While staying in Mazatlan, we decided to participate in the Stone Island Tour. We had received free tickets from taking a tour of the Pueblo Bonito Emerald Bay Resort. We were told that they would pick us up at the hotel at a certain time.

When we went to the lobby, we were taken to our "taxi." It was a pickup truck with wooden benches and a canopy in the back! They took us to the dock where we boarded the boat.

The tour itself consists of two main parts. In the first part, you travel in an open-air boat from the dock through the Mazatlan harbor to Stone Island (which isn't actually an island; it's attached to the mainland). The tour guide on the boat was very fun and informative. They take you by caves, past all of the cruise ships in the harbor, past the lighthouse, and past some rocks that are colored white from bird poop (at that point, they advise you to get under the covered part of the boat). The ride lasts about an hour, during which time they also take your order for lunch. The boat is very nice, with bathrooms and even a bar. After touring the area, they dock at Stone Island and the second part of the tour begins.

Once you arrive at the Stone Island shore, you board these wagons that are pulled by tractors. They travel over dirt roads to the other side of the island. Along the ride, you see some very poor areas. At their shelter/restaurant area, they serve you your lunch and schedule your activities. You can choose from snorkeling, banana boating, and horseback riding. We chose the horseback riding and it was truly amazing! The horses are small and easy to ride. You don't have to know anything about riding, as they all follow the leader horse. They take you riding along the beach, through a forested area, and then back to the restaurant.

Since we didn't choose any of the other activities, I can't say first hand what they were like. However, we did hear from many people who went on the banana boats. They told us that when they were a short ways from shore, the guide made them fall off. As the banana boat is very slippery, they could not get back on. They had to swim to shore (not a very far distance). Beware if you're not that good of a swimmer. After a few hours on the island, they take you back to the dock by boat, and back to your hotel by a truck/taxi. The tour is fantastic and I highly recommend it.

You can tour Stone Island on your own, or go to one of the tourist modules on Camaron Sabalo Ave. (next to the Dairy Queen) and buy a tour package. They pick you up at your hotel at around 9am and take you to the marina to shove off towards Stone Island.

The catamaran ride to Stone Island was great, though I don't know if I liked it better than the island itself. Once there you can do water sports like kayaking and snorkeling, ride the banana boat, etc. Normally two activities are included in the tour package you get, as well as lunch and domestic alcoholic drinks, although you might want to stick to beer (and the lunch is not all that great). One last tip, beware of the beach vendors that try to sell you silver. (It really isn't.)

The catamaran takes you to Stone Island where you can select to do nothing, ride horses, ride horse-drawn carts, water sports, banana boats, snorkeling, etc. Lunch is served on the island and the food is delicious. The open bar is also a plus.

After lunch, you reboard the catamaran and tour to the other islands, passing Deer Island, Goat Island, and Bird Island. You’ll see sea lions, too – boy, they are huge. There’s music playing on the boat and the man tells you all about the area (he told us to call his Arthur because no one could pronounce his name) -- he was very friendly and helpful.

This place is great! Don't take the tour! We grabbed a brand new city bus for 70 cents that took us all the way to the end of the line. We got off and walked down a dirt path and paid $1.50 to get on these little green ferry boats that took us on the 5 minute ride across the channel. Walk over the hill and there is one huge, wrap-around beach in front of you. There are plenty of restaurants.

We went to Victors. The place was empty, so we had it to ourselves. The food was GREAT! One of the best meals we had in Mazatlan. The sun was golden and we sat at our table under the palm fronds all day sipping Pacificos, going for an occasional swim, while our kids played in the hammocks or on the beach.

It was one of the most relaxing and memorable days we had on our trip

Stone Island is great, EXCEPT for the ATV motorcycle rental. We were ripped off!

Our son and his friend crashed their ATVs. No problem, we were going to pay for the needed repairs (about $200-250 US). However, the ATV owner had other ideas. He wanted us to pay double the cost of the repair work, and wanted his ATVs to look "like new." He wanted us to pay for things that weren't even broken.

Long story short, he showed up at our hotel with police he had paid off (the hotel manager made them leave because they had no papers -- the equivalent of an arrest warrant).

We then spent three days trying to work things out with the US Consular and Mazatlan's Dept. of Ministry. Despite the fact that we had a witness (a local) stating that there wasn't nearly as much damage as the ATV owner stated, and the fact that the owner had no written estimate for the damage, and also that we had a signed contract between us/the ATV owner stating that we would pay for "repairs," not "make the ATVs look like new," we still lost the case. We were told by the lady at the Dept. of Ministry that we had to prove that there wasn't as much damage as the ATV owner claimed there was. He, on the other hand, only needed to say that there was $600 worth of damage. Nothing we said mattered... the contract was ignored, and so was our witness who was a local Mazatlan resident that we were fortunate enought to befriend. In the end, we had to fork over $500 USD or be thrown in jail.

So, BEWARE. If anything happens, do not expect a written contract, witnesses, or even the help of the US Consular to get you fair treatment at the hands of the local government. If you're in Mazatlan, go to the US Consular's office and ask for a copy of the report. The Dept. of Ministry threw away the 3-page report we made, and only kept the one that the ATV owner made. Surprise, surprise.