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What to do in Matzatlan?


KurtMo
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Conservatively probably about 20-30 minutes at a leisurely pace depending on how quickly you can get on a boat. No more than a mile of total walking.

 

Google maps says it is 700m (~0.4 miles) from the cruise terminal to the water taxi pier. Probably about the same distance from where you get off the boat at stone island to Lety's Restaurant if you walk along the beach.

 

Thanks for the map, very helpful. Is it possible to parasail at Stone Island? Most of the operators I've seen are at El Cid.

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Thanks for the map, very helpful. Is it possible to parasail at Stone Island? Most of the operators I've seen are at El Cid.

I have been to Stone Island quite a few times and have not seen parasails. You may be able to email some of the tour sellers and see if any have moved in there recently.. Filippe at Letys may know, also.

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Could take a Pulmonia for a two hour tour (~$20). Doing this in November, ending at the Mercado. Then walking the Blue Line back to port.

 

 

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Could take a Pulmonia for a two hour tour (~$20). Doing this in November, ending at the Mercado. Then walking the Blue Line back to port.

 

SadieN - what will you try to see in your 2 hours? I'd like to walk around old town and see sights, maybe shop a little, and see the malecon (based upon reading about great people watching and getting a vibe for the people). Is "golden zone" worth seeing or just a tourist trap?

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Kurtmo. We like to get a pulmonia driver to take us on their rather standard tour that includes a lookout point and through the houses on the hill called Mazatlan Beverly Hills then down to the malecon to see the divers and statues. Next they go downtown to the church and Mercado for some shopping. They will go to the gold zone if you want. It is some high end shops and the beach is pretty good.

The drivers,will go wherever you ask them to, and will adjust the tour and times for you.

We skip the Gold zone and have them take us to the water taxi for Stone Island.where we walk the beach to Lety's for some cold beer and play in the water. The food at Letys is very good. Coconut shrimp gets a lot of good comments

 

It makes a good day for us.

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Kurtmo. We like to get a pulmonia driver to take us on their rather standard tour that includes a lookout point and through the houses on the hill called Mazatlan Beverly Hills then down to the malecon to see the divers and statues. Next they go downtown to the church and Mercado for some shopping. They will go to the gold zone if you want. It is some high end shops and the beach is pretty good.

The drivers,will go wherever you ask them to, and will adjust the tour and times for you.

We skip the Gold zone and have them take us to the water taxi for Stone Island.where we walk the beach to Lety's for some cold beer and play in the water.

 

Swedish Weave,

This sounds pretty good, how much time do you allot for the Pulmonia "tour" versus how much time do you spend going to / at Stone Island? Do you need to walk the malecon or is riding along people watching good enough?

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Swedish Weave,

This sounds pretty good, how much time do you allot for the Pulmonia "tour" versus how much time do you spend going to / at Stone Island? Do you need to walk the malecon or is riding along people watching good enough?

We allow two or three hours for the pulmonia ride. If the ship arrives early morning, it can be a little cool for the beach at Stone Island.

We stay in the vehicle along the malecon except at the divers. Because we do that early, not too many people are walking the beach or malecon.

Example -- If we dock at 8am, we will get to the Mercado shortly after the merchants open, We sometimes go by the outdoor fish marlet to see the fresh fish, shrimp,lobsters etc. We have seen the beautiful old church enough, so we skip that. It is very near the mercado. The drivers know approx what time the divers do their thing, We watch them and we will get to Stone Island around 11:30 to noon.

If you have six or eight people, it is fun to go outside the terminal and get a pickup with bench seats in the back and stereo. The music is good and we had people dancing in the street as,we drove by.

 

It is warm -- The beer is cold --- Water feels great --- and sometimes we have the shrimp or chips and salsa or guacamole.

 

The trip back.to the ship may take 30 minutes or so. It is about three blocks from the,water taxi terminal to the port.

 

Great way to spend the day..

Edited by swedish weave
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HI, i'm on the same sailing (10/28) and plan to go to Stone island on the local ferry if the weather is nice. I've done it a couple times and it was convenient and now I know where i'm going :) . We are having a cruise critic meet and greet and I was going to offer to get there as a group if others want to go. You are welcome to join :)

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We are booked for a March 2nd Mexican Riviera cruise on NCL. Interesting, but there are NO excursions for this stop on NCL's website. In comparison, there are 27 for Cabo and 27 for Puerta Vallarta to choose from.

 

I've probably said this elsewhere, but Mazatlan is our favourite PoC on the Mexican Riviera and the perfect antidote to some of the more overtly tourist-centric ports. Just follow the blue line (literally a blue line in the middle of the street) to the historic downtown. Ask one of the friendly tourism volunteers (aka Snowbirds) for advice and points of interest. Visit the Angela Peralta theatre, marvel at the Basilica, get lost in the municipal market, eat with and like a local, stroll along the Malecon and watch the cliff divers (gratuities appreciated...)

 

 

So much to enjoy, ultimately so little time.

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I've probably said this elsewhere, but Mazatlan is our favourite PoC on the Mexican Riviera and the perfect antidote to some of the more overtly tourist-centric ports. Just follow the blue line (literally a blue line in the middle of the street) to the historic downtown. Ask one of the friendly tourism volunteers (aka Snowbirds) for advice and points of interest. Visit the Angela Peralta theatre, marvel at the Basilica, get lost in the municipal market, eat with and like a local, stroll along the Malecon and watch the cliff divers (gratuities appreciated...)

 

 

So much to enjoy, ultimately so little time.

That is exactly what we did today. First time here and I was impressed with how walkable the old historic district is as well as how helpful we found the expat/snowbirds (blue shirts) to be. [emoji3]

 

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If the ship arrives early morning, it can be a little cool for the beach at Stone Island.

 

Depends on time of year of course. We were just there 2 weeks ago, and 'cool' was definitely NOT a word we thought about using during our recent visit. We arrived at Stone Island around 10am, and yes, it did take a couple of hours for the overcast to burn off. But 'cool' it was not. ;)

 

Great way to spend the day..

 

Totally agree! :)

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I've probably said this elsewhere, but Mazatlan is our favourite PoC on the Mexican Riviera and the perfect antidote to some of the more overtly tourist-centric ports. Just follow the blue line (literally a blue line in the middle of the street) to the historic downtown. Ask one of the friendly tourism volunteers (aka Snowbirds) for advice and points of interest. Visit the Angela Peralta theatre, marvel at the Basilica, get lost in the municipal market, eat with and like a local, stroll along the Malecon and watch the cliff divers (gratuities appreciated...)

 

 

So much to enjoy, ultimately so little time.

 

Thank you. I did see this suggestion earlier in the thread. We are torn between doing this and going to Stone Island. Thanks for the suggestion.

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I would really appreciate it if someone can tell me how long the walk along the "blue line" is into the historic downtown? My husband has a mobility issue and can't walk long distances. Also, if the walk is too much for him would we be able to take a pulmonia to downtown each way? Would we have to arrange for the ride back if we take a pulmonia into downtown? Thanks for any help you can give me.

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I would really appreciate it if someone can tell me how long the walk along the "blue line" is into the historic downtown? My husband has a mobility issue and can't walk long distances. Also, if the walk is too much for him would we be able to take a pulmonia to downtown each way? Would we have to arrange for the ride back if we take a pulmonia into downtown? Thanks for any help you can give me.

 

I would not recommend walking if there are mobility issues. Suggest just grabbing a cab, which are plentiful both ways. It's about a 15 minute ride (depending on traffic), and we paid $12 US each way for the two of us about two weeks ago.

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I would really appreciate it if someone can tell me how long the walk along the "blue line" is into the historic downtown? My husband has a mobility issue and can't walk long distances. Also, if the walk is too much for him would we be able to take a pulmonia to downtown each way? Would we have to arrange for the ride back if we take a pulmonia into downtown? Thanks for any help you can give me.

 

You can make a deal with a pulmonia driver to take you on a city tour and he will wait for you while you shop, then take you to your next stop or back to the port. Make a list of what you want to do or see, and bargain with the pulmonia driver before you start the tour.

 

I would estimate the blue line at about a mile, but that is just a guess.

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This is a great thread, and it's really helping me plan my trip to Matzatlan.

 

I have a couple of questions that you experience visitors might be able to help with.

 

  • What's the weather likely to be like in December? We'll be there just after Christmas.
  • Will USD be accepted, in our experience it's fine in the Caribbean, what's the situation in Mexico?
  • Where do you start following the blue line to downtown, is this outside the cruise port?
  • If you had to choose one day at the beach, would you choose Matzaltan or PV?

 

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

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This is a great thread, and it's really helping me plan my trip to Matzatlan.

 

I have a couple of questions that you experience visitors might be able to help with.

 

  • What's the weather likely to be like in December? We'll be there just after Christmas.
  • Will USD be accepted, in our experience it's fine in the Caribbean, what's the situation in Mexico?
  • Where do you start following the blue line to downtown, is this outside the cruise port?
  • If you had to choose one day at the beach, would you choose Matzaltan or PV?

 

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

 

I'll take a stab at some of these..

 

 

- The weather there in late December should be very pleasant; with highs in the mid to high 70's and lows in the high 50's to low 60's

- U.S. dollars are readily accepted all over the Mexican Riviera. You may or may not get a slightly better deal on a purchase using Pesos, but we never bother to exchange our money

- Can't help you on the blue line walk as we've never done it, but others on here have and should be able to fill in the blanks here

- For a beach day, I would recommend Stone Island in Mazatlan. It is very easy to do on your own, and we had a wonderful, relaxing day there just 3 weeks ago. Although I must say, there are some pretty lovely beaches in PV as well, so this is a tough one!

 

 

Whatever you decide to do, have a great cruise!

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