Thursday, October 9, 2025

Dear Acapulco, we will see you recover!

Back in the 1950’s, Acapulco was known as the beach resort where Hollywood royalty escaped, reveling by night in glitzy nightclubs like Tequila a Go-Go. Elizabeth Taylor married Mike Todd there, JFK and Jackie O honeymooned, Elvis and Rita Hayworth made movies, and John Wayne and Carey Grant owned Los Flamingos, where Frank Sinatra crooned.

During the 1960s and 1970s new hotel resorts meant the foreign and Mexican middle class could afford to travel and vacation there, and the population, tourism and economy soared. More recently, Acapulco has continued to thrive as a beach destination and has reclaimed its iconic status as a hotspot for A-lister celebrities. When the city was devastated by Hurricane Pauline in 1997, it recovered and bloomed again. We know that Acapulco’s community is resilient.

The famous Acapulco skyline (Credit: Civilian Scrabble, Flickr)

This photo essay aims to capture some of the glamour, style, magic and history of this treasured Mexican resort and here at MND, we encourage our readers to pitch in with the recovery effort to aid Acapulco and the state of Guerrero in its hour of need.

Acapulco Bay, 1930’s (Source; API Acapulco Port, Flickr)
Jennifer Lopez alongside Reggaeton artists Wisin Y Yandel, shooting video in Acapulco (Cut the Cap Music Magazine)
Quebrada cliff divers, 1960’s (Credit: Fotolia, Vilant)
Eisenhower’s first visit 1959 (Credit: LIFE Mag)
Entrance to the modern beauty, Encanto Hotel. (Wikimedia Commons)
Fishing boats in the bay, Acapulco (Wikimedia Commons, jimmyweee)

Henrietta Weekes is a writer, editor, actor and narrator. She divides her time between San Miguel de Allende, New York and Oxford, UK. 

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