This tour on Viator: https://www.viator.com/tours/Mazatlan/Mazatlan-Old-Town-Sightseeing-beach-and-Shopping/d4151-200253P2
Ever seen a Pearl in the Rough?
You can’t say no to that now….
Tour Selection
Last time we were in Mazatlan, we did a ship-sponsored resort/lunch/time on the beach thing. It was my first swim in the Pacific, so there’s that. But otherwise the experience was somewhat underwhelming. Especially because we paid 3x the price through NCL as booking the exact same thing directly via Viator.
So this time I wanted to see the sights, including the cliff divers. David’s tour seemed like a great match — the listing shows maximum 30 people, and hits three main spots plus having a resort lunch and having a chance to wander and shop in the Golden Zone.
As it turned out, we only had nine on the tour – bonus! It’s very easy to find David as you exit the Mazatlan port terminal into the “umbrella area” — he sets up just outside the exit at the first bar you encounter and puts up plain signage. He also calls or texts the night before with instructions.
History
While David is bilingual, of course his native tongue is Mexican Spanish. Given my hearing difficulty, I wasn’t able to follow a lot of the history he was telling us during the drive. But I did catch the history of the Catedral Mazatlan Basilica de la Inmaculada Concepcion (link is to the Wikipedia page on the cathedral).
The core thing I remember is that the construction on this cathedral was interrupted several years into its building. The Catholic Church apparently ran out of money to complete the facility. It sat for years, unfinished, until the Jewish Synagogue stepped up and financed the completion.
Because of this help, the building is unique among all Catholic Churches in the world, having 28 stained glass windows that feature the Star of David alongside the traditional motifs. Neither of these photos is the actual color — I experimented with my phone’s sepia and monochrome color palletes when saving them.
Cliff Divers
We somehow survived the gauntlet of stuff-sellers between the street and the diver viewing point. Well, I say “survived…” Not exactly intact, TBH — one of our daughters has a new necklace and Roxan has a new bracelet from one of those sellers, so our wallet was a bit lighter.
Mazatlan Overlook
From this point you can see much of the city, as well as out to sea. Highlights (or lowlights, if you prefer): the guano rocks — yes, these are white because of centuries of bird droppings! We are told sailing near the rocks smells like 💩
And the lighthouse…
Globally, the Mazatlán Lighthouse has been considered the highest operating natural lighthouse in the world, especially since the Gibraltar Aerobeacon (its previous rival) was moved to a lower elevation in 2015. (AI-produced summary). Its beacon height is more than 500 feet above the water line.
And that is a ZIP LINE extending from the peak back to about 50 feet above the overlook...a horizontal distance of more than 4,000 feet and a drop of nearly 500 feet.
After the overlook, a half hour drive to…
The Golden Zone
We were dropped off at our hotel/resort to enjoy lunch and to wander the shopping district known as the Golden Zone. I don’t remember the name of the resort; we did not go inside. But it’s next door to the Marriott, if that helps.
Señor Frogs
Lunch: Margaritas
I’ve reviewed this separately, as it deserves its own focus.
Bottom line
0.0 out of 5.0 stars0.0My first 5-star rating of the trip! We really had a great day, and I credit David for much of it.
Very Highly recommended, and I will be encouraging my Mazatlan travelers to partake of David’s tour.