Last updated Monday May 26, 2008
The beach in Mazatlán stretches for miles around a swallow bay. The humps in the middle of the photo are three islands that protect the bay. Still, the waves can be pretty mean in places, but you can just move to a different part of the beach where the waves are more calm.
One of the favorite beach pastimes is to bury each other in the sand.
Of course everyone loves Boogie Boarding. They were everywhere.
Even Doggies get to run on the beach in Mazatlán, though every one I saw was on a leash.
It seems the beach makes people hungry and thirsty. Good food and drink is never far away and even a dozen palapa restaurants side-by-side are filled up with families and groups having fun.
Nancy enjoying a fried whole fish and a beer under the read umbrella at one of the beach restaurants. We even love to have breakfast at a beach restaurant very close to our house.
This is the Malecón or seawall that runs along the beach and is a major thoroughfare connecting the downtown with the Golden Zone. Right about here is where we walk from our house to the beach and have to dodge traffic to get there.
The monument to fisherman is the best landmark to locate our house. The fisherman comes equipped with a mermaid, popular with many of the monuments along the Malecón. He also has a fake lighthouse that the pigeons make good use of and a fountain at the base that provides a cooling spray to passersby.
A monument to fishermen is appropriate. The southern end of the beach is filled with fishing boats that go out almost every day.
Here is one of the last boats of the day coming in trailed by pelicans waiting for the fish guts. Everyone pitches in to get the heavy boat on the wheel cart and pushed far up on the beach away from the waves.
These guys catch some serious fish!
The Malecón is known as Paseo Claussen in this stretch, after a German businessman who brought beer brewing and other industries to Mazatlán. A few blocks to the north it turns into Aveneda Del Mar.
Depending on which map you look at the beach is known as Playa los Pinos (Pines Beach) or Playa Norte (North Beach).
The Malecón includes a broad sidewalk on the side next to the beach. It's filled with people at all hours walking, skating, biking or just hanging out. Notice that all the high rise hotels are on the other side of the street. That means the beach and the Malecón are open for all to enjoy and not blocked off for hotel guests like many resorts in Mexico.
The park near our house has the usual assortment of gadgets for little kids to play on. This jungle gym for big boys popped up on the beach side of the street. Everyone has a place to play and exercise.
We stumbled upon this beach where only little kids played close to shore. The water was clearer and there was less wave action. Perfect, we thought. Un fortunately when you get more than waist deep the bottom is covered with large rocks and sharp sea urchins.
There was a grandpa floating around in an inner tube with a very large bottle of beer. He would put his thumb over the top of the bottle when the kids would splash him. It wouldn't do to have salt water in your beer!
Next to the baby beach is a series of tide pools with warm, clear water to lay in and explore.
The beach is filled with seafood restaurants. Fish and shrimp to eat everywhere you look. Many of the restaurants are right on the beach in open-air, thatched roof palapas. If the weather gets nasty they just close up.
This sign for the "king of seafood" is freshly painted because we watched the old Mamucas sign go down along with the building it was painted on while we ate breakfast.
What a way to end a perfect day at the beach.