Mazatlán became uncool with travellers over the years, usurped by upstart PV (Puerto Vallarta).

One thing I like about Maz is that it is a real city, with an economy outside tourism. It is a major port, a fishing centre, an agricultural centre.

For our last night in Mazatlan we moved out of the beach resorts (seen in the distance) to the “old town”. Many gringo tourists never see “el centro”.

The original harbour & townsite was built here. El Faro (the lighthouse) on the rocky point is one of the highest in the world.

Years ago I visited the gymnastics club downtown. The space was vacant in 2006.

Bar atop the Posada Freeman hotel with a great sea view.

The gates of Hell? The sign says “Devil”.

We speculated (wildly) that ice for fish may have once been stored deep in the mountain.

The shoreline promenade for tourists provides a series of statue photo-ops.

Dolphins cavorting.

The Inn at Mazatlan must have adopted this statue as their logo.

Parked outside a local college.

The old town is brightly painted. Old Maz reminds me of places in Europe.

Artists, especially bohemian gringo artists, have reclaimed the downtown in a big way.

Cathedral in the main plaza.

I booked a small B&B called El Meson de Cynthia. WARNING – get a quote in writing before making a reservation. The otherwise kindly manager added US$10 / room AFTER we checked in.

Music is the main focus of Plazuela Muchado. We had an outdoor dinner there on a Saturday night. The famous Angela Peralta theatre was not open that night.

The $10 cot at El Meson de Cynthia was useless. Randy slept on the floor instead.

A famous actor-statue.

Dancers on the central plaza.

I rolled my ugly dog up to the Belmar, the BEST hotel in Mazatlan. (In 1922.) It fell out of favour after the State Governor was shot dead at a fiesta there.

It was rundown but very good, I thought. They are starting to think about remodelling on advice from regular guests like Jack Kerouac.

The Belmar pool needs some work.

NEXT? I take the ferry to La Paz, Baja. 🙂

In the history of indulgence, only a few improvements have been made since the ancient Roman baths. They already had jacuzzis & running hot maid servicing, for example.

Mom spoke of something new called an infinity pool. I had to see one.

Very cool.

This photo was taken at a new posh resort in Mazatlán.

See (in a new window) more annotated photos of the Emerald Bay resort.

Next travelogue on this trip >> McCharles family photos, Mazatlán.

Many come to Mazatlán, Mexico solely for sport fishing. Gamblers go deep for marlin, swordfish, sailfish, tuna & especially dorado (dolphinfish). I’ve been shut out twice on those trips.

This time we opted for a bottom-fishing trip expecting to haul in dozens of snapper & grouper.

That we did. But the real highlight was a gymnastics display by whales!

See (in a new window) more annotated photos of the McCharles family Mazatlán fishing trip.

Next travelogue on this trip >> Costa Bonita resort.

The most popular tour out of Maz is the boat trip through estuary mangrove swamps.

Our family took the tour, most of us for the second or third time. Excellent — especially the birds.

The boat gets you very close to bird life.

Birds are increasingly tolerant of tourists here.

This is the flat-bottomed boat used on the tours. They sometimes get stuck at low tide.

Mangey beach dog.

New on the tour is a research project growing … sea horse.

We got about 90 minutes on a pristine, protected beach.

A lovely spot marred only by the recent introduction of quad vehicles. (Gladly no one rented one the day we were there.)

It is astonishing the number of over-weight people lounging the beaches of Mexico.

Great Blue Heron.

Feeding the pelican.

These giant birds have learned to come to the boat for a daily handout.

Long-time tour guide Polo even puts a fish on his head. (I remember Polo from my first jungle tour perhaps 20 years ago. Then he had a pet racoon on the boat.)

Yvonne feeding the birds. 🙂

The pelicans truely are impressive.

Getting the fish is the easy part. Keeping it from your dive-bombing competitors is the bigger challenge.

This hat went overboard. The skipper retrieved it.