Mug Shot — «Acapulco - La Quebrada Cliff Divers»

City: Acapulco Country: Mexico Edition: 2008 Icon Edition Belongs to: 347 users (11 trading, 221 seeking)

Acapulco is a city, municipality and major sea port in the state of Guerrero on the Pacific coast of Mexico, 300 kilometres southwest from Mexico City. Acapulco is located on a deep, semi-circular bay and has been a port since the early colonial period of Mexico’s history. It is a port of call for shipping and cruising lines running between Panama and San Francisco, California, United States. The city of Acapulco is the largest in the state, far larger than the state capital Chilpancingo. Acapulco is also Mexico's largest beach and balneario resorted city. The city is best known as one of Mexico’s oldest and most well-known beach resorts, which came into prominence by the 1950s as a getaway for Hollywood stars and millionaires. Acapulco is still famous for its nightlife and still attracts many vacationers, although most are now from Mexico itself. The resort area is divided into two: The north end of the bay is the "traditional" area, where the famous in the mid 20th century vacationed and the south end is dominated by newer luxury high rise hotels. The name "Acapulco" comes from Nahuatl language Aca-pōl-co, and means "where were destroyed or washed away the reeds". The seal for the city shows broken reeds or cane.

The La Quebrada Cliff Divers are a group of professional high divers, based in Acapulco, Mexico. They perform daily shows for the public, which involve diving 35 metres from the cliffs of La Quebrada into the sea below. The depth of water in the "Gulch" can vary from 6 to 16 feet depending on the waves, with an average depth of 12 feet. Timing is crucial for the divers. During the night, they often hold torches while diving. Acapulco cliff diving was regularly featured on weekend sports television programming in the United States during the 1960s and 1970s when the USA High Diving Team competed with the La Quebrada Cliff Divers annually during the Acapulco Christmas Festival. The 2002 Guinness Book of World Records lists this as "the highest regularly performed headfirst dives" in the world. Although cliff diving at La Quebrada had taken place for many years, it was not until 1934 that the La Quebrada Cliff Divers was formed. One of the more famous Cliff Divers was Raoul Garcia. Swiss bigband leader, playboy, club owner and hotelier Teddy Stauffer, the man who is credited with turning Acapulco into a world class resort, actually turned the boys, who were diving from the cliffs there, into stars, some ten years later. ABC's Wide World of Sports popularized La Quebrada during the 1970s as one of the early extreme sports. Professional high divers worldwide regard La Quebrada as one of their favorites. The Cliff Divers show as seen from the El Mirador Hotel is a popular cruise destination.

photo by lucky
edited by mobydick74

  Mexico, Acapulco

Karma: 8 Added by Lucky 2 Comments