Mazatlán is Mexico’s largest commercial port and a popular tourist destination. It is also home to the largest shrimp fleet in the world. Our cruise ship arrived in the commercial port and we decided to take the short walk to the ferry over to Stone Island. Stone Island is located in the southern part of the city and is easily accessible by any of the ferries that leave from just off the road to El Faro.
The ferry over was not like any ferry I had ever been on previously. To be more exact, this is a small boat that takes only a few minutes to arrive over at Stone Island. On this overcast day, the view wasn’t spectacular, but the ride was interesting.
Once over on Stone Island, we walked the length of the beach until we arrived at our destination for the day, Lety’s. A small restaurant with lots of charm, good food, and drinks, it was a great reprieve from the rain. We chose this restaurant because we had heard great reviews about it and they also had lounge chairs on their beachfront. The rain shut down our laying out in the sun, but we enjoyed the time there anyway. As this area is becoming more popular and development of large hotels is underway, I suggest visiting now before it becomes a touristy area.
You can see in the distance a rocky micro-island located 1/2 mile from Mazatlán named Isla Tortuga or Roca Tortuga (Turtle Island or Turtle Rock), which is the winter home to the California sea lions. Isla Tortuga was declared an ecological reserve and refuge of marine migratory bird, flora and sylvan fauna by a federal decree in 1991.
The day we were there it was quiet on the beach because of the rain, but as the day went on people started showing up.
With over 10 miles of beaches in Mazatlán, although we didn’t get to go swimming, being around the water is fun enough. A quick trip back on the ferry and a short walk back to the ship made this excursion on our own a memorable one.
Read more about my trip to Mexico and my cruise on Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas here.