HISTORY

Pre-Columbian

For Mexico, Mazatlán is not an old city. Most of its public buildings have stood for less than a hundred years. Evidence of local human settlement dates back before recorded history, however. Scientists reckon petroglyphs found on offshore islands may be as much as 10,000 years old.

During the 1930s archaeologists began uncovering exquisite polychrome pottery, with elaborate black and red designs, indicative of a high culture. Unlike their renowned Tarascan, Aztec, and Toltec highland neighbors, those ancient potters, known as the Totorames, built no pyramids and left no inscriptions. They had been gone a dozen generations before conquistador Nuño de Guzmán burned his way through Sinaloa in 1531.

Colonial

The rapacious Guzmán may have been responsible for the name “Mazatlán”, which, curiously, is a name of Nahuatl (Aztec language), rather than local origin. Since Aztecs rarely ventured anywhere near present-day Mazatlán, the name Mazatlán (Place of the Deer) presents an intriguing mystery. Historians speculate that a Nahuatl-speaking interpreter of Guzmán may have translated the name from the local language.

Mazatlán was first mentioned in 1602 as the name of a small village, San Juan Bautista de Mazatlán (now called Villa Union), 30 miles south of present-day Mazatlán, which was not yet colonized.
English and Frech pirates, however, soon discovered Mazatlán’s benefits. They occasionally used its hill-screened harbor as a lair from which to pounce upon the rich galleons that plied the coast. The colonial government replied by establishing a small presidio on the harbor and watchtowers atop the cerros. Although the pirates were gone by 1800, legends persist of troves of stolen silver and gold buried in hidden caves and under windswept sands, ripe for chance discovery along the Mazatlán coast.

Independence

Lifting of foreign trade restrictions in 1820 and independence in 1821 seemed to bode well for the port of Mazatlán. However, cholera, yellow fever, and plague epidemics and repeated foreign occupations (the U.S. Navy in 1847, the French in 1864, and the British in 1871) slowed the growth of Mazatlán during the 19th century. It nevertheless served as the capital of Sinaloa from 1859 to 1873, with a population of several thousand.

The “Order and Progress” of dictator/president Porfirio Díaz (1876-1910) gave Mazatlán citizen a much-needed spell of prosperity. The railroad arrived, the port and lighthouse were modernized, and the cathedral was finished. Education, journalism, and the arts blossomed. The Teatro Rubio, completed in the early 1890s was the grandest opera house between Baja California and Tepic.

The opera company of the renowned diva, Angela Peralta, the “Mexican Nightingale”, arrived and gave a number of enthusiastically received recitals in Mazatlán in August 1883.Tragically, Peralta and most of her company fell victim to a disastrous yellow fever epidemic, which claimed more than 2,500 Mazatlán lives.

The revolution of 1910-17 literally rained destruction on Mazatlán. In 1941, the city gained the dubious distinction of being the second city in the world to suffer aerial bombardment. ( Tripoli, Libya, was the first.) General (later president)Venustiano Carranza, intent upon taking the city, ordered a biplane to bomb the ammunition magazine atop Nevería Hill, adjancent to downtown Mazatlán. But the pilot missed the target and dropped the crude leather-wrapped package of dynamite and nails onto the city streets instead. Two citizens were killed and several wounded.

Modern Mazatlan

After order was restored in the 1920s, Mazatlán soared to a decade of prosperity, followed by the deflation and depression of the 1930s. Recovery after World War II led to port improvements and new highways, setting the stage for the tourist “discovery” of Mazatlán during the 1960s and 1970s. The city limits expanded to include the strand of white sand (Playa Norte) north of the original old port town. High-rise hotels sprouted in a new “Golden Zone” tourist area, which, coupled with Mazatlán’s traditional fishing industry, provided thousands of new jobs for an increasingly affluent population, which by the 21st century, was approaching three quarters of a million.

GETTING ORIENTED

Mazatlán owes its life to the sea. The city’s main artery, which changes its name five times as it winds northward, never strays far from the shore. From beneath the rugged perch of El Faro (Lighthouse) at the tip of the Mazatlán peninsula, the malecón (seawall) boulevard curves past the venerable hotels and sidewalk cafés of the Olas Altas (High Waves) neighborhood. From there it snakes along a succession of rocky points and sandy beaches, continuing through the glitzy lineup of Zona Dorada (Golden Zone) beach hotels and restaurants. Next the boulevard loops inland for a spell, curving around a marina and back to the beach. The hotels thin out as it continues past grassy dunes and venerable groves to a sheltered cove beneath Punta Cerritos hill, 15 miles from where it started.

Getting Around

A welter of little local buses run to and fro along identical main-artery routes. From the downtown central plaza they head along the malecón, continuing north through the Zona Dorada to various north-end destinations, which are marked on the windshields. Fares should run less than half a dollar.

Small, open-air taxis, called pumonías, seating two or three passengers, provide quiker and more convenient service. The average pulmonía (“pneumonia,” directly translated) ride should total no more than a dollar or two. Agree on the price before you get in, and if you think it’s too high, hail another pulmonía and your driver will usually come to his senses. The same rules apply to taxi rides, which run about double the price of pulmonías.

You can also get around Mazatlán by joining a tour. Hotel travel desks or travel agencies usually can set you up with one. Boat tours offer yet more options; for specifics, see below.

A walk around downtown Mazatlan

Let the towering double spire of the Catedral Basílica de la Purísima Concepción guide you to the very center of old Mazatlán. Begun by the Bishop Pedro Loza y Pardave in 1856, the cathedral was built on the filled lagoon site of an original Indian temple. Mazatlán’s turbulent history delayed its completion until 1899 and final elevation in 1937 to the status of a basilica.

Inside, the image of the city’s patron saint, the Virgen de la Purísima Conception (Virgin of the Immaculate Conception) stands over the glided, baroque main altar, while overhead soar rounded Renaissance domes and pious, pointed gothic arches. On the left, as you exit, pause and notice the shrine to the popular Virgin of Guadalupe. The cathedral is open daily 6a.m.- 1p.m. and 4-8 p.m.

In front of the cathedral, the verdant tropical foliage of the central Plaza de la Republica en closes the traditional wrought-iron Porfirian bandstand. To the right is the Palacio Municipal (City Hall), where on the eve before Independence Day, September 16, the presidente municipal (county mayor) shouts from the balcony the traditional Grito de Dolores above a patriotic and tipsy crowd.
After enjoying the sights and aromas of the colorful of the colorful Mercado Central (Central Market) two blocks behind the cathedral, reverse your path and head down Juárez.Turn right at Constitución, one block to Plazuela Machado, Maztlán’s original central plaza. It was named in honor of Juan Nepomuceno Machado, a founding father of Filipino descent who donated the land. The venerable Porfirian buildings and monuments clustered along the surrouding streets include the Teatro Angela Peralta, completed around 1890 and later dedicated to Angela Peralta. At the west end of the Plazuela, along Calle Heriberto Frías, walk beneath the Portales de Cnnobio, the arcade of the old estate house of apple grower Luis Cannobio, a 19th-century Italian resident.

For a shady break, take a seat at one of the small sidewalk cafés on the plaza´s north side, or go inside and sample the menu at restaurant Lola and Pedro at the plaza’s northeast corner, Carnaval and Constitución.

Olas Altas

Continue west a few blocks toward the ocean from Plazuela Machado along Calle Sixto Osuna and step into the small Museo Arqueologia, Sixto de Osuna 76, tel.69/853-502, to peruse its well-organized exhibits outlining Sinaloan pre-history and culture. The displays include case after case of petroglyphs, human and animal figurines, and the distinctive red- and black- glazed ancient polychrome pottery of Sinaloa.

Open Tues.- Sun. 10a.m.-1p.m. and 4-7 p.m.
Across the street, take a look inside the lovingly restored Casa de la Cultura. Its current offerings might include an art exhibit, a literary reading, or a musical or dramatic performance.

Continue west a couple of blocks to the malecón and Av. Olas Altas. This café-lined stretch of boulevard and adjacent beach was at one time the tourist zone of Mazatlán. It extends several shorefront blocks from the Monumento al Venado (Monument to the Deer) north end, past Hotel Siesta to the Escudos de Sinaloa y Mazatlán ( City and State Shields of Sinaloa and Mazatlán) to the south in front of the distinguished 1889 school building at the foot of Cerro Vigía, the steep hill.

Here, you might pause a while and soak up the flavor of old Mazatlán. Take a seat at one of the sidewalk cafés; later look around the lobby of the old Hotel Belmar. Notice the wall map a few steps inside the entrance door, dated 1948, when the entire state of Sinaloa had a population less than half of present-day Mazatlán, and the whole country had a population equal to Mexico City’s today.

Cerro Vigia

Now, unless, you’re in the mood for a hike, bargain for a pulmonía to take you up Paseo Centenario, the southern extension of Av. Olas Altas, to the Pergola de Cerro Vigía viewpoint at the top of the hill. There, next to the old cannon (stamped by its proud London maker, “Vavaseur no. 830, 1875”), you get the sweep of the whole city.

Cerro Vigía is the spot where, according to tradition, the colonial soldiers of the old Mazatlán presidio maintained their 200-year vigil, scanning the horizon for pirates. Step across the little hilltop plaza and down to the Café El Mirador and enjoy lunch, a drink, and the view; open daily noon- 9 p.m.

Cerro Creston and El Faro

To the south rises Mazatlán’s tallest hill, Cerro Creston, topped by the El Faro lighthouse, whose 515-foot (157 meter) elevation qualifies it as the world’s highest natural lighthouse. Along the jetty7landfill that connects Cerro Creston to the mainland lie the docks and anchored boats of the several flotas deportivas (sport fleets). Every morning they take loads of anglers out in search of big fighting marlin and sailfish.

Boat Tours

Harbor tour boats also depart from the same docks. Yate Fiesta leaves regularly at 11 a.m. for a harbor and island cruise, passing the inner harbor shrimp fleet, circling past the lighthouse, sea lion island (winter only) and Mazatlán’s off shore islands, Islas Chivos, Pájaros, and Venados. Tickets cost about $12 per person for the three-hour trip. Also, trimaran Kolonahe offers a pair of tours from the Marina El Cid: a 9:30am island tour that includes part of the harbor tour as described above, as well as a landing at Isla Venados for swimming, hiking, lunch, and sunning on the beach, returning in early afternoon Later in the afternoon, the Kolonahe heads seaward again for an open-bar sunset cuise (about $35). For more information and reservations, contact a travel agent or call 69/852-237 or 69/852-238 for the Fiesta, 69/165-747 or 69/163468 for the Kolonahe.

Across the deep-water harbor entrance looms the bulk of Isla de Piedra (Stone Island), actually a peninsula. Its southern beach stretches to the horizon in a narrowing white thread, beneath the dark green plumes of Mexico’s third-largest coconut grove. If you’ve hankering to explore ride the tour boat Renegado, which heads out mornings, first passing the world’s biggest shrimp fleet, continuing through the harbor’s far mangrove reaches to the Stone Island landing, where, after lunch at a palapa restaurant, you can explore the beach and coconut grove by foot, play in the waves, and laze in the sun. Hotel pickup is included in the approximately $25 price.

For information and reservations, call a travel agent or contact the Renegado directly at 69/142-4773 (If the Fiesta is full, you can ride the Yate Costa Alegre, tel.69/165-747, for Stone Island and sunset cruises)

For more adventurous tours and activities, such as biking, snorkeling, scuba diving, hikling, and wildlife viewing, see Sports and Recreation later in this chapter.

Cerro Nevería

The rounded profile of Cerro Nevería (Icehouse Hill) rises above the patchwork of city streets. Its unique label originated during the mid-1800s, when the tunnels that pock the hill served for storage of ice imported from San Francisco. Now the hilltop holds a number of radio and microwave beacons.

Punta Camarón and Offshore Islands

The curving white ribbon of sand north of the downtown area traces the malencón northward to Punta Camarón and the Golden Zone, marked by the cluster of shoreline high-rise hotels. Offshore from Punta Camarón, Mazatlán’s three islands – Chivos (Rams) and Venados (Deer), nearest, and Pajaros (Birds) on the horizon-seem to float offshore like a trio of sleeping whales.

Along Paseo Claussen

Back downhill and Av. Olas Altas, pass the Statue of the Deer in the middle of the intersection where the malecón becomes Paseo Claussen. Named for the rich German immigrant who financed the blasting of the scenic drive, Paseo Claussen continues around the wave-tossed foot of Cerro Nevería. First, you will pass a striking bronze sculpture, the Monumento Mujer Mazalteca, nearly erotic in its intensity. Near by, a yawning cave (plugged by heavy bars), pierces the hill. Known by local people as the Caverna del Diablo (Devil’s Cave), it served as an escape route for soldiers guarding the ammunition stored in caves farther up the hill. Not far ahead, a four-story platform at the Punta de Clavadistas (Diver’s Point) towers above the wave-swept tidepools. The divers-professionals who take their work very seriously, especially at low tide, when their dives must coincide with the arrival of a big swell-perform a number of times daily, more frequently on Sunday and holidays.

Moving north, you’ll pass the new Continuity of Life sculpture, popular with crowds of local folks who arrive evenings to watch its colored fountains. Continue another block to the 1892 fort turned maritime office, Fuerte 31 de Marzo, named in honor of the heroic stand of the local garrison, which repelled a French invasion on March 31, 1864.

BEACHES

Olas Altas to Punta Camarón

Exploration of Mazatlán’s beaches can start at Av. Olas Altas, where narrow Playa Olas Altas offers some water sports opportunities. The strip is wide and clean enough for wading, sunning, bodysurfing, and boogie boarding. Swimmers take care: the waves often break suddenly and recede strongly. Locally popular intermediate surfing breaks angle shoreward along the north end. Bring your own equipment, since there’s rarely any for rent on this largely locals-only beach.

For fly and bait-casting-although the beach surf is too murky to catch much- casts from the rocks on either end may yield rewards worth the effort.

Continuing north around Paseo Claussen, past the fort, you’ll come to a wave-tossed Pinos cove adjacent to the modern Ciencias del Mar (Marine Sciences) college. Although the narrow strand here is suitable for no more than wading, the rocks provide good casting spots, and the left- breaking swells challenge beginning and intermediate surfers.

Next comes the small boat cove where Playa Norte begings.

A mile farther north beginning around the oafish Monumento al Pescador (Fisherman’s Monument), where Paseo Claussen becomes Av. Del Mar, a relatively wide, clean white strand extends for three miles. This strech is popular with local families and is uncrowded except during holidays. On calm days the waves break gently and gradually; other times they can be rough. If so, stick by a lifeguard if you see one, gate at the north end of this beach, on both flanks of Punta Camaron (marked by Valentino’s disco), where the swells break gradually left. For fisherfolk, the rocks on the point provide good spots for casting.

Zona Dorada Beaches

At Punta Camarón, Av. Del Mar becomes Calz. Camarón Sábalo, which winds northward through the clutter of Zona Dorada streetside eateries, crafts shops, travel agencies, and banks.

The way to enjoy and understand the Zona Dorada is not on the boulevard, but on the beach a few blocks away. The lineup of successful hotels immediately north of Punta Camarón testifies to the beauty of Playa Camarón testifies to the beauty of Playa Camarón and Playa Gaviotas. These shining strands- with oft-gentle rolling waves, crystal sand, and glowing, island- silhouetted sunsets- give meaning to the label “Golden Zone”:golden memories for visitors and gold in the pockets of the Mazatlán folks lucky enough to own or work in the Zona Dorada. (Sometimes it seems as if half the town is trying to work there. During the low-season months of September and October, beachfront crafts and food vendors often outnumber the sunbathers.)

Although the Playas Camarón and Gaviotas are often lumped together, the beaches themselves contrast sharply. The more southerly Playa Camarón is narrow and steep, with coarse, yellow sand. Its waves often break suddenly and recede strongly. At such times, bodysurfing on Playa Camarón is a thrilling but potentially hazardous pastime.

Despite the popularity of this strip, small shells, such as mother-of-pearl- and lovely rust-brown- mottled little clams, are sometimes plentiful.

About 500 yards north of the point, near the Las Flores Hotel, Playa Camarón becomes Playa Gaviotas. There, the beach changes to Playa Gaviotas’silky smooth sand and lazy slope. Waves usually roll in gently and always for a long distance. They are not good for surfing, since they head straight into the beach and tend to break all at once along a long front, rather than angling left of right.

Another quarter mile north around Hotel El Cid, Playa Gaviotas becomes its identically lovely northward extension, Playa Sábalo, which stretches another mile to Punta Sábalo at the Hotel Camino Real.

Past the rocks of Punta Sábalo, the waters of the Estero Sábalo tidal lagoon (now the Marina Mazatlán’s outer harbor) ebb through a boat channel. The beach boulevard loops a mile inland, past the Marina Mazatlán, curving north, back to the beach, where it becomes Calz. Sábalo Cerritos.

Northern Beaches

The strand north of Punta Sábalo, called Playa Cerritos, begins to look like a wild beach along its largely undeveloped northern stretch. Grass sways atop the dunes, flocks of sandpipers probe the wave-washed sand, pelicans and frigate birds glide overhead, and shells and driftwood accumulate.

At the northern end of Playa Cerritos, just south of the hill that marks Punta Cerritos, the beach becomes Playa Brujas, named for the brujas, female witch doctors, who used to perform their rituals there. If you’re thirsty of hungry by that time, a seafood restaurant at the end of the beach will gladly accommodate you.

On the other side of Punta Cerritos, more seafood restaurants perch at the very end of the beach boulevard. On the left, a rocky tidepool shelf juts out into the waves, forming a protected cove. This, some say, is the best fishing spot in Mazatlán. It appears so; half a dozen lanchas are usually pulled up on the rocky beach, while off shore, one or two divers hunt for oysters in the clear, calm waters.

DAY TRIPS

Besides restful country ambience, the area around Mazatlán offers interesting history, attractive handicrafts, and rewarding wildlife viewing for the steady flow of visitors to the southern hinterland.

Copala and Concordia

The twin colonial towns of Copala and Concordia, in the lush Sierra Madre foothills, provide the focus for and unhurried day-trip. Concordia, about 12 miles inland along Hwy. 40 (27 miles, 44km from Mazatlán) offers fine colonial-style furniture and an abundance of attractive pre-Columbian-motif pottery. A short side road leads to a mineral spring, where a number of women make a business of washing clothes. About a dozen miles farther up the road stands Copala (founded 1565), an antique mining town with hillside lanes winding to a petite plaza and old colonial church. Bring a picnic lunch or stop for refreshment beneath the shady veranda of one of the town’s good restaurants.

Get there by tour, car, or bus (ride a Durango-bound first-class Transportes Chihuahuenses or a second- class bus from the central de autobuses). For a tour (about $30, including lunch) see a travel agent, or call Olé Tours, tel.69/166-287 or 69/166-288, or Vista Tours, tel. 69/868-610

Rosario and Teacapán

Rosario and Teacapán likewise provide and inviting, although contrasting day-trip option. Rosario (pop.about 10,000), on Hwy. 15, about 56 miles (90 km) south of Mazatlán, is famed for the towering, solid-gold baroque “Million Dollar Altar” in the town church. You also can visit the home of famous singer Lola Beltrán, on Lola Beltrán Street near the church. Beltrán’s well-deserved fame flows from her dozens of songs and recordings of Mexican folk-style “Ranchera” music, which she popularized during many world tours.

Continue less than an hour (31 miles, 51 km) to Teacapán, where you can enjoy lunch, either at Wayne’s Restaurant on the village bayfront, or at hacienda-style Rancho Los Angeles on the beach a few miles north of town. Top your day off by viewing the nesting swarm of pelicans, egrets and cormorants at Bird Island, via hired launch on Agua Grande Lagoon. Get there by car, bus or tour along Hwy. 15 south. The tour, sometimes called the “Bird Island” tour, costs about $40, including lunch. See a travel agent, or call Olé Tours, tel. 69/166-287 or 69/166-288, or Vista Tours, tel. 69/868/610.

For more south of Mazatlán tour details, including lodgings, see the South to Puerto Vallarta and Inland to Guadalajara chapter.

FIESTAS

Mazatlán’s century-old Carnaval is among the world’s renowned Mardi Gras celebrations. The merrymaking begins the week before Ash March, when the faithful ceremoniously receive ash marks on their foreheads) , beginning the period of fasting called Lent. Mazatlán Carnaval anticipates all this with a vengeance in a weeklong series of folk dances, balls, ballets, literature readings, beauty contests, and “flower” games. The celebration climaxes on Shrove Tuesday ( the day before the beginning of Lent)with a parade of floats and riotous merry makers, which by this time includes everyone in town, culminating along Av. Olas Altas. If you’d like to join in, reserve you hotel room (streetfront rooms at the Hotels Siesta and Belmar are best located for Carnaval)at least six months in advance.

Fall visitors can enjoy events of the Festival of The Arts, which usually begins in mid-October and concludes mid-December.Find the list of programs, which include classical music and ballet and folkloric dance, in the Pacific Pearl tourist newpaper or the up-and-coming new cultural newspaper, Viejo Mazatlán, tel./fax 69/853-781.

Other unique local celebrations include the December 8 Feast of the Immaculate Conception and the Cultural Festival of Sinaloa, a statewide (but centering in Mazatlán) monthlong feast of concert, sports, and cultural events in November. Check with the torist information office for details.

USEFULL INFORMATION

Police and Fire Emergencies

For downtown police emergencies, contact the preventiva police, in the Palacio Municipal on the central plaza, tel.69/834-510.

In case of fire, call the bomberos (firefighters), tel.69/812-769. (If no one answers, dial the emergency number 080).

Consulates

The United States Consular Agent, Geri Nelson the Gallardo, helps U.S. citizens with legal and other urgent matters in her office, tel./fax [669] 165-889, email: mazagent@red2000.com.mx open Mon. – Fri.9:30 a.m.- 1 p.m., on R.T. Loaiza, directly across from the Hotel Playa Mazatlán. In emergencies, call the nearest U.S. consulate, in Hermosillo, tel. [62] 172-375 or [62] 172-585.

The Canadian Consular Office on Av. R.T. Loaiza, just adjacent to the Hotel Playa Mazatlán, tel. [669] 137-320 fax 669 146-655, is open Mon-Fri 9 am – 1 pm In an emergency, contact honorary consul Fernando B. Romero through the Canadian Embassy, tel. [5] 724-7900, in Mexico City, or directly to Canada, tel. 800 - 123-0200. Belgium, Finland, Italy, Germany, and France usually also maintain Mazatlán consular officers. See the local telephone Yellow Pages, under Embajadas, Legaciones, y Consulados, for contact telephone numbers.

Tourist Information Office

Mazatlán government tourism maintains two information centers. Most convenient is the booth on R.T. Loaiza, across from the Hotel Playa Mazatlán, by the U.S. consular office. If it’s not open, go to the main office on Calz. Camarón Sábalo, corner of Tiburón, in the big Banrural building, fourth floor, tel. [669] 165-160 through [669] 165-165, fax [669] 165-166 or [669] 165-167, email: tursina@prodigy.net.mx Office hours are Mon-Fri 9 a.m. – 8 p.m.; Sat 9 a.m. – 1p.m., by telephone only.

* The source of this information is the fifth edition of the Pacific Coast Moon Handbook, by Bruce Whipperman. Published by Avalon Travel Publishing.