The Riviera Diamante is the recent part of Acapulco, developed from the 1990s southeast of the historic bay, behind the headland. It holds the newest hotels in the region, a golf course, a convention centre and two beaches with nothing in common. It is the sector you choose when you want Acapulco’s climate and sea without the wear of the Costera.
The essentials in four lines
- Acapulco airport (ACA) is fifteen minutes away, the shortest transfer in the region. No direct flight from Quebec.
- Guerrero runs one hour behind Montreal in winter and two in summer.
- No sargassum. Warm water year-round, around 28 degrees.
- November to April is the dry season. Rain and cyclones from June to October.
Two beaches, two uses
Puerto Marqués
A deep, well-enclosed cove where the sea stays flat nearly all year. This is the beach to favour for swimming and for children, with fish restaurants at the water’s edge and boats to rent by the hour.
Revolcadero
Several kilometres of sand open to the Pacific, behind the large resorts. The beach is spectacular and perfect for a sunrise walk, but the shore break is strong and rip currents are real: swimming is often discouraged and the flags must be respected. Most hotels compensate with extensive pool complexes.
What there is to do
Golf takes a good share of the offering, with courses laid out between lagoon and ocean. The hotels here were designed for business and convention travel as much as for holidays, which explains the scale of the facilities and the standard of the restaurants.
A lagoon borders the sector inland: skiff trips through the mangrove, birdwatching and, from July to December, hatchling turtle releases run by the conservation camps along the beach.
Acapulco’s historic centre, the La Quebrada divers and the bay are twenty-five to thirty minutes away by taxi. That is an evening outing, not a walk: the Riviera Diamante has no shopping street and everything is done by car.
All-inclusive
The sector holds most of the region’s all-inclusive supply, with a few large, recent and well-equipped resorts. Rates stay low compared with the rest of the Mexican Pacific at comparable category.
The point to check before booking is the swimming: between a Puerto Marqués hotel and a Revolcadero hotel, the experience of the sea is not the same. Our criteria for choosing an all-inclusive hotel put that question at the top of the list.
Finally, as across the region, the October 2023 hurricane changed the available hotel supply and rebuilding continues. Consult the Government of Canada page on Mexico and confirm with your advisor what is genuinely open before fixing your dates.
When to go
From November to April the sky stays clear and the air holds around 31 °C by day. From June to October, heat and humidity climb sharply, late-day storms become daily and the Pacific cyclone season peaks. Our guide on when to travel south from Montreal sets out the pricing windows.
To plan this trip, see also our Mexique page, Isla Holbox, Ixtapa and Punta Cana or Cancun.
