Located on the Southwest Coast of Mexico, Acapulco might be the most famous of Mexican beach resorts. It's beauty is breathtaking. Towering mountains frame one of the world's most spectacular natural harbors, where the sea meets a shoreline of golden sand. At night, thousands of shimmering lights blanket the mountainsides, lighting up the bay. Today the resort city is an oasis along a primitive coast, a mirage amid barren mountains. She continues to be a favorite retreat among Mexicans, and the rich and famous from around the world who maintain opulent villas overlooking the Pacific. It is the nearest beach to Mexico City, thus having the world's most populous urban center as its captive market. In the early 1990s, a four-lane highway brought the two even closer by cutting driving time from six to three and a half hours.