Costa de Oro in Mazatlan

Definitely go to the beach. The vendors are a bit intrusive, but you can buy some great souvenirs from them (for good prices if you bargain). Many of the activities offered on the beach are great fun as well. We went parasailing for only USD each. It was awesome! Banana boating is also fun. You can find great things at some of the local shops.

Overall, Mazatlan is a wonderful place. We are already planning our next vacation there!

Quick Tips:

- Watch out for jellyfish. Although rare, they are very painful. If you do happen to get stung, don't panic. It causes no harm, and goes away in under an hour. Often vendors on the beach have treatment for it (treatment is unnecessary, but eases the pain). Medical personnel inside your hotel/resort should also have treatment.

- The best restaurants are the local, non-Americanized ones. Don't go for the Senor Frogs and other American-looking restaurants. Also, go to ones on the beach. They have a great view.

- Exchange your US dollars for Mexican pesos. Everything in town is in pesos, and using pesos gives you a better deal. Don't exchange in your hotel/resort. They have bad exchange rates. Instead, go to Casa de Cambios, or exchange houses.

Best Way To Get Around:

Walking to nearby shops is okay, but is not recommended for anything even slightly far away. Also, try not to cross the street if you don't have to. Mexicans can drive like maniacs. The best form of transportation is pulmonias--small, open-air golf carts.

Best Things Nearby:
The Costa de Oro is conveniently located right in the heart of the golden zone. Should you want to go shopping, just step outside the resort. We found the shops next to the resort to have some really great things. Across the street you’ll a pharmacy called Farmacia Moderna (in English= Modern Pharmacy). They have a huge selection and the pharmacists are very helpful. Their prices are also lower than the ones at the resort’s store. Also, within the resort complex is a small spa with a hair salon and massage. If you need to go anywhere else, you can catch a pulmonia right outside the door.

Best Things About the Resort:
This resort is very nice. Perhaps the best thing about it is that the beach is right outside. On the beach are various vendors that offer fun activities such as parasailing, banana boat rides, and boogie board rentals.

The pool area is great. The pool is designed as the ocean, slowly getting deeper and deeper. There are also two separate sections designed for smaller children. They have a bar right next to the pool area and the waiters circulate around through the pool chairs served drinks and food. They are very good. (And yes, they do speak very good English.) I personally recommend Genero. The food is so good, and so reasonably priced, we ate lunch there almost every day. The following is the menu for the pool area:

Shrimp "Agua-Chile" style………………….$78.00 pesos (≈$7.80 USD)
Shrimp, Octopus or fish Ceviche……………$75.00 pesos (≈$7.50 USD)
Shrimp Cocktail……………………………..$78.00 pesos (≈$7.80 USD)
Sea Food cocktail……………………………$75.00 pesos (≈$7.50 USD)
Breaded Shrimp of Fish Basket……………..$80.00 pesos (≈$8.00 USD)
Chicken Nuggets…………………………….$63.00 pesos (≈$6.30 USD)
Cheeseburger with French Fries…………….$60.00 pesos (≈$6.00 USD)
Club Sandwich with French Fries…………...$57.00 pesos (≈$5.70 USD)
Quesadillas with Guacamole………………...$52.00 pesos (≈$5.20 USD)
Nachos……………………………………….$47.00 pesos (≈$4.70 USD)
Guacamole…………………………………..$37.00 pesos (≈$3.70 USD)
French Fires…………………………………$37.00 pesos (≈$3.70 USD)
Chips’n Mexican Sauce……………………..$26.00 pesos (≈$2.60 USD)

PIZZA:
Small $53.00 pesos (≈$5.30 USD)
Medium $80.00 pesos (≈$8.00 USD)
Large $105.00 pesos (≈$10.50 USD)

Extra Topping $10.00 pesos (≈$1.00 USD)
Medium Shrimp $110.00 pesos (≈$11.00 USD)

They also have many drinks available. Note that every day they have a happy hour where all drinks are 2 for 1.

The restaurant Adobes located at the resort overlooks the ocean. The food is awesome. They also have the same items available through room service for the same price.

Resort Experience:
The overall atmosphere of the resort is fabulous. In the center of the resort they have a garden area that some of the smaller rooms overlook. All of the condo/timeshare units overlook the pool and the ocean. The rooms are small with two double beds and two couches, but very nice. Each room also has a balcony with a few chairs. The water from the tap is not purified, but they have a bottle of water in the room available for 80 cents. They also have water dispensers on every floor.

They have some strange practices at the Costa de Oro. First, when you check in, they give you the remote to your TV. Why, I don’t know. You have to return this remote when you check out. They also give you four towel cards. You present these at a counter by the pool for towels. When you return your towels, you get your cards back. Also, after we had settled into our room, a maid came and said something in Spanish. She then proceeded to unlock the cabinets in the kitchen. It made no sense.

The travel agent at in the lobby was very good and booked tickets to tours and shows for us. They may want you to go to their timeshare presentation. Unless you want to waste your morning, I wouldn’t recommend going. They also have a currency exchange counter that had good rates.

• Unit Type: 1 Bedroom
• Activities: Very Good
• Amenities: Very Good
• Unit Satisfaction: Good
• Family Friendliness: Excellent
• Service: Very Good

Tony's On The Beach is one of the best restaurants in Mazatlan. When you step out of the taxi, a waiter guides you back to the restaurant, which is located on the beach. We had a table right by the beach, and the view was just awesome! They have a great selection of Mexican food, and seafood, which was all incredible! I got chicken fajitas, and they were the best I've ever had. Other family members got the house special, which was very good also. It consists of lobsters and shrimp, and comes over a burning candle. Overall, very, very, very good!!!

On our second day in Mazatlan, we took a tour of the city with Vista Tours. The travel agent in the Costa de Oro booked our tour for us, and they came to pick us up right outside the hotel. From the hotel they took us to their main office where we boarded a van. The tour guide was great and seemed to know a lot about Mazatlan.

First they took us to a cathedral that was absolutely beautiful! We got to get out and look around inside of it. After visiting the cathedral, we drove through the fish market and saw the giant shrimp. Moving on, we stopped to see the Mazatlan cliff divers who were incredible. You should give them a tip, as they get no salary and have to live off of tips.

After seeing the cliff divers, the tour guide said that he would take us on a "VIP tour". The van climbed up a hill, past the devil’s cave, to the top where we stopped. When we got there, we had an awesome view of the city of Mazatlan. Make sure you bring your camera! Continuing, we stopped at a shop selling antiques, a shop that makes cookies, and a jewelry store. I think they must have a partnership with these stores. They hope that you’ll buy something while you are there.

Our last destination was the opera house. After seeing that, they took us back to our hotel. If was a great tour, and our whole family enjoyed it.

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.