On Monday, March 10 after anchoring off the beach at Centro in front of the Captian del Puerto's Office we caught a cab up to the old Hotel Mirador for the 1230 Cliff Diver's show. We arrived and were immediately contacted by an attendant for the hotel who ushered us inside and pushed the "lunch and show" package which included the show, lunch and a beer. What a deal! As it turns our the information that we had was wrong, it wasn't 12:30 but 1 PM, so we had another beer!

I'm not going to rewrite this when Tim did such a find job with his note to family and friends, so here is his version of "La Clavadistas".

"The divers dive into a ravine about 200 yards long. On the opposite side of the ravine is the viewing area. At the head of the ravine is the Hotel Miradoor that has a restaurant with open balconys that overlook the ravine. The 12:30 show was actually at 1pm so we were way early. A paid tout directed us into the restaurant were we got lunch, a beer and admission to the show for 205 pesos.each and we sat at the very best table with a stunning view. Six young Mexican men walk thru the viewing area that is about half the height of the dive area. They jump into the water, one by one, and swim across the ravine to the cliff. They then free climb the cliff all the way up to the top of the diving point, about 87 feet from the surface of the water (about 8 story's high). There are little stone alcoves at the top that the divers pray at and invoke blessings for a successful dive. And they need it. They have to jump out far enough from the diving point to clear the base of the cliff and jump cleanly enough to enter the water properly. If they screw up, it's fatal. Each, in turn, does their dive. Some are backflips, others are forward flips, all accompanied by much cheering and applause. The last young man, the star, did a spectacular forward starting double back flip with a head down entry. It made my palms sweat!. After the show, the divers line up outside for tips."

It was well worth the effort to get there. One of those things we grew up with, hearing about and seeing on television. How could you go to Acapulco and not see it? That would be like going to Disney Land and not buying a ticket book, but then I'm dating myself.