Article# 1 - Mazatlan’s Split-Level Boating Whether you’re eager to leave the marina before dawn to prowl offshore for the hottest billfish action or you’d prefer to while away the daylight hours by snorkeling around a quiet anchorage, you can find your favorite “boating lifestyle” at Mazatlan. Located at about the same latitude as Cabo San Lucas (23 degrees north), Mazatlan lies straight east on the mainland coast of Mexico’s Sea of Cortez. Boaters arriving from the United States and Canada are welcomed by the kind of tropical delights they’ve always dreamed of -- swaying coconut palms along miles of white sand beaches, warm turquoise waters and flocks of bright-colored parrots cruising through the banana plantations. Mazatlan’s style is more traditional than that of Cabo San Lucas, and it has none of Baja California’s bone-dry desert climate. Because Mazatlan is only about 165 miles east of Las Frailes (on the East Cape), this is one of the shortest and easiest crossing points on the Sea of Cortez. Many trailerboaters get to Mazatlan by taking the car ferry across the Sea of Cortez from La Paz. It runs five days a week, takes about 12 hours and costs from $360 to $675 (depending on the size of your car and trailer) -- which is a real bargain and a time-saver, when you consider the alternate routes. Mazatlan lies 120 miles northwest of San Blas, so it’s really at the bottom end of the Sea of Cortez -- a good thing when northers are blasting in the upper reaches. It’s 150 to 170 miles northwest of Bahia Banderas and Puerto Vallarta, the first of several popular cruising grounds on the mainland. Split-Level Lifestyle I call boating in this region “split-level cruising,” because Mazatlan’s boating community is split in two or three parts. The lovely old port of Mazatlan (where the ferry and cruise ships dock) is 7 miles south/southeast of the newer jetty entrance to the two modern marina basins. Within the old port, you’ll find a free municipal anchorage. By going up to the marina basins, you can have your choice of less or more amenities (for less or more dollars). Fishing is split-level, too. You could spend a relaxing day trolling among the mangrove channels that meander behind both the old port and the new marina basins -- or you could head offshore to face worldclass challenges, such as Mazatlan’s annual billfish tournaments and fly-fishing contests. Mazatlan’s shoreside entertainment comes in all levels, as well -- from an educational aquarium and several historic museums to party bars and all-night disco dance clubs strung like jewels along the picturesque Zona Dorado -- the “Golden Zone.” If you’ve been here before, you’ll notice one big change: The new telephone area code for Mazatlan is 669. It is always followed by a new seven-digit phone number. There really are no bad choices here, so let’s take a closer look. Marina El Cid Most of the area’s nicest docks and its widest array of amenities and boating services are found at the El Cid Five Star Mega Resort and Marina -- Marina El Cid, for short. It’s the first marina you come to as you enter the breakwater at what the old charts called “Laguna Sábalo.” My GPS approach waypoint for this breakwater is 23 degrees, 16 minutes north latitude; 106 degrees, 29 minutes west longitude. The control depth throughout this inland waterway is 12 feet, but any surge is amplified in the jetty-lined entrance channel. Marina El Cid’s 78 slips accommodate boats up to 120 feet. They are on the starboard side right after you clear the jetties, at the foot of the hotel and pools. A Pemex fuel dock is also to starboard. Behind the fuel dock is a small but well-stocked chandlery. Larger docks are sometimes available alongside private homes farther into the lagoon. For more information, contact the marina’s harbormaster Geronimo Cevallos at (01152) 669-913-3333. Besides port clearance service and free use of the marina’s shuttle boats and private beach, many of the hotel’s other amenities are available to marina guests -- including two pools, two restaurants, spa services, a travel agency and a concierge. From Marina El Cid to downtown is about 9 highway miles. Outside the lobby, you’ll find a hotel van and a few of Mazatlan’s unique little pulmonias (open-air taxis). Billfish Classic This fall, Marina El Cid is sponsoring its sixth annual Mazatlan Billfish Classic. The actual fishing days are November 14-16, but participants should be here a day or two in advance. Many of the larger sportfishers will come over from Cabo San Lucas for this event, scheduled after the popular Bisbee’s Black & Blue Marlin Tournament. The Billfish Classic includes categories for black marlin 300 pounds and up, sailfish 75 and 100 pounds with the release format, yellowfin tuna and dorado. Most of the fishing takes place in a 15 to 30 mile perimeter of Mazatlan -- unlike Ixtapa, the other sailfish capital of Mexico, where you must travel at least twice that distance. This year’s Billfish Classic is expected to dish out more than $100,000 in cash prizes -- and there’s a $4,000 entry fee. If you don’t want to bring your own boat and crew (for a four-person team), or if your own boat is not a dedicated sportfisher, you can still get in on the thrills of this offshore fishing experience by chartering a 28 to 33 foot Bertram with a local skipper and mate. These guys have 12 to 15 years experience in local waters, so there’s some advantage to this option. The Aires Fleet has a good reputation and is berthed at Marina El Cid. Cortez Yacht Charters in the U.S. makes all the arrangements; contact Larry Edwards at (619) 469-4255. “Each boat carries an official observer, and they rotate boats daily to ensure that the rules are followed,” Edwards said. Observers are college students at Mazatlan’s Maritime College -- young men and women studying navigation and fisheries conservation. Each May, the marina also holds the challenging Billy Pate Fly Fishing Tournament. Participants fish for two days, rest the next day, then fish again for two more days. The dates for 2003 were not set at press time. For details, contact Marina El Cid. Marina Mazatlan Boaters seeking a slightly more laid-back experience might head to Marina Mazatlan. You reach this marina via the same entrance jetty as Marina El Cid -- however, you continue a few hundred yards east in the main channel, then bear north into the large round yacht basin with a central island. The marina staff reports that its control depth is 9 feet at low water, 11 feet at high tide. It’s wise to call the Marina Mazatlan dockmaster on VHF Channel 16 for a depth check, especially after heavy rains. Marina Mazatlan has about 280 slips (up to 60 feet) on floating docks that fan out from around the central island. Many new condos with garden landscaping surround the marina complex, which is a vast gated and guarded community with private roads, quaint bridges, a golf course and the Laguna Sábalo nature preserve. Only 80 of Marina Mazatlan’s slips have both shore power (110v and 220v) and water hookups, because this marina has not been completed. Of the remaining 200 slips, some have either power or water and some have neither; so they are all rented very inexpensively. Some of the skippers of U.S. sportfishing boats that are kept in Mazatlan year-round rent space at one of Marina Mazatlan’s large disconnected floating fingers, then move to Marina El Cid or to the downtown port when their guests arrive. This economy mode is also popular with long-term cruisers who need to stretch their cruising budget, and who don’t mind using their dinghies to reach shore. Other boaters opt to anchor in the marina’s well-protected basin and pay a small fee for using the dinghy landing, showers, cantina and book exchange. Usually, Marina Mazatlan’s office has someone who can handle port clearance papers. Because it’s a 10 mile jaunt to town -- and because taxis don’t often enter this huge gated property -- some long-term boaters will buy “junker” cars for local transportation. When they’re ready to leave Mazatlan, they pass the cars along to other boaters. So, even though the parking lot is not full of upscale vehicles, this marina houses a very friendly boating community. For more information about Marina Mazatlan, phone the dockmaster’s office at (01152) 669-916-3614 or e-mail the marina at marimaz@sin1.telmex.net.mx. Free Anchorage The no-frills alternative to staying in a marina is to anchor inside the huge breakwaters of Mazatlan’s old -- but busy -- commercial port. My GPS approach waypoint three-quarters of a mile outside the port entrance is 23 degrees, 10 minutes north latitude; 106 degrees, 25.5 minutes west longitude. From here, head closer to the westward breakwater. This keeps you clear of a hazardous pinnacle rising from 36 feet of water. It lies on a straight line drawn between Piedra Negra and the seaward end of the eastern breakwater. Once you clear the western breakwater, the municipal anchorage (with 10 to 15 foot depths) is immediately to port, west of the buoyed ship channel and north to the mole of the cruise ship piers. Anchoring is not allowed elsewhere within the commercial harbor. Unfortunately, this bottom does not offer good holding: It’s greasy mud and grass. The afternoon wind whips right across the anchorage from the low land bridge connecting Isla Creston to Mazatlan. The most sheltered spots are in the southwest corner in the lee of Isla Creston, but you may be “treated” to occasional odors from a nearby fish cannery. Diesel and gasoline are available from a small float at Club Nautico, a nice facility about midway along the western seawall. Six sportfishing docks line the rest of the shoreline -- and they’re always busy, as hotel guests go out for fishing, diving or sunset cruises. For a small daily or weekly fee, one or two of these businesses will make arrangements for anchorage boaters to land their dinghies at certain docks. Dinghies tied up without permission may be confiscated by authority of the port captain. The municipal anchorage is fairly quiet during the day and evenings. Early morning wakes from hotel boats racing out of the harbor are the worst of it. Keep in mind, though, that the migracion and port captain offices are 2 miles away, over hilly streets. You’ll definitely want to ask someone at one of the sportfishing docks to phone or radio for a taxi or pulmonia to take you into town. No matter what your budget, or what type of boating you enjoy, Mazatlan’s split-level boating makes room -- and fun -- for everyone.