Mexico: Mazatlán

On my first Pacific cruise with Brian, our stop in Mazatlán was cancelled due to "security concerns". Since we were on a party cruise, we ended up spending another day in Cabo - no one cared. However, I always felt a tinge of regret missing it. On the cruise from New York to LA, the final stop in Mexico was Puerto Vallarta, so there was no chance to visit then either. Finally, on my third trip down the Pacific coast, the city was included on the itinerary. The ship pulled into Mazatlán in the early morning under cloudy skies. I had signed up for a walking tour of downtown.

The tour was four hours (one of the longest walking tours I have ever taken anywhere), and included most of the highlights of the old downtown and the seafront.

Although my initial impressions of the city weren't good (the port is also a container port) after we reached the historic center, I began to see the charm of the city. Many people have retired there from the US and Canada in spite of its reputation as being "dangerous". The old town is a mix of restored buildings and those waiting to be. At least the government strictly enforces that older buildings may only be renovated, not torn down. As with Todos Santos, the majority of the buildings were Mexican (not Spanish) from the 19th century. In fact, during the silver boom in Mexico, many Europeans came to settle in Mazatlán to seek their fortunes as it was a port close to the mines.

Our first stop was the refurbished home of a Hungarian "princess" who fled persecution in Europe, married a local businessman, and set up a house in the city. Her biography seemed sketchy, but the house gave some insight into how people with means lived during the boom years of the city.

The city hosts an amazing 19th century theatre that has been restored - Teatro Angela Peralta (a famous Mexican soprano who died young and was the pride of the city).

Part of the theatre complex is an art gallery with a school for the arts attached.

After the theatre our small group (only 15) entered the Plazuela Machado, one of the oldest in the city. The land was donated by a Spanish man who had made his fortune in the Philippines. It was the only square we visited with original buildings surrounding it. There we were treated to an exuberant Aztec dance (I admired the dancers' energy). I asked the guide what the long feathers were in their elaborate headdresses and she told me "pheasant". I then asked her, "But pheasants were brought to the New World from Europe?" Oh well....

At the other end of the square was a huge papier-mâché mermaid set up in preparation for the city's Carnival which was coming up the following month.

I also noted there were "gringo" volunteers in blue shirts across the historic area giving advice to foreign visitors. Although I applauded their good will, it seemed strange to me that non-Mexicans would be guides in the city. All of them were retirees - they were extremely helpful.

Some of the buildings just begged to be restored.

The cathedral of the city is on Plaza Republica along with the very modern (and ugly) city hall. In what should be the best part of the city, I found just a jumbled open area with mostly modern buildings. The church is the only truly old building on the square. Our guide proudly told us that it was slowly built and paid for by the citizens of the city. For that reason, its construction took decades. In fact, at one point when money was tight, a prominent Jewish family contributed a large sum to reboot the construction. Their largesse is memorialized by several prominent stars of David atop the stained glass windows.

We left the square and walked through more of the historic center. Some buildings were beautifully restored and others, not. As I observed in other places, if the whole neighborhood were fixed up and pedestrianized, I think people would visit in droves.

Just before we reached the sea, we passed through an alley (Callejón Liverpool) created by a former city mayor who was crazy about the Beatles. There were old style phone and post boxes from Britain, a yellow submarine, and small red MG, and bronze statues of the fab four (based on the photo of their iconic walk across Abbey Road).

I asked the guide if there was any connection between the Beatles and the city. She laughed and said, "No, that mayor just loved them". It was all so random.

January 2026

We finally reached Malecón de Mazatlán, the longest seaside walk in Mexico (17 km!). We were at the starting point in the old downtown. The area is filled with restaurants which provide great views over the water. Like Puerto Vallarta, the esplanade has a lot of sculpture as well.

Our final stop was the "cliff divers" who jumped off a platform built onto a tall rock. The amazing part was that they had to jump "out" to clear the rocks (which they barely did). All I could say was - it took guts. They asked for tips after diving and I thought paying them just encouraged life-threatening acts. I declined. Who wants to encourage life-threatening behavior?

We rested our feet in a nearby restaurant which served the group snacks and drinks overlooking the Pacific. We were all tired. Our return was via open air taxi (the same type that we had taken from the port at the start of the tour). Although keeping 15 people together (even at a glacial pace) was not easy, we managed to navigate a large chunk of the city. My impression of Mazatlán was overall favorable. It appears to be a place that is on an upward trajectory in terms of development. If it can fix up the old town more and reduce traffic, that would be wonderful.

(and create a cruise port - nothing worse than pulling into a container terminal)