General Information on Mazatlan

If you want to travel to Mazatlan for a vacation you won't forget, you've found the place with all the Mazatlan travel and vacation information you could ask for.

Who is this Beauty?

She was a cheerleader for the 2002 Marathon. I think she went on to become Miss Sinaloa a few years later. Sinaloa is known for its beautiful women, and after living here for 18 years I can honestly say it is no exaggeration.

Mazatlan, the Pearl of the Pacific, is a wonderful seaside resort that Nadine and I have made our home after spending a couple of winters here. Mazatlan is an ancient Nahuatl word for "land of the deer" and in fact the Mazatlan baseball team is called the "Venados," which is Spanish for deer. I discovered Mazatlan almost by accident. Nadine had been coming here since she was a young girl, and brought me down here on a vacation. We both got very depressed the day before we had to leave, and swore we would return. The next year we came back, built a house, and are presently living happily ever after. The following Web pages will try to convey to you why we have chosen to settle down in Mazatlan, and hopefully entice you to come down for a visit and give Mazatlan a try for yourself. Let's start with some sights

Images of Mazatlan

These are some pictures I took of our neighborhood, and some notable sights. I have sacrificed resolution for fast downloading, so do not worry, you will not wait for 20 minutes for a picture of some sand.

and sounds

The puma of Sinaloa, typical music of Mazatlan

Singing the first 30 seconds of El Navegante. This is the kind of music you hear all the time in Mazatlan. A band just would not be a band without a tuba!

of our wonderful city, and then proceed to learn a little about the history of the city of Mazatlan Did you know that the United States Army once captured and occupied Mexico City? Most people come here in the winter for the climate. Want to get your bearings? Check out a couple of maps,

Mazatlan Maps

These are the best maps of Mazatlan available, if I do say so myself. After buying a new GPS toy, I had to justify spending all that money so I drove all around the area, wrote some little PERL scripts, and generated the maps you will find here. Enjoy!

one of the golden zone and the other of downtown Mazatlan. Find practical information about Mazatlan, such as what travel documents you need. What about electricity, water, guns, and alcohol? Bringing down your pets, or even getting married down here. There are more things to do in Mazatlan than you can get to in a week, and that's not even counting doing nothing, and there just might be a special event going on while you are here. Want to be entertained? There are plenty of things to see too. Bullfights, baseball, cliff divers, art galleries and more. When you are ready to leave, be sure to visit the butcher shop at the Mercado. Been there, done that? Try some of these places that are off the beaten path!

Some of our favorite places to eat, and why. You can get any kind of food here, as long a it is Mexican. (just kidding) The range of food is very wide, from McDonald's to beachfront palaces with waiters in tuxedos. Bring these coupons down to Mazatlan and get free drinks, discounts, and more from our local merchants. Interested in retiring in Mazatlan? Find out more about medical care, home prices, owning property, etc. Considering buying some real estate,

Mazatlan Online Property System

If you are serious or if you are just curious, you can get the scoop on real estate in Mexico here. Besides passing on our sage advice, I have written a not so little PERL program that allows you to register as a buyer or seller, and search the existing database. We currently have more than 100 properties online, so take a look. By the way, this is also a totally free service.

check out our tips, find an agent, and search our Mazatlan online property system. If you are easily amused, take a look at some of my favorite "only in Mexico" stories or if you are a little more analytical, you can check out some articles I have written for the Pacific Pearl, which try to explain the world around us. I've been collecting some snippets of Mexican culture, which you might enjoy. Looking for a place to stay?

The front of one of our luxury golf course homes.

Before you book that hotel reservation, you really owe it to yourself to check these out. They are all owned by private individuals, and I have personally checked each of them out. If you like one, you can check the availability and make a reservation right here online. Also, Attention Rental Owners!! You can have your property listed here. See http://www.maztravel.com/owners.shtml for more info.

Try out some lovely vacation rentals that they don't tell you about in the guidebooks. What do I do in my spare time in Mazatlan? Why write PERL programs of course. Most are too ugly for public consumption, but recently I have posted my efforts.

Writing PERL, my hobby

You probably did not come here for programming tools, but what the heck, we try to go that extra megabyte for you. So far I have written three different little tools that you might find useful. One is a PERL interface to the emacs BBDB system, another is a little package that makes it simple to update your wills, and the third is a way to control your satellite and VCR to record programs using the XMLTV system. Enjoy!

Feeling a little blue, and can't afford a thorough checkup in the US? You can get a first class medical checkup

Resomaz - Medical Imaging

Sometimes your insurance just refuses to pay for a test that I am sure I need, so I wind up paying for it myself and fighting with them for years, usually to no avail. Well, now I have a better solution. Get a complete medical workup with a highly skilled doctor and get to the bottom of what ails you. Sure, you do not come on vacation to go to doctors, but it just might be the best vacation of your life if you take the time to do it.

. How about some more pictures? These are aerial views of Mazatlan shot from the top of the El Cid hotel, and these are images of Mazatlan as it was a long long time ago! If you need a doctor, a vet, a realtor, an architect, or a jeweler, we can personally recommend these people

Good People

Whenever you are new to an area, the biggest problem is knowing whom to trust. Well, we have just taken that burden off your shoulders. We have had extensive dealings with all of these people, and can recommend them as being honest, forthright, and all around good folk. So if you are looking for an architect, real estate agent, family doctor, plastic surgeon, veternarian, jeweler, dentist, hair stylist, insurance agent, attorney, pharmacist, or teacher, we can point you in the right direction

Read the answers to the most before you ask. Have you found every morsel of information? Check out our site map and see. Read what your fellow travelers have to say about Mazatlan and our humble online info. Have you found our info helpful? Are you looking for a way to say thank you, Nadine and Henry,

Do a Good Deed

Now we would not ask you for anything for ourselves, but if you feel this site has been helpful to you we would appreciate it if you showed your support by making a donation to an organzation we started here a few years ago, called Los Amigos de los Animales. With your help we have managed to set up an animal shelter where sick and abandoned animals can receive quality care. Please, I am sure a few dollars donated fro you will not change your lifestyle, but it will help the suffering cats and dogs of Mazatlan.

The Laxen family album - few photos of the wife, the kids and me. Just the thing to bore your friends with. I can see you yawning already. If you're curious about where we live, we cordially invite you to visit our homes. Still haven't had enough, try these links to other Mazatlan resources. You can now search

Before you send that email

This site contains more than ten megabytes of information about Mazatlan. Chances are, your question has already been asked and answered. So before you take the time and trouble to fire off that email, why not try the FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) or the Search feature first. You will probably get your answer a lot sooner if you do.

these pages to find specific information fast! Have a gripe or a recommendation? Leave your comments here! Visit some local businesses that Nadine and I recommend and tell us what you think. Better yet, add to the Mazatlan Knowledge Base by adding your valuable input to the Mazatlan wiki

Mazatlan wiki

A Wiki is a fun and easy to use web collaboration environment. You, gentle user, can add your wisdom and experience to the collection. Do not worry, you will not be assimilated! So here is your chance to have a lasting impact on the experiences others will have in Mazatlan. Please take a few minutes, if you are so inclined, and add your 2 centavos work. Thanks.

Looking for somebody? We publish a local phone directory

What is in the directory?

Over the years we have put together a directory of local foreign residents. This directory is now online, and if you would like to include (or exclude) yourself, please feel free to do so. You can also search the directory for a particular blood type, in case you have a medical emergency!

of foreign residents every January. Some friends of mine have gone through a lot of trouble writing some books about Mazatlan that you really should consider reading. Need some new reading material? Perhaps you should visit the Reading Library. Our friend, Rafael, has a daughter who is a very talented artist. She will create a custom painting for you, if you are interested.

Continue with Service Organizations of Mazatlan

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