Mazatlan Port Day help.

[shealea]

We will be leaving on a Mexican cruise on Jan. 18th. I'm trying to research the different ports.

In Mazatlán, can you give me advice on a beach that we can go to? My cousin said that he visits 

hotel beaches. He said that they allow you to use the beach if you order drinks or food.

We don't want an entire day-long beach excursion. We just want to spend an hour or two

relaxing at the beach.

Can you recommend one? We are 61 and 63 years old. 

 

Also, I want to spend time walking around Mazatlán. Maybe trying some authentic

Mexican food at a food cart. 

and we don't really drink alcohol. I have some issues with arthritis, but I can still walk 

around a lot. I just don't want to be back-tracking back-and-forth all over. So I think I 

will do best with some sort of plan ahead of time.

 

If you can give me some help with a plan, I will sure appreciate it.  I want to walk and see

the beautiful old buildings, churches, cathedrals. I want to walk along the boardwalk on the 

ocean. I like to people watch. It would be fun to visit an open-air market. I would love to 

see street musicians if that is there. I enjoy browsing little shops. Maybe some little parks

or town square type places.  

 

Hopefully, I have given enough of what I like that I can get some help from any that are

experienced with Mazatlán.

Thank you so much for any help you can give!    Sandra

[GradUT]

If you just want to spend an hour or  two at the beach, Stone Island is probably the best choice for you.  Via water taxi, it's a short trip from the cruise terminal.  There are hotels on the beach at the Zona Dorado (Golden Zone), but that would require a 20 minute ride in a taxi or pulmonia.  It's really out of the way for you. 

 

Then, upon your return to the cruise terminal, you can walk to Old Town Mazatlan (Plaza Machado) along the path marked with a Blue Line.  It takes about 15 minutes.  You will find English speaking ex-pat greeters at the port when you disembark, so you can ask them for information, maps, directions, recommendations, etc.  (However, they will probably be gone by the time you return from Stone Island.)  Old Town Mazatlan is where you will find architectural gems, the cathedral, markets, etc. 

 

To get from Plaza Machado to the Malecon (ocean sidewalk), you can either walk or take a pulmonia for the 1/2 mile distance.  It's a straight shot down Ave. Constitucion.  The Malecon runs for miles,  so you can walk for as long or as little as you like.  There are shops across the road from the Malecon where you can stop for a drink, snack or souvenir. 

 

At the end of your day, just hail a pulmonia to take you back to the ship.  From where you will likely be on the Malecon, it will cost you no more than $7 - $8 (for your entire group, not per person.)

 

 

[GlennaRoseGoes]

I plan on roughly following this for my day in Mazatlan next month: http://www.jennex.com/Self Guided Walking Tour of Mazatlan El Centro-1.pdf

 

I’ve started mapping out the locations I’m more interested in on a custom Google map 

[shealea]

GradUT, thank you for the very helpful information.  I have read up on Stone Island. That really does sound like our best bet. I didn't realize that it would be so far to the Golden Zone with the hotels.  I'm glad to know that.

Sandra

[shealea]

GlennaRoseGoes, I checked out the link that you provided. That looks very helpful and I will print that out. I like that

it's very detailed with turn-by-turn directions.

Thanks!   Sandra

[57redbird]

9 hours ago, shealea said:

GlennaRoseGoes, I checked out the link that you provided. That looks very helpful and I will print that out. I like that

it's very detailed with turn-by-turn directions.

Thanks!   Sandra

I'm doing the same thing! --- what a great post!

[cruznbuddies]

Great info! We will visit Mazatlan in February for a couple weeks staying out at Torres Mazatlan. We’re  wondering, can we get a city bus from there into the city center? If not what would you suggest as transportation goes? Should we rent a car.Also any other info regarding things to do would be much appreciated !

Edited December 30, 2019 by cruznbuddies
Forgot some

[GradUT]

Torres Mazatlan is really far north!  It's a 35 minute drive to the Old Town and a 20 minute drive to the Golden Zone.  I don't know if there are buses that travel that far north, but if they do, the journey would probably be twice as long as driving/taxi/pulmonia due to all the stops the bus will make. 

 

If you get a rental car, you have to be particularly careful that you get all the required insurance (and it might be a bit pricey.)  If it were me, I'd just rely on taxis/pulmonias to get around.  They are plentiful and cheap. 

[Mike45LC]

GradUT's first post was great advice -- Stone Island for an hour or so, and then walk the Blue Line to downtown.  This (but taking a pulmonia instead of walking the Blue Line) is our normal Mazatlán port day.  

[shealea]

On 12/31/2019 at 4:15 PM, Mike45LC said:

GradUT's first post was great advice -- Stone Island for an hour or so, and then walk the Blue Line to downtown.  This (but taking a pulmonia instead of walking the Blue Line) is our normal Mazatlán port day.  

Mike, Thanks for your very helpful input. I'm going to play it by ear as to exactly how

much walking I will do from place to place. I love to walk, but I've had some problems

with my hips. So catching a pulmonia ride here and there will be a very good option if

I find that I need it. I'm so very excited for this cruise!!!!!

Sandra

[Mike45LC]

Sandy, we take the golf cart because of bad knees.  The carts are convenient, and readily available.  Enjoy the cruise!

[wantingpj]

We will be in there in March.  I was thinking of walking the blue line to downtown in the morning and then go to Stone Island in the afternoon.

 

Better to walk back to where we catch the water taxi or to take pulmonia?

 

 

[Mike45LC]

2 hours ago, wantingpj said:

We will be in there in March.  I was thinking of walking the blue line to downtown in the morning and then go to Stone Island in the afternoon.

 

Better to walk back to where we catch the water taxi or to take pulmonia?

 

 

I'd walk the Blue Line to downtown and then grab a pulmonia to the water taxi dock.

[PoCo cruiser]

On 12/29/2019 at 12:28 PM, GradUT said:

If you just want to spend an hour or  two at the beach, Stone Island is probably the best choice for you.  Via water taxi, it's a short trip from the cruise terminal.  There are hotels on the beach at the Zona Dorado (Golden Zone), but that would require a 20 minute ride in a taxi or pulmonia.  It's really out of the way for you. 

 

Then, upon your return to the cruise terminal, you can walk to Old Town Mazatlan (Plaza Machado) along the path marked with a Blue Line.  It takes about 15 minutes.  You will find English speaking ex-pat greeters at the port when you disembark, so you can ask them for information, maps, directions, recommendations, etc.  (However, they will probably be gone by the time you return from Stone Island.)  Old Town Mazatlan is where you will find architectural gems, the cathedral, markets, etc. 

 

To get from Plaza Machado to the Malecon (ocean sidewalk), you can either walk or take a pulmonia for the 1/2 mile distance.  It's a straight shot down Ave. Constitucion.  The Malecon runs for miles,  so you can walk for as long or as little as you like.  There are shops across the road from the Malecon where you can stop for a drink, snack or souvenir. 

 

At the end of your day, just hail a pulmonia to take you back to the ship.  From where you will likely be on the Malecon, it will cost you no more than $7 - $8 (for your entire group, not per person.)

Hello,

We will be visiting Mazatlan on one of our port on our Mexican cruise this January.  We have not been there for many years.  Looking to buy Pure Vanilla.  Any suggestion on where to go as my friend brought home some very diluted Vanilla from Mexico on her last trip.

Thank you,

 

 

[shealea]

Thanks again for all of the Wonderful and Helpful comments to my

question! It's been very helpful in planning.

Thanks Mike45 for the cruise good wishes!

Sandra

[heckledtrio]

We'd never been to Mazatlan before, but there are so many good resources on the web, we felt brave enough to chance it on our own, even though it was Christmas Eve 😉 

 

I wish I'd had that PDF that Glenna posted, looks really comprehensive! 

 

I cobbled together the info from these 3 websites (lots of pics, yay!) to plan our walking tour of Mazatlan:

 

http://www.mazatlantouristaide.com/

 

http://arewethere-yet.com/wordyexplorers/blog/pages/view/view.dhtml?linkId=4FavoritesMazatlan&storyId=1532711033361

 

http://arewethere-yet.com/wordyexplorers/blog/pages/view/view.dhtml?linkId=CentroHistoricoStoneIslandMazatlan&storyId=1530238592810

 

The second link has low-resolution images of the maps that the ex-pat volunteers hand out along the way. If you'd like to see a better-quality version before you sail, let me know and I'll dig mine up and scan it! The maps were VERY helpful in helping us navigate our way to the different sights. 

 

We basically just hit up some of the highlights on the map and did some shopping at the Mercado Pino Suarez (it's huuuuge). We didn't spend enough time there to sit and relax/eat/drink, but there were plenty of places to do so! 

 

Enjoy your trip!! 🙂 

 

[shealea]

heckledtrio - WOW, what fantastic links you have posted, and what fantastic information they offer!

Thank you so much for your post. I took any notes for my trip. 

 

Sandra

[snowdogsmm]

On 12/30/2019 at 3:52 PM, cruznbuddies said:

Great info! We will visit Mazatlan in February for a couple weeks staying out at Torres Mazatlan. We’re  wondering, can we get a city bus from there into the city center? If not what would you suggest as transportation goes? Should we rent a car.Also any other info regarding things to do would be much appreciated !

We stayed a week at Torres this past August and it is not that far north.  We loved the location.  Easy 10 min ride to Golden Zone and there are pulmonia’s readily available at the resort.  We used pulmonias for everything.  Very affordable and they are everywhere.  Have a great stay at Torres.