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dlglidden
Oct 22, 2009 02:20 PM
If your goal is just to go out to the tourist zone and eat at any old restaurant on the beach, Tony's is about as good as most of them. And you'll be surrounded by your fellow tourists.
If you want to try something a little different, consider going over to Stone Island (Isla de la Piedra). When your ship docks you'll be very close to where the launches embark to Stone Island–a 5-10 minute trip and the fare is around $20-30MN (pesos). Stone island is actually a long peninsula directly across from the ship channel. The beach there is beautiful and it's about the best swimming place in Mazatlán: the ocean water is warm and calm and clear, almost no waves. All along the beach are palapa stands/restaurants serving fresh, cheap fish grilled or broiled (and, of course, ice-cold beer). If you get tired of sitting on the sand, sit on a chair at a table in the open-air palapa places, put your feet up on a table and stare at the ocean or read a book or magazine. All the palapa restaurants serve essentially the same food at the same prices. One that's a particular favorite of Mazatlán expats is Lety's. Stone Island's beaches are visited mostly by locals, especially on the weekends. You'll have plenty of time to get over there, enjoy yourself, and get back. It's actually quicker to get over to Stone Island from the cruise ship docks than it is to get out to the Zona Dorada area (tourist zone). It's livelier out in the ZD and there are many things to do and see and ways to spend your money (that's why tourists stay there, but it's also lots more crowded and noisy and you'll have to constantly fend off the hundreds of vendadores who walk up and down the beach selling trinkets and tourist souvenirs. But no matter how you spend your day you'll be on beautiful beaches and around plenty of adequate seafood joints.
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re: toitoi
dlglidden
Oct 26, 2009 12:24 PM
Toitoi: You don't say exactly when you'll be in port. Be advised that Tropical Storm Rick did some damage to both Mazatlan's ZD and Stone Island. Several of the palapa restaurants on Stone Island were damaged, a few severely but are being repaired/rebuilt as I post. A LOT of sand from the beach was lost but it will wash back in rather quickly.
Here are some quotes posted today on the Message Board "WhatsUpMaz" (whatsupmaz.com):
"Just got back from an afternoon at Stone Island, and although there is palapa and structural damage here and there, w/ huge rocks deposited on the shoreline nearest the panga dock, everyone was back in gear, there were lots of people, the restaurants were pretty full and food plentiful as were the smiling faces. Good to see. Today, there wasn't much sandy beach but that will change. We were at Letty's and that area seemed to sustain the least amount of damage. It is there waiting for you, fear not."
Here's a link to photos of the damage to Stone Island and the ZD from Noroeste, Mazatlán's major daily newspaper. The link takes you to a Mexscape post which includes three links to Noroeste photos; the last two links are better than the first. BTW, the WUM poster said much of the damage has been repaired:
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re: dlglidden
toitoi
Oct 26, 2009 01:53 PM
Wow! Thanks for posting that. I'll be there next week, and still plan on beaching it on Stone Island.
I'm familiar with east coast hurricanes, having grown up on the New Jersey shore on Long Beach Island, and witnessing, first hand, the destruction they cause.
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