Mexican Riviera offers plenty of choices for sun-hunters comic

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Mexican Riviera offers plenty of choices for sun-hunters

Decisions, decisions, decisions.

Do we dine at the Pacific Moon, Santa Fe, Savoy, Vivaldi or International Dining Room?

Do we take in the song-and-dance extravaganza at the Princess Theatre or catch the standup comic or participate in the '50s and '60s song contest at Club Fusion? Or, light up a Cuban cigar at the Churchill Lounge or try our hands at a Texas-hold-'em card game at the casino?

And, what shore excursions should we take? Do we ooh and aah over the cliff divers of Acapulco, stroll Puerto Vallarta's famous seaside malecon, or play tag with the surf at hidden-away Playa La Ropa in Zihuatanejo?

Or, do we go on a shopping spree at the Golden Zone in Mazatlan, or go snorkelling at Land's End at the tip of Baja California in Cabo San Lucas?

Decisions such as these are a delight rather than a chore when you sail along the sun-kissed shore of the Mexican Riviera in the dead of winter.

Our 10-day voyage with Princess Cruises was given a sendoff with a flipper salute from a couple of harbour seals as we sailed away from the San Pedro pier in Long Beach, Calif.

The first couple of days at sea we encountered some marine cloud with sea temperatures in the 17-19°C range. Finally, the sun broke though, sending the snowbirds onto the decks and into the pools.

Our first landfall was at fabled Acapulco, considered the fourth mostbeautiful port city in the world. Hugging the shoreline around a spectacular semi-circular bay, the city looked picture-perfect from our vantage point on the promenade deck.

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The Mexican Riviera is a favourite destination for Canadian snowbirds

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Alas, there was trouble in paradise. Our disembarkation was delayed for two hours because of a giant political rally at dock side. Then, our captain cautioned cruisers to be on their guard when going ashore because of the high crime rate fuelled by the drug war.

On a bus tour of the city we saw the stately mansions (and their armed guards) up in the hills, and stopped at lookouts to drink in the view, including one of the Black Lagoon, which was the backdrop to a 1954 horror film called The Creature From the Black Lagoon that has become a cult classic.

The highlight of our tour was witnessing the chilling cliff-diving performances from the vantage point of the El Mirador Hotel. Timing is everything as the daredevil young divers plunge off rocky cliffs into the Gulch, where the depth of water can vary from 1.8 to 6.8 metres, depending on the waves and tides.

From the non-stop action of Acapulco we found a bit of nirvana in the laid-back fishing village of Zihuatanejo, just a short pelican flight from the bustling resort of Ixtapa.

At this peaceful port of call (my favourite sunspot on the Mexican Riviera), we stopped to enjoy a midmorning coffee beneath a stunning African tulip tree, looked for bargains at the local shops, hiked along the shore on an undulating and meandering seawall, and kicked off our shoes to wade in the warm surf.

Seasoned snowbirds love this place. I met a guy from Victoria who has been wintering there for 20 years. He was tanned, he was surf-fishing for supper as pelicans flew all around looking for leftovers - all with a million-dollar view thrown in.