pie de la puesta

We returned yesterday from Pie de la Puesta, a secluded and turbulent beach about 15 km north of Acapulco. After arriving Friday evening and staying in a dumpy hotel room, we found a perfect set of beachside bungalows. Though they had no air conditioning, limited hot water and only a stovetop for cooking inside, they were just what we were looking for.

For some reason, the 20th of November is a holiday here…I think it has something to do with independence, but is not the official Independence Day, which happens on Sept. 15.

Though I slept most of the long weekend – via hammock or bed – the break was timed perfectly. The waves in the ocean were consistently larger than any I’d seen on the Pacific before, though unlike Zihuatanejo and Acapulco, Pie de la Puesta isn’t a lagoon. When we ate, most plates at the family-operated restaurants cost only 20 pesos each – a welcomed surprise for this price-weary student traveler.

Our only trip into Acapulco occurred on Sunday night, when we caught the last show of the famed cliff divers around 10:30. Amazingly, they climbed the cliffs and leapt hundreds of feet into the ocean below.

Sometime into the show, toward the end, an electrical fire broke in a shelter seated atop the cliff. I only knew it was electrical thanks to the unique stench. One of the divers was so startled it looked as though he was going to fall over the cliff. Nonetheless, the show ended as planned, when the diver leapt with torches in each hand.

Though the sun didn’t show up for most of the weekend, Pie de la Puesta provided a welcomed break and one last chance to bond at the beach with the friends I’ve met here who I already miss.