One of the most important Spanish fortifications on the Pacific coast of Mexico, the Fortress of San Diego is now a museum dedicated to the history of Acapulco’s fortress from the city’s earliest beginnings to more modern times. In the opening photo, a display model at the museum shows the fort’s commanding position on the Mexican coastline. Positioned high on a hill, the fort provided protection for the growing community and trading port of Acapulco as depicted in the early days of its existence.

While the Americans to the  north were fomenting revolution in 1776, a major earthquake in the Mexican state of Guerrero significantly damaged the fort. The damage was so extensive that the fort was demolished and completely rebuilt. The star shaped fort was renamed as the Fort of San Carlos, however the locals continued to use the San Diego moniker and the reigning monarch, King Carlos III, was cheated out of having the fort named after him by popular disuse.

Our tour guide that accompanied us to the cliff divers provided some basic history as we traveled back to the cruise ship port. Instead of us continuing to walk toward the cruise terminal, we climbed a ramp that led to a beautifully designed pedestrian bridge that carried us over the heavy traffic on the main thoroughfare below. Once we entered the museum, the tour guide became the narrator of our museum tour.

After entering the nearest chamber in the fort, we came upon a royal coach that was beautifully and accurately restored. The tour guide was knowledgeable about the artifacts he discussed, but I was somewhat disappointed that we stayed as a group along with many other groups from other tours. We were not allowed to explore on our own and inquire of the museum staff about items that might have interested us. Of course, it’s quite possible that not all of the museum staff would be able to respond in English so the method they chose to use was probably the best given the situation.

As we walked from one area to another, the tour guide answered questions that came up about the specific areas on our tour and we did walk through several different rooms in the fort, each one configured to a specific topic or set of topics. We learned that after the rebuild in 1783 the fort remained a valuable defense for the city. The Spanish even used the fort in their ill-fated attempt to defeat the Mexican insurgents that ultimately won independence for Mexico and the fort fell into the hands of the revolutionaries.

Once we were finished with our guided tour of the museum artifacts, we were given the opportunity to walk the grounds of the fort and soon found ourselves at the upper level looking through the openings in the parapet walls to see the views from over the top of the antique cannons on display.

Looking toward the harbor, it is easy to see the commanding height of the fort. From here, only the upper decks of our cruise ship are visible. The longest top deck you can see in the photo is deck 13 on the Norwegian Star. The number of antique cannons on display certainly gave the impression that the fort was well defended when it needed to be.

All too soon, it was time to cross the pedestrian bridge again and complete the short walk to the cruise terminal to reboard the Star for our next stop and our first stop outside of Mexico. The gallery of images below feature scenes from the fort’s upper levels and some of the artifacts we viewed in the museum. As usual, in most browsers, you can click on an image to enlarge it and scroll through the gallery.

John Steiner

La Quebrada stands 115 feet (35 m) tall and it looms just as large in a tradition that reaches back into the 1930s. When we looked at the list of excursions available at our cruise ship stop in Acapulco, virtually all of them started with “Acapulco Cliff Divers and…” We chose to visit the fort that is located right across the highway from the cruise ship dock, but first, we got on a bus and headed to the cliffs at the edge of the ocean. Of course, we arrived early, just in time to shop for souvenirs at the nearby stores and “gift shops”. Once our allotted shopping time expired, we met our tour guide who walked us toward the viewpoint where the divers would appear. We got no real direction as to what to watch or where to look. We didn’t exactly know what to expect. For those who might happen upon this post while researching their own trip to Acapulco, this photo story will help orient you as to where to look and what to expect before and during the five or so shows daily.

The shore is rocky and it is obvious at first glance that the divers will launch from the edge of the cliff near the large banner and shrines at a point where the cliff provides a ledge at the aforementioned 115 feet from the water. That distance varies depending upon the tides and shows are scheduled at high tide periods where the channel into which they dive is only about 13 feet (4 m) deep at the most.

As we arrived at the viewpoint steps, there were plenty of other tour buses there already disgorging their passengers, all making their way down the many ramps and steps to the viewing areas. The walk to the viewing area isn’t so bad going down, but it can be a challenge to walk back up the many steps that get you close enough to overlook the viewpoint cliff into the water. There were so many people ahead of us walking down and already in that area, we opted to stay at one of the higher viewpoint areas knowing that we would not see the divers actually hit the water from our vantage point. I feared that by the time we got down to that level, due to the crowds, I would have trouble getting good photos looking down anyway. From our upper vantage point, we could see the divers quite clearly and with the help of my telephoto lens, I was able to “get up close and personal.”

What we didn’t know is that the divers start by entering the water at the base, swim over to the edge of the cliff and then climb the rock face up to the ledge at the dive point. We watched as the divers made their climbs with the majority stopping at the platform as you can see in the photo below. A few of the divers stopped short of the platform to launch their dives from nearby ledges that were beside or slightly below the main diving platform.

I was to learn later that at least one of the higher viewpoints does allow a viewer to see the divers hit the water. If that’s part of what you want out of the experience and you don’t want to challenge yourself to come up from that lower viewpoint, ask your tour guide where you can get a view of the water without having to travel all the way down those many steps and ramps.

When all the divers arrived at their designated points, the dives began. Some in pairs, some singular. I captured many images of the divers, but chose to focus on several images captured on a single dive. That sequence is featured in the gallery of images below. You will want to take advantage of clicking on the first image so you can enlarge the photo and then scroll through the gallery.

The program is certainly entertaining and its easy to understand why it’s featured on virtually all of the Acapulco excursion itineraries. When the show was over, the divers came over to the area where the visitors walked to get back to their tour buses. Ready to sign autographs, sell photos, and accept tips, the divers were friendly and accommodating for photos as well. Clearly the cliff diving program is a highlight of a stop in Acapulco.

John Steiner

Standing on Deck 7 of the Norwegian Star as we pulled into the pier at Acapulco, we got a glimpse of the historic fort that we would be visiting later in the day. Though it’s not apparent by the view from the ship, this fort is shaped in a large pentagon. Originally built in 1616, it was destroyed by an earthquake in 1776. After the rebuild, the Fort of San Diego was again functioning as of 1783, protecting Acapulco from marauding pirates. It would be used to help Spain defend against the Mexican Revolutionaries in the early 1800s until the fort fell into the hands of Mexican nationals. Today the fort is a beautifully restored museum of Spanish and Mexican history. In a future Travel Tuesday, we’ll visit the museum and share some of the images I captured there.

About the photo: Captured with my Samsung Galaxy S7, this image was cropped and tweaked in Adobe Lightroom and Luminar 3. In most browsers, you can click on the image to enlarge it for a better view. The rule for Cellpic Sunday is simple. The image must be captured by a mobile device.

John Steiner