New years in Mazatlan

I can heartily recommend the Pueblo Bonito. We stayed for a week and they took excellent care of us. They don't overlook too many details here. The staff is very attentive and very plentiful. They have 3 restaurants here, and we liked Cilantos (right on the beach!) the best.

This is not a super new place. It is about 15 yrs old and has that terracotta feel to it: dark brown tiles and dark woods. This may seem dark to some, but it didn't bother us. Regardless of what you read elsewhere, the beds are not really a problem. A hotel bed is never as cushy as home anyway. They have 2 nice pools and a ton of lounge chairs around them. They also have 20+ beach palapas and a line that the vendors don't cross unless you invite them over. It's location is primo, right at the end of the hotel strip, so its a little quieter, something we loved.

If you really prefer a big, new, high security, shiny, place with marble everywhere, try PB Emerald Bay. It's in the middle of nowhere however. Their "infinity" pool is incredible.

Pueblo Bonito is a big timeshare place, so I'm not sure you can rent a room here, especially when we went (over New Years).

We were looking for our version of quintesenntial Mexican food, and we found it at Ponchos. If you are looking for a couple of tacos, some chips, salsa and guac with a couple of beers, this is THE place. Right on the beach, this restaurant offers a perfect setting. And the food is great, some of the best we had in Maz. My wife and I had the above mentioned and got a quesodilla for my daughter. We still got out of there for under $15 including a nice tip.

The shrimp tacos are the bomb and they are $2! They make a huge tasty burger too.

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

If you're not a sissy, the buses in Mazatlan work great. They are cheap, plentiful and go almost everywhere. The white ones cost around 40 cents and the new green ones cost around 70 cents. We found the open air pulmonia taxis to be ok just for short trips. They may look cute but they aren't very safe; the drivers can be a little aggressive and the exhaust fumes get to you after a while. There are also green "Eco-taxis" (which are mostly compact cars- like Nissan Sentra's) that cost the same as Pulmonias. A much better choice. When taking taxis remember to negotiate a price before you get in. 40 pesos should get you anywhere in town.

This was great. We're big baseball fans, so when we found out the Mazatlan Venados had a playoff game, we had to go. Our concierge was able to get us tickets---not usually a problem but these were the playoffs---for about $10 each. It's very much like going to a minor league game. Good baseball with several Major Leaguers that I recognized. The atmosphere was very lively. There were fans from the other team waving these enormous new years eve type noisemakers - hilarious! Beers were 10 pesos - less than a buck! Hot dogs - 10 pesos. The monopoly money goes a long way here and adds to the fun. After the game they let the crowd onto the field to goof around - great for the kids. The players all walk through the stadium with the fans to get out onto the field. I had a chance to tell Vinny Castilla what I thought of him. (I was very nice.)