Mazatlan – Back to the Coast – The Perennial Pilgrim

After a few months going through Mexico’s interior, I went back to the Pacific Coast in the heavily touristy city of Mazatlan. My first impression of Mazatlan was of an overbuild, over touristy beach city. It was also my last impression. But in the middle I was able to carve out a lot of fun here. Below you can see I had my first zipline experience, did a 2.5 hour relaxing SUP tour of the Mazatlan harbor, and had 3 really nice days of surfing. And I even got hit with an unexpected delay leaving Mazatlan courtesy of Hurricane Nora.

Most of the beach is blocked by hotels and condos.

But the boardwalk area provides a great view of Mazatlan’s natural beauty.

Looking north at miles of unspoiled beaches just past the edge of the city.

I’ve never had a chance to go ziplining, so I took advantage of a well rated canopy tour just outside the city. As you can see, it was in a beatiful setting. There were 9 lines. While most of the lines were pretty easy for a beginner like me, on one of the lines you supposedly go over 70 mph. I don’t think I quite hit that number, but I was definitely cruising pretty fast on a couple of the lines.

I was the only one there that day, so it all went pretty quick. Since covid started, some days they don’t have anyone. A couple days before I did it they had 7 people. It’s mostly non-Mexicans. Mexicans travel with their families and the costs can add up for 5 or 6 family members.

What happens if you brake too soon and you have to pull yourself in hand over hand.

One of the slower lines. No braking needed and I actually had to pump on the line to make it all the way in.

And the only way down at the end, was a little surprise repelling; after they originally told me it would be a bungy jump 🙂

And I ended with a couple of free shots at the tequila distillery, framed by this huge 350 year old tree.

I had a chance to rent a stand up paddleboard and spend a few hours paddling around the Mazatlan harbor. It was a nice mix of dockside industry and natural beauty.

The hill on the left houses the Mazatlan lighthouse on the top. It’s supposed to be the highest lighthouse in the world.

The ferry ship to La Baz in Baja California

A small pretty island with the docks behind it

I spent three wonderful days surfing at the beach at Polo Bonito, which was on the northern end of the tourist section of town. The beach was about 300 yards wide with a mellow beach break that spread out over the entire area. I never saw any more than 15 people there at one time and they were spread all over the place. As one local said: “There’s always food to eat here.”

On my last day I had about 40 minutes with no one else out there. It was just me. And there were waves. And I was catching them. I will probably never have that experience again of having my own private break.

Unlike my classes at Puerto Escondido, there was no professional photographer on hand to record my progress, so I’ve got one picture of me below and a couple of stock photos to provide a sense of the place.

A hot, cloudy, humid day and a foggy phone camera; and you have this image of me walking out my first day.

A view of about a third of the width of the beach.

What the larger waves there looked like. Although no one was shredding like that when I was there 🙂

After all this fun I was still ready to leave Mazatlan and press on to Sayulita, my next destination. However, this little nag called Hurricane Nora started to push up the coast while I was there. I was scheduled to take the 8 hour bus to Puerto Vallarta (and from there to Sayulita) on Sunday October 29. But as you can see below, that wasn’t the best timing.

So on the afternoon of the 28th I changed all my accomodation plans and moved the bus trip back to Monday the 30th. In the end, the effects weren’t that bad in Mazatlan; a lot of rain and some temporary high winds. It was nothing like the hurricanes and storms I experienced last fall in Playa del Carmen. However, with the possibility of flooding and low visibility it still probably wasn’t the best day to travel.

The view (or lack of view) at the height of the storm. Lots of wind and rain, but thankfully nothing particularly dangerous.

And on Monday the 30th I awoke to find the city pretty much closed down. There were no cars, taxis, Ubers or city buses on the streets. And no intracity buses to Mazatlan. While the storm wasn’t as bad as expected it continued to rain overnight and everything was flooded that morning. So I got to enjoy one more day in Mazatlan.

The empty, rainy streets on Monday the 30th. Other sections were a lot more flooded than this.

I woke up on the 31st to a nice, sunny day in Mazatlan, ready to take the 8 hour bus ride south to Mazatlan, and then the short bus up to Sayulita. Unfortunately, when I got to the bus station that morning, I found out that the roads into Puerto Vallarta were still closed. So my time in Mazatlan got extended by another day.

The morning of the 31st. Nice and sunny in Mazatlan. Unfortunately, there were still no buses down to Puerto Vallarta yet.

And then on September 1st I went to the bus station again. Again there were no buses into Puerto Vallarta. So I got a refund for my ticket, went to the airport and booked one flight on one airline into Mexico City and then another flight on another airport from there into Puerto Vallarta. And then I took a relatively short bus from the Puerto Vallarta airport up to Sayulita. It turns out Sayulita was without power for three days after the hurricane, so maybe my delay wasn’t so bad after all.

I stayed in a comfortable Airbnb apartment in the middle of the tourist area on the grounds of a raquet club with 5 tennis courts.