Mazatlan is not only a booming resort town, it is the largest port on Mexico's Pacific Coast. Surfing, sailing and scuba diving are popular activities, and the town is a haven for sports fishing enthusiasts. Stroll along Mazatlan's ten mile seaside promenade, and stop in a local cafe for a snack of shrimp tacos and beer. Dozens of merchants sell jewelry, woven belts and trinkets along the promenade.
More heavy-duty shopping opportunities can be found in town, in an area called the Golden Zone. Make sure to visit the historic "old town" section of the city, for its Cathedral, market place and the central square, called Plaza Republica. Do try to take one of the open air taxis, called "Pulmonias" up the steep hillsides for a breathtaking panoramic view of Mazatlan's bays and several small islands, and the legendary Sierra Madre mountain range rising behind the town.
Mazatlán spreads for 15 miles along a thumb of land that extends southward into the Pacific just below the Tropic of Cancer. Mazatlán thus marks the beginning of the Mexican tropics: a palmy land of perpetual summer and a refuge from winter cold for growing numbers of international vacationers. Mazatlán’s beauty is renowned. Its coast sprinkled with beckoning islands and miles of golden bleaches and blue lagoons, it aptly deserves its title as “Pearl of the Pacific”.
Mazatlan meaning "land of the deer" in the ancient Nahuatl language offers 10 miles of inviting sandy beaches. It's no wonder Mazatlan plays host to more than one million visitors per year.
The vacationers come and frolic on the beach beside their “ Golden Zone” hotels, while in the old town at the tip of the peninsula, life goes on in the old-Mexico style: in the markets, the churches, and the shady plazas scattered throughout the traditional neighborhoods.
