Mazatlan This fishing and shrimping port is a long-time favorite of both old and young, with bustling nightlife, succulent seafood, and warm Pacific surf.

Mexico’s largest west coast port is also home to one of the country’s most popular and longest uninterrupted beaches. Home to about 700,000 inhabitants, Mazatlan has the biggest commercial shrimping fleet in Latin America, with over 500 boats. Yet tourists typically feel like they are in a small beach village, due to the way Mazatlan divides its commercial and business sectors away from its resort areas.

This friendly city, founded in 1531, began to really develop in the mid-19th century. It boasts warm gentle, rolling surf and wide sandy beaches, a mostly bilingual populace, and affordable, laid-back ambiance, along with outstanding fresh shrimp and other seafood. Old Mazatlan provides beautiful colonial architecture, as well as some outstanding cultural venues, while the new Pueblo Bonito area is being developed as a tony strip with posh shopping, hotels and restaurants. The most famous beaches in Mazatlan are Playa Norte, popular with locals, Playa Sabalo and Las Gaviotas on the resort strip, Playa Olas Altas for surfing and high waves and Playa los Cerritos, one of the city’s finest uncrowded beaches on the north end of the hotel zone. Mazatlan also has three off-islands to which you can travel on small boats for fishing, swimming, snorkeling and diving.

Don’t miss a ride on a ‘pulmonia,’ the city’s distinctive four-person, open-air taxis. Locals and tourists alike love strolling the 13-mile ‘malecon’ (sea boulevard) lining the bay. In the relaxed old town, colonial treasures surround  the Playa Principal with its Moorish cathedral. Two blocks away you’ll find the Teatro Angela Peralta, while nearby is the bustling Mercado Central (Central Market) and the Museo de Archeologia (Archaeology Museum.) Towering over the downtown area is the Cerro de la Neveria (Icebox Hill,) with panoramic sea views. A short hike away to the end of the peninsula takes you to El Faro, a lighthouse said to be the world’s second-highest, after Gibraltar’s. Mazatlan also has an aquarium (Acuario Mazatlan) with a marine museum, botanical gardens and fifty aquariums.

Mazatlan attracts thousands of regulars, who find its atmosphere relaxing, inviting and comfortable. This is Mexico at its best - you’ll feel safe and at home, yet exhilarated by the truly Mexican character of the town and its people. Amazingly un-Americanized, Mazatlan has spruced itself up, beautified its landscaping and architecture, expanded and constructed, but it has held on to its identity in a way other cities have not. Looking for a real Mexican beach town experience? Mazatlan won’t disappoint! 

Irene Middleman Thomas is a Colorado-based writer for dozens of local, national and international publications and websites. She is the 2004 winner of the Pluma de Plata, the highest honor for travel journalism about Mexico.

About 4.1 million Americans reside in other countries, according to the Association of Americans Resident Overseas, with about 1 million living in Mexico and 688,000 living in Canada. If all of these residents living abroad were placed in one U.S. state, it would be the 25th most populous state in the country, the association reported. The statistics don't include travelers who are visiting briefly and who don't secure visas, and don't include members of the U.S. military. --

By Glenn Roberts Jr.