Mazatlan: Pearl of the Pacific

The second port of call is Mazatlan, known as the Pearl of the Pacific because of its beautiful beaches and abundant marine life. Mazatlan has become an important site for international fishing tournaments. We were told that it is the shrimp capital of Mexico.

Mazatlan is located in the southern region of the state of Sinaloa, about 131 mi from the state capital of Culiacan. It is a popular destination for those who want to soak up the sun and relaxed pace of life along the Pacific Coast.

Note that there is a travel advisory on Sinaloa, among other Mexican states regarding the drug cartels. Thankfully I was in the dark about it. I always thought that drug cartels shy away from resort towns, after all these towns are where tourists flock and where the economy thrives for the betterment of the entire country. So I wasn't too concerned when I got on the ship. However, a day prior to docking in Mazatlan, words that another cruise line - Carnival - had opted not to dock in Mazatlan because of safety issues circulated around the dining areas and reached us. I got a little nervous. I thought I'd play it safe and just stay close to the water/ship when we spend the day in Mazatlan.

Having done a little research on what to do and see in Mazatlan, we figured that going on a little tour around the city would be the best option for us. After all, there is very little to do around here, unless one wants to go shrimping/fishing. There isn't enough time to go ziplining because one has to travel out of the city to do that.

Anyway, we found ourselves sharing a tour with three women and one man from the corn state of Iowa. They were not interested in seeing the sights. They were interested in one thing and one thing alone - SHOPPING. One of the ladies is on a mission to find a small sterling silver shot glass - she's collecting. She had four from previous travels. She had these four shot glasses engraved with her grandkids name. The problem is she had two more grandkids that arrived after that shotglass engraving project. She needs to find two more shot glasses.

So, we agreed to take the cursory drive through around the main sights. Although our main stop that we bartered with the gals from Iowa is a stop at a Roman Catholic Church - they are Jews - which they agreed. Serendipitiously, the church is across from a department store, so when we went to the church, they stayed in the store to shop and avail of the airconditioning. It was hot and humid in Mazatlan.

What I'll show you is a little mosaic of what we saw and photographed when we stopped somewhere along the Malecon. The Malecon is considered one of the longest in the world at 21 km. It is an esplanade like the Corniche in Alexandria.


Along the Malecon is this heart-shaped lookout. Very scenic.

Further along we found the Cliff Diver of Mazatlan. These guys dive in rocky waters for tips from tourists.


Ready, set!

Dive!

Did he make it alright?

Of course he did.

During out time there, we saw him dive twice. Or there were two divers, I wouldn't know.

As we ambled along, we found statues stood along the esplanade.






To be continued............