Acapulco - Divers of Quebrada

Early afternoon and in the evening the famous "clavidistas", the divers of Quebrada, can be seen performing their feats of daring. Having offered their prayers to a statue of the Madonna, they leap from 40 m (130 ft) up on the Quebrada cliffs into the waves surging back and forth over the rocks below. After dark floodlights illuminate the divers, some of whom carry torches as they hurl themselves into the depths. The nearby "El Mirador" hotel boasts a notable restaurant, "La Perla", opened in 1949 by the Swiss musician Teddy Stauffer who first publicised the delights of Acapulco in Europe.

On most evenings also the voladores - Totonac Indians from Papantla, close to the archaeological site at El Tajín - provide yet another extraordinary spectacle with their danza del volador, a ritual flying act with its origins in an ancient fertility myth.