known as a young, busy beach. The surf is moderate, so you can swim, but with care, and the beach is the base for jet skis, waterskiing and other water sports, plus a bungee jump from a 50 m tower over the sand.

Condesa is also the centre of Acapulco's beach-bar scene. Along this stretch of the Costera, mostly between the Fiesta Americana and the Continental Plaza hotels, bars open onto the sand with music aimed at a younger crowd, and they tend to start earlier and be more informal than the big nightclubs. Like all Mexican beaches it is public, and the sand in front of the hotels is open to everyone.