Mazatlan, Mexico 2019
Sometimes trips happen by accident... When we attended a fundraiser for the NFTRA (North Fraser Therapeutic Riding Assoc) where Norine volunteers with the horses, one of the prizes up for auction was a one week stay in a 2 bedroom full kitchen condo at one of 44 destination in North America. Before the auction started, I got on my phone and checked out the options, the timeshare condos are located at many unique locations including Whistler, Hawaii and Florida. One that caught my eye was the resort in Mazatlan, and after looking at the pictures Online, I did some calculations about what a trip like that might be worth.
When the bidding started it was really slow, and I felt it was worth more than the 300-400 bids that were on the board... 7 nights at a super nice place like that had to be worth at least $100 per night... so to help out the charity I figured I would drive the price up a bit...
"700 DOLLARS" I shouted!
Going once, going twice... SOLD for $700!
I guess we're going to Mazatlan. All that was left was finding dates that worked, and flights that matched up at a cheap price. When Norine got the wise idea that since it was a 2 bedroom place already paid for, maybe we could sneak my Niece and Nephew away for a one week sunshine getaway in December, all we had to do was convince them to get their passports... it didn't take much convincing.
Turns out Westjet was having a Winter getaway sale right when we needed it, and our direct flights were booked for the end of November. Time flew by really quick, and suddenly we were at YVR with our Niece and Nephew about to board the Disney decorated flight to Mexico.
November 29
We weren't completely sure what to expect, where our room would be, as they are "randomly" assigned. Turns out as guests of an owner, we were given a prime location on the 5th floor of Building A, which is right on the beach. conveniently located beside the restaurant and the pool. We had a huge bedroom, with a private bathroom and walk in shower. Our niece and nephew had a huge bedroom with 2 queen beds and their own private bathroom with a walk in shower and separated toilet, which for teenagers eating Mexican for the first time is probably a good idea.
The view from our fifth floor condo was amazing, right on the beach, and 180° views down the beach from the deck and the small patio off our bedroom.
First Sunset
After watching the sunset we walked down the beach, and discovered a little restaurant tucked above a beach bar, so we thought we would give it a try. Up on stilts, someone's mom cooking food in the back, and windows looking out on the moonlit crashing waves. So glad we found Cielito Lindo, amazing Mexican food, although Nathan started slow and ordered a BLT for his first Mexican meal... that would change. Did I mention that Nathan had just recently had his "drinking age" birthday?
November 30
There's nothing quite like that feeling that you get when you fall asleep to the sound of the crashing waves. Well maybe there's that feeling you get when you wake up and look out the window at the crashing waves.
One of the great services of this condo was the grocery service they offered, so our first morning we were able to make breakfast in the room before wandering the grounds to get our surroundings and check out the Christmas decorations.
It would be a nice day to just hang out on the beach, alternating between the 6 foot crashing waves and the calmness of the pool. As you can see, the beach is just packed with people 
We took a break long enough to try out a Mexican sampler, and everyone was diving into the mix of Tacos, Quesadillas, tortillas, and Nathan's new favourite... fresh guacamole.
The rest of the afternoon was spent right in front of our room body surfing, being knocked over and falling in the waves.
Followed up by a sunset, and...
a Native American style Wedding right in front of us
It was Party night, wedding receptions in two different areas of our resort, and a big party down the beach complete with dancing and fireworks.
December 1
A quiet Sunday to spend in the pool and on the beach.
There was definitely waves and a bit of a current to be cautious of, but we never saw any signs of the jellyfish the flag was warning us about.
As you can see, the beach was packed again.
For lunch we decided to walk the other way down the beach and 45 minutes later ended up at Restaurant Cerritos, pretty sure it was run by the Mexican Cartel. The sign was on its side to make people think it was closed, the waiters in their dress whites with bluetooth earbuds. Not quite as nice as the other places, but it was inexpensive and a nice setting.
It was a nice walk back with the tide out, and settled us into a private sunset viewing... where did everyone go?
The sunset didn't seem like much at first, but ended up being the best of the bunch.
Tonight we all tried something a little different, from Marlin Tacos, to Nachos, and Grilled Tuna. I tried a traditional Mexican dish prepared in a cast hot stone bowl called a Molcajete, with Chicken, Cactus, Mexican cheese, and special salsa. It is served with fresh corn tortillas to wrap up... It was delicious, and I ate the whole thing.
A night of wandering the grounds to look at the lights and creatures of the night, and we were all exhausted.
December 2
As guests of an owner, we were suckered into a Time Share Sales Pitch that included a free Breakfast and a city tour for the 4 of us. While eating our Mexican hotcakes and french toast, we were told all about the amazing deals that the time share offered. For just $18,000 USD we had the great privilege of paying an additional $825 every time we wanted to stay a week in one of their locations. And we could do that a couple times per year depending on how many travel points we have. Plus we could pay an additional $99 per year to gain access to even more locations that we could pay to exchange our travel points to travel to. This doesn't even include any airfare options or discounts.
While she was wrapping up her spiel, I got stung by a bee, and used the medical emergency to take a hard pass on their offer.
Unique to Mazatlan are Pulmonia taxis. Pulmonias are gas-powered open-air taxis that look like souped up golf carts! They got their name after locals started saying you would get pneumonia from riding in these cheap open air taxis. Needing a break from the resort after their sales pitch we took a Pulmonia to the nearby Liverpool Mall for a bit-of shopping.
The mall could be any mall USA, with a lot of the similar stores, and even a few that we don't have anymore like Woolworths and Sears.
We didn't find much there that seemed like a good deal, but they did have some cool artwork. So we headed back to our Condo for some more Marlin Tacos and perhaps a few Margaritas and Tequila sunrises.
It was the 40th anniversary celebration of Torres Mazatlan, and they celebrated with free popcorn, free tequila, and a Mariachi band. All followed up with the official lighting of the Christmas Tree.
While we sent Nathan to get us more drinks, I snuck off to see how colourful the sunset was.
Back just in time for another drink and the countdown to the lighting of the Tree.
December 3
Tuesday morning was the time to cash in our free Mazatlan City Tour, AKA Let's visit all of Frances' favourite shops tour.
As we wind our way through the famous Mazatlan's Golden Zone, and along the 20+ kilometer Malecon (Seawall), we make our first stop at Frances' friends, the Shrimp market. That's a whole lot of shrimp, as Mazatlan's #1 export.
Back on the bus, we drove along the Melacon, appreciating their historic statues and seaside views.
Our next stop is the rocky viewpoint where we can watch a local diver... basically a crazy kid that jumps off of the cliff for tips.
From mermaids to devil caves, there's a lot of odd sights in this area.
Our second of Frances' favourite shopping areas was next, while all the crowd rushed the marketplace, we went the opposite way to check out the Cathedral. The Basilica Cathedral of Mazatlán was constructed from 1865 - 1899. This was Nathan and Heather's first real exposure to the grandeur of the old country churches.
After the initial rush of the marketplace was over, we headed back to Mercado Pino Suarez, a giant covered open air market, similar to what we have at home at Lonsdale or Westminster Quay. Similar, but also, very very different.
It is broken up in to different areas, the fruits and vegetables section, the assorted meats section... Yes, that's a pigs head.
and the everything else, with super aggressive sales ladies trying to draw you into their stores section. Nathan wanted to look at a poncho, and somehow the sales lady was trying to convince me that he really needed my help... nope he doesn't.
Back on the bus to wind through the city, and get a sense of the different styles of homes and structures of Mazatlan.
We see small run down shacks, and high end scenic houses with amazing views behind giant gates.
But it's still the wild coastline that is the most beautiful.
At the peak of this hill called Cerro del Creston is the largest natural lighthouse in the world, and for those willing to make the 45 minute hike to the top, there is a glass floored viewpoint hanging over it's edge... our tour didn't give us enough time to do it. Of course there was time to buy souvenirs from the vendors located in the parking lot.
Back into the city, and our final stop, Frances' favourite silver shop, complete with free drinks. Instead of going in the shop right away, we checked out the beach views across the road, and the historic hotels artwork next door. Then we got our free drinks.
We had time to look at all these shops, but no time to get a shrimp taco from the Shrimp Factory, because we had to get back to the Torres. I can say this about the tour, it was free.
We were back at our beach by 2:30, that gave us plenty of time to check another item off of our bucket list... Para-sailing. Apparently I had to go first, then Nathan and Norine each took a turn, Heather was happy watching us from the safety of the sand.
Once you are up in the air, it is so peaceful, like you're sitting on a giant swing with amazing views .
Our hotel and grounds as I'm heading in for a landing
Nathan's turn
Norine's turn.
All back safely on the beach, we took another beating in the waves. Both Nathan and I lost our sunglasses, and I even had a strap.
Throughly battered, we could rest in our loungers and watch another sunset while sipping a Strawberry Margarita.
We decided to walk back down the beach to the Cielito Lindo restaurant, for the absolute worst Mango Margarita, and the absolutely best bacon wrapped stuffed shrimp I have ever had in my life.
December 4
The Stone Island Tour was a completely different experience than the city tour. We were picked up by Hugo, he was a real character... where You go, Hugo. We had one stop on our way to pick up other guests, but apparently they had too much tequila the night before, so the tour was going to be just the 4 of us, perfect!
An interesting sight along the way is this deserted Water park, apparently the company went under shortly after finishing it. The locals say it is due to their high entrance fee, so now it sits empty.
Stone Island is actually a peninsula, but the way that we get there involves, bus --> boat --> back of a pickup truck.
Aside from the interesting seawall, we are told about the lion face at the end of these rocks, and then Hugo breaks out the Lion King musical songs. Aside from speaking 5 languages fluently, he's really quite talented, just not in the singing category. Throughout the whole day we would hear his catch phrase...
"How bout that, Take a picture"
It was a nice but short harbour cruise, but unfortunately the Sea Lions must have been out fishing.
I wasn't lying about having to ride in the back of a pickup.
It's a short ride through the town to the beach area we would spend the day.
We setup in one of the many open air beach restaurants, place our lunch order for later and enjoy a couple free drinks before heading out on a banana boat for a race around the bay. Everything was included, except for whatever the vendors were bringing by.
Back on the beach we do our second activity, a little horseback trek down the beach.
The Magnificent 4
A little saddle sore, we got back just in time for our beach lunch. It was all delicious, but Nathan still needs to work on his eating fish with bones skills. He managed to get the bone out of his throat before the high-fiving Iguana 'Godzilla' came to visit us.
We chose to spend the rest of the afternoon just floating in the calm waters of Stone Island beach. If we come back to Mazatlan, I think this is where we would stay. It feels like a much more authentic and non-commercialized version of Mexico.
Of course we did find a few pups that needed some petting.
A great afternoon was wrapped up, and we ended up joining a group of cruise ship tourists on the way back to their ship, that had been out for a bird-watching tour with the same company. Wheelchairs and the walking dead slowed the process a little, but once they were dropped at the Cruise Ship terminal, it was back through the city to our place. Along the way we admired a few places like Señor Frogs and Vancouver Wings as we pondered coming back and seeing more of the things we missed on these tours.
We were back on our beach just in time to watch another sunset as Nathan took a colourful swim.
Another evening in our restaurant, and another mix of amazing meals while looking across the pool and out at the moonlit waves.
December 5
On our last full day of Mazatlan, we spent the entire day, just lazing on the beach, ordering drinks to our loungers, and splashing in the waves. From 12-2 and 4-6 is happy hour when drinks are 2 for 1, so we took full advantage of that.
Before we knew it, it was Sunset again.
After another amazing sunset, we had one more amazing dinner with our favourite server Carlos, he had been watching over us all week, whether it was memorizing Heathers "Sprite... no ice" order, or making sure we got full advantage of Happy Hour, or just providing more recommendations and info on the daily changing menus, he always had a smile on his face and a "de Nada" to spare.
December 6
Sadly it was time to go, we packed our bags, and spent the last few hours having a nice lunch and walking around the resort.
We had heard all week that the were Iguanas at our resort, so we started hunting the grounds for Iguanas. Finally on our last day, we discovered where they were hiding all week... in plain sight, right beside the pool.
Then our bus back to the airport arrived and it was time to go...
Turns out the bus arrived late, and with traffic and multiple stops along the way, we arrived at the airport 50 minutes before the flight. When we checked our bags, they weren't sure they were going to be on the flight... luckily they were and we made it home safe and sound. It's always a shock to the system when you are wearing shorts and T-shirts in the morning, and have to bundle up with a big jacket when you get home, but that's the price you pay to visit paradise.
I completely forgot to tell you about the beach vendors, every day they would line the seawall with their wares, bringing briefcases of silver jewelry or armloads of blankets, or heads full of sombreros, by to see if we wanted something "almost free". I had my eye on this carved Palm Tree all week, and on the last day I negotiated him from $100 to $60 and walked away with a very nice carving for under $50.
It's always nice to have some unique item from your travels to look back on and remember, so that palm tree will stay out all year, until we put our now Infamous Travel Tree up with a couple new Mazatlan ornaments.