Mexico Vacation Destination News
February is an exciting month in Acapulco with plenty of events to keep you busy. On the 3rd the Acapulco Philharmonic will play at the Juan Ruiz de Alarcon Theater in the International Convention Center in Costa Azul, Acapulco. Not only will it be a wonderful evening of classical music but it is also free, courtesy of the government of Guerrero. The very next day, Pandora offer a concert at the Forum Mundial Imperial in Acapulco; this all-female pop trio will be playing some of their greatest hits from the last twenty-five years. On the 5th the Acapulco Regatta sets off once again and provides an exciting and colorful sailing race around the gorgeous bay, while on the 11th the Jardin Botanico of Acapulco celebrates its 10th anniversary with a ‘Noche Bohemia’ in the Garden Amphitheater, where there will be drinks and live music and an opportunity to support local ecological causes with the 250 peso entrance fee. The itinerant Documentary Festival arrives on the 24th to present some of the best Mexican and international documentaries around, at the Cinépolis Galerías Diana. Perhaps the ‘biggie’ of the month is the Telcel Mexican Tennis Open at the Fairmont Acapulco Princess. It is the major tennis tournament in Latin America and runs from February 27th to March 3rd and will feature some of world’s biggest names in tennis. So, once you’ve dusted off the sand after a great day at the beach and put on your after-sun after a pleasant spot of sunbathing, don’t forget to reserve your vacation rental villa through Villa Experience Mexico. There are plenty of other fascinating and fun things to do on a warm evening in Acapulco.
February promises to be a very interesting month in Los Cabos, where several events will be taking place. February 2nd is Candlemass, a religious festival marking the end of winter, and is celebrated with music, dance, food, and candlelit processions in several Baja towns. Perhaps the largest event is the Todos Santos Arts Festival, an annual event in the charming town of Todos Santos where from February 4th – 11th you can enjoy a wide array of shows and art exhibitions. There will be a large number of paintings, handicrafts, and sculptures on show, as well as public performances of folk dancing, theater, music, and poetry readings. From Todos Santos you can move straight up to La Paz where this year’s Carnival will be taking place from February 16th – 21st. This explosion of color, music, and dance will have as its theme ‘Myths, Legends, and Characters’, and all will be reflected in this year’s costumes and floats. In the second week of February Los Cabos hosts the P.G.A. Senior Grand Slam, where some of the best senior golfers in the world will be competing. February is an excellent month for viewing the whales that arrive from the north to give birth and raise their young in the warm shallow waters off the coast of Baja California. In fact the Gray Whale Festival kicks off on the 4th and 5th of February in Puerto Adolfo Lopez Mateos, an excellent location for seeing the whales up close and celebrating their arrival, but also about 150 miles north of La Paz. On February 23rd the Campestre Beach Club in San Jose del Cabo hosts a fine art fundraiser benefiting a local project to help the underprivileged. And, finally, don’t forget the charming art walk around the lovely galleries of San Jose del Cabo every Thursday evening from January through June.
As in the rest of Mexico, the events calendar for February on the Riviera Maya begins with Candlemass on February 2nd, a religious festival to celebrate the end of the coming of spring and consists of candlelit processions, food, music, and dancing. However, the big one this month all over Mexico is the Carnival, and on the Riviera Maya the best place to be is on the beautiful island of Cozumel, where from February 15th to the 22nd you will be bowled over by the colors, costumes, concerts, dancing, parades, and general partying that takes place in downtown Cozumel and along the boardwalk during the town’s biggest party of the year. If you are a golf enthusiast you can move right on from the Cozumel Carnival to the Mayakoba Golf Classic at the Camaleon Golf Club at the Mayakoba Resort in Playa del Carmen, which runs from the 22nd to the 26th of February. It is the only PGA tour event in Mexico and the Riviera Maya is a wonderful warm winter venue for enjoying world-class golf played by some of the world’s top professionals.
Or ‘
2012’ as it is known in Spanish. The rally sets off from the port of Veracruz on the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday 1st March in the morning and gets to Cuernavaca in the high heartlands of Mexico in the evening. It sets off again from Cuernavaca the following morning and arrives in the port of Acapulco on the Pacific coast in the evening of Friday 2nd March. The whole event actually lasts from April 29th to March 3rd, including the opening and closing ceremonies and all the partying. This coast to coast race takes in some spectacular scenery as it goes up and comes down right across Mexico, passing through beautiful mountains, lovely valleys, picturesque villages, desert landscapes, and some very winding roads. The total coast to coast distance is around 600 miles. There is a parallel rally known as the ‘Carrera del Sol’, which follows selected routes and highways between Cuernavaca and Acapulco on March 2nd, the same day as the main rally makes its way down to the warm waters of the Pacific coast in Acapulco. The ‘Carrera de Sol’ covers approximately 240 miles. Acapulco is a great place to wind up at the end of the rally, with its beaches, great weather, and tropical ambiance. If you want to watch these fabulously stylish cars arriving in Acapulco, make sure you’re there on March 2nd and then enjoy the closing ceremony and celebrations on March 3rd.
This year the January 2012 Sailing Regatta in Acapulco kicks off on the weekend of January 14th and 15th. Dozens of yachts will set off from Acapulco Yacht Club and adorn the Acapulco Bay of Santa Lucia with their attractive colors as they cut through the warm waters of this huge bay on Mexico’s Pacific coast. The Sailing Regatta in Acapulco is an ongoing series of races throughout the year and there are always crews from several countries competing in this exciting amateur event, where dedicated and skilled sailors participate for the love of the sport. Crews must zigzag against the wind trying to find the gaps that will allow them to reach the finish buoy. This requires a significant amount of team work, technical knowledge, and quick maneuvering skills. January is a fabulous time to be in Acapulco – the weather in Acapulco is excellent; it is warm but not uncomfortably so, after all it is ‘winter’ in Acapulco too. Also, January is smack bang in the middle of the dry season, so clear sunny skies are guaranteed.
Mexico is one of the best places in the world to go deep sea fishing. Not only does it have the essential raw material – the fish – but also the weather and other marine life to make your fishing trip worth the cost and effort every time. It doesn’t matter what time of year you go, the weather will always be warm; the only thing you need to think about is dry versus rainy and calm versus windy. Now, we all know that dry and sunny is preferable and that is exactly what you’ll get most months of the year. There are two major areas for deep sea fishing in Mexico – most of the Pacific Coast and the Riviera Maya; you can forget about the Gulf of Mexico, it just doesn’t compare. Then there is the fabulous marine life off Mexico’s coasts; your main goal is undoubtedly the fishing, but viewing the dolphins, turtles, sharks, and occasionally even the whales is a big bonus.
Let’s start with the Riviera Maya. It’s the Caribbean, so the beaches and water and beautiful. The main centers are Cancun, Puerto Morelos, Playa del Carmen, and Puerto Aventuras. The range of trips and charters is mind-boggling and it’s all state-of-the art boats and equipment. Of course, every season is different, but year round you’ll catch white marlin, blue marlin, black fin tuna, amber jack, dolphin dorado, wahoo, barracuda, snapper, grouper, and sailfish. March through August, when the seas are calm, is the best time for marlin, sailfish, dolphin, and tuna. January through March can get windy and it’s generally better for marlin, wahoo, black-fin tuna, mahi-mahi, and sailfish. If you don’t catch anything you don’t pay anything, which I guess means that nobody ever catches nothing.
