| Located on the Pacific Coast in the
state of Sinaloa,
Mazatlán is one of the country's oldest coastal towns. Mazatlán
means 'place of deer' in the Nahuatll language and is nicknamed
the 'Pearl of the Pacific.'
GEOGRAPHY
Mazatlán is the largest port between Los
Angeles and Panama.
Fishermen sell the catch of the day on the beach by San Félix
Bay. A 10-kilometer, ocean-view boardwalk stretches from the resort
district to downtown.
Mazatlán is one of the few spots in the world
with two beachfronts, facing both the Pacific Ocean and the Sea
of Cortes. Mazatlán extends north from the peninsula
port area along Gabriel Leyva and Barragan avenues to where the
cruise ships, sportfishing boats, and ferries dock. A curving seaside
boulevard, or malecón, runs 17 miles along the waterfront
from Playa Olas Altas to Playa Norte.
NATURAL WORLD
Olas Altas Boulevard has a number of gardens and city
parks. A must visit is Estero
Del Yugo. Local beaches include Sabalo and Cerritos. Another
natural highlight include the El Verde Sea Turtle Conservation Center
open from July-February. Ask at the tourist office for operating
hours and access.
CULTURAL WORLD
The remodeled Angela Peralta Theater, is a striking
neoclassical opera house built in 1860. It is the city's principal
cultural attraction and one of the oldest theaters in operation
in Mexico.
Mazatlán is home to one of the world's three
major carnivals,
comparable to those in New
Orleans and Rio
de Janeiro.
SPORTS
Baseball season begins in October and ends in January.
The Mazatlán home team, the Venados
(Deer) are major players in the Pacific League.
WEATHER
The Tropic of Cancer cuts across Mexico just north
of town, so this is officially the tropics. The dry months are also
the coolest -- November-April.
NEARBY
Tours are offered to nearby Teacapán, Copala
and Stone Island.
BIRDING
Mazatlán hosted its own Birding
Festival in January 2009. The Mazatlán - Durango birding
corridor is one of the most important in the world. Ecosystems range
from vast coastal wetlands, rolling hills of thorn scrub, tropical
deciduous forest and the pine oak forest canyons of the Western
Sierra Madre with elevations of more than 8,000 feet.
TOURISM INDUSTRY
According to news released in 2008, a tourism development,
south of Mazatlán, will attract 66 billion pesos ($6.03 billion)
in private investment to build hotels and tourist attractions in
an area twice the size of Cancún. The government, through
its tourism development agency, will invest 5 billion pesos ($458
million) to build infrastructure, marina, golf course and shopping
mall. To protect the environment, the government will insist on
a buffer of about 300 meters between the beach and hotel construction
to preserve sand dunes that protect the beach.
The project will encompass 2,380 hectares in an area sandwiched
between the Pacific Coast beach and lagoons located 85 kilometers
south of Mazatlán. According to a Fonatur representative,
the project will have capacity for 44,000 hotel and condominium
rooms and be completed by 2025.
Fonatur will sell 400 hectares of land to private investors and
expects 6,000 hotel and condominium rooms to be built in the first
phase of the project. By 2012, about 1,500 rooms should be available
to tourists. The government plans to expand an airport in nearby
Teacapán.
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