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Cruising The Mexican RivieraBy Shirley B. MoskowThe welcome mat is out on the Mexican Riviera. From the haunting desert loveliness of Cabo San Lucas, perched on a remote cliff at the tip of the Baja California peninsula, to the sophisticated night life of Acapulco, Mexico’s west coast greets travelers with south-of-the-border hospitality. Ports of call along the Pacific Coast reflect the country’s rich cultural diversity. Yet, not nearly as many ships ply this route as the Caribbean so passengers going ashore are spared swarms of tourists in boutiques and restaurants. Cabo San Lucas
Day starts slowly at local cantinas, redolent of aromatic coffee and huevos rancheros, eggs fried Mexican style with hot tomato sauce. Some have outdoor seating and morning diners play checkers on tables shaded by lacy mimosa trees. Box lunches are often available to hikers, boaters and sun worshippers planning a retreat to Playa del Amor (Love Beach) or another secluded cove.
For all its natural beauty, Cabo San Lucas -- called Finisterra, or Land’s End -- subsisted as an isolated outpost after 16th century explorers, lured by false rumors of Aztec gold, harvested a bounty in pearls and sailed home to Spain. Long inaccessible by land, and with fewer than 6000 residents, the point where the Sea of Cortez meets the Pacific Ocean remained the best kept secret of sports-fishing enthusiasts after marlin, swordfish, sailfish and cabrilla. (Restaurants gladly cook their catch to order.) Things began to change after such wealthy norteamericanos as David Lee Roth, the rock star, rediscovered Los Cabos (The Cape). They commissioned grandiose villas in a neighborhood the locals call El Pedregal. Ironically, their presence threatened the very quality that attracted them: privacy. Then Eddie Van Halen, another rock star, opened the first disco, Cabo Wabo, near the village’s only stop sign. Soon other celebrities like Jack Nicholson, Danny de Vito, and Joe Montana, could be seen tooling around the town on scooters. MazatlanCruising south from Cabo San Lucas to Mazatlan, keep-eyed ocean watchers may spy whales and their calves. These waters are a favorite birthing place of the mammals who return to Alaska in summer. The sea teems with dolphins and other marine life and Mazatlan’s aquarium on the Avenida de los Reportes is one of Latin America’s finest. Its more than 250 specimens include large pez cirujano, surgeon fish, easily identified by the sharp scalpel-shaped fin on each side of its tail. “The Pearl of the Pacific” as Mazatlan is known, rests on a band of silver beach between the foot of the Sierra Madre Mountains and the ocean. According to legend, Sir Francis Drake and other pirates buried treasure on the shore. The Malecon -- a combination sea wall and walkway/avenue -- wraps around the city. The southernmost beaches, Olas Altas and Los Pinos, are favored by surfers and strollers wishing to discover Old Mazatlan. At sunset, crowds gather at the rocky lookout, El Mirodor, on Paseo Claussen to watch daredevil youths dive from high rocks into the ocean. Mazatlan also boasts what may be Mexico’s largest arts and crafts center. In the heart of Zona Dorado (the Gold Zone), native artisans demonstrate their skills as tinsmiths, weavers, potters, glassblowers and jewelers. A five-piece band plays salsa music on the patio, a comfortable spot to pause at midday for a cool drink or light lunch and to watch a fashion show featuring styles by local designers. Puerto VallartaContinuing south, our ship next drops anchor at Puerto Vallarta. Since 1963, when Tennessee Williams’ Night of the Iguana was filmed here, the port’s white-washed houses with red-tile roofs and charming cobblestone lanes have stirred less interest than the sites of the torrid love affair between Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. Puerto Vallarta panders to the curious with a life-size statue of the lovers across the street from the mercado, market, and candid photographs in restaurants frequented by filmdom’s fabled duo. Of course, the city tour highlights Gringo Gulch site of the casa where Liz and Dick rendezvoused. Mismaloya Beach, the fishing colony where Night of the Iguana was filmed, is almost seven miles south of town. The mountain road rises and dips, revealing seascapes of Banderas Bay, Mexico’s largest. Hibiscus frame the golden beaches. Protected from the hot sun at Mismaloya Beach, older women sit under simple lean-tos and embroider traditional Indian patterns on blouses and skirts, while young women cook tortillas on braziers and watch their children playing on the sand. Even travelers bored by movie stars, however, will enjoy Puerto Vallarta’s colonial charm. The zocalo is a shady park with white wrought-iron benches that invite romance. Gaily hued umbrellas shade shoeshine stands and sidewalk artists who ply their trade nearby, against a backdrop of sailboats and yachts rippling across blue waters that stretch into blue sky. The complementary view of the city from the sea shows brilliant fuchsias and purple bougainvillea splashed over aged stone steps that wend up the mountain. Dominating the city is the Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadeloupe, topped by a steeple with gold-crown, a replica of the crown worn by the Virgin in the Mexico City Basilica and the official navigation aid for ships at sea. Ixtapa and ZihuatanejoShoulder-to-shoulder, Ixtapa and Zihuatanejo exemplify new and old Mexico. Ixtapa is a gleaming world-class resort with a challenging Robert Trent Jones golf course, fine restaurants and adobe malls showcasing famous designers. Zihuatanejo, on the other hand, is an old fishing village with an Indian market and street life that, for its costume and spectacle, resembles theater. Zihuatanejo exudes Old World charm that recalls its days as the center of Mexico’s trade with the Orient. Indeed, the main beach, Playa la Ropa, the clothes beach, gets its name from a shipwreck that left silk garments strewn on the sand. Today, a mustachioed man sells coco frio, fresh coconut, on the beach. Deftly wielding a machete, he slices each brown nut to order and pokes a straw into the thirst-quenching “milk.” At dusk, bands of strolling musicians in broad-brimmed sombreros, boleros and wide sashes serenade diners viewing the sunset from seafood restaurants that line the sandy harbor. AcapulcoThe southernmost port of call on the Pacific Coast, Acapulco, is the granddaddy of Mexico’s international playgrounds and the biggest, brassiest resort on the Pacific Coast. Some ships cruising the Panama Canal also visit this jet-set retreat. Whether sun-seekers wish to settle into the languorous lifestyle of the tropics or to partake of shopping, golf, tennis and water sports, Acapulco accommodates. Para-sailing got is start here. No matter how vacationers spend their days, however, most seem to have a passion for the city’s swinging night life. The resort is studded with intimate dining places, but Acapulco’s reputation rests on restaurants with a fiesta atmosphere offering late night dining and dancing until dawn. Discos cater to energetic fun-lovers with a fervor for dressing up -- the more elegant and wild the better. No wonder, from A(capulco) to Z(ihuatanejo) travelers find that the Mexican Riviera has it all. For more travel information on Mexico go to: http://www.go2mexico.com/ Copyright © 1999 Shirley B. Moskow Photos by Dave Shultz -Updated 3-7-99-
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At
first light, our Royal Caribbean cruise ship glides into the lunar landscape of
a rock-rimmed harbor. Sea lions frolic beside the tenders shuttling passengers
to shore, while sunrise paints the sandstone buildings pink, giving the
impression that we are entering an exotic, new world. Cadres of sombrero-shaded
men preserve the illusion, sweeping the
village’s narrow streets and grooming its tropical trees to picture-postcard
prettiness.
Near
the flea market on the dock, a glass-bottom boat may be hired for a ride out to
the volcanic rock that punctuates the end of the peninsular. After skimming
over underwater gardens of black coral, sea turtles and colorful tropical fish,
these small craft sidle up to El Arco, the wind-and-water-carved stone arch
that is Baja’s most photographed feature.