Exploring Mazatlán
Mazatlan doesn't the variety of tours you will find at Cabo or Puerto Vallarta. The most popular destinations are the Mazatlan Cathedral, the Malecon (boardwalk along the coast), Centro Historico (Old District) and the Golden Zone (upscale shopping). The Mazatlan Cathedral is a big beautiful church with lots of shops and a swap meet surrounding it. We have stopped here last and hiked back to the ship (about 2 miles). El Malecon Boardwalk stretches the Mazatlan coast with monuments, statues and cliff divers. museums and older buildings, as well as trendy restaurants can be found in Centro Historico (Old Mazatlan), located west of the cathedral. The Golden Zone is where you will find upscale shops, jewelry stores and resorts. Most city tours will take you to all of these spots . Most tours will also drive some upper scale residential areas, gated communities, shrimp boats, and up to a the highest point for some great panoramic views.
You can book a city tour through the cruise line or at the welcome center. If is just two of yo , booking with the cruise line would be the easiest way to go. For groups it will be much cheaper to purchase a tour off the ship and you can choose to go by car or van instead of a crowded bus. You should talk 2 or 3 tour drivers for their price and where they will take you. You can negotiate the price or get other offers. They will offer other places to go if you have done this before. We even had a driver drop us off to eat, and come back n hour later for the ride back to the ship.
Mazatlan City Tour Links
