My wife and I took a 6-day vacation to Mazatlan (MZT) and Los Cabos (SJD), Mexico in the middle of February. Here's a trip report:
We took our honeymoon in May of 1986 at Puerto Vallarta and Los Cabos. We didn't like Puerto Vallarta, but that was probably because it rained the whole time we were there. We loved Los Cabos back then, because it had great weather and was practically deserted. This time we decided to go back to Los Cabos, but to also try another Mexican city. We wanted to stay on the Pacific side, and weren't interested in the smaller towns, so we basically had to choose Acapulco or MZT. Because Acapulco is so much farther south than MZT, we didn't want to spend the extra money on airfare, and it sounded more crowded, so we decided on 3 nights in MZT and two nights in SJD.
Things didn't start out very smoothly. Our flight from Portland to SFO was cancelled (don't know why). So United put us on an Alaska flight that left 30 minutes after ours was supposed to. That put us in SFO too late to catch our connecting flight on Mexicana to MZT. (Actually, we got there 30 minutes before flight time, but by then Mexicana claimed the flight was packed and we couldn't get on, despite our reservations.) Since the lines at the Mexicana counter in SFO were long, we took our story to United, who got us on another Alaska flight to MZT. We enjoyed flying Alaska (our first time on that carrier). Although the Alaska flight from Portland connected to another Alaska flight to MZT, we missed that one and had to take the next, so we got into MZT 2-1/2 hours late. My recommendation is to take a US airline to Mexico; Mexicana didn't treat us very well. Also, make sure you have at least 1-1/2 hours to connect to an international flight. Even if our United flight was on-time, we would have had only ten minutes to run from our United gate to the Mexicana gate in the SFO International Terminal. Now I know what OJ Simpson felt like.
I also had to sign a "Jurat Affidavit" in SFO because my birth certificate didn't have a seal on it. It costs $5, and is acceptable proof of citizenship. My recommendation is to get a passport. I used the same birth certificate copy when we went on our honeymoon, and no one complained. It took thirty minutes for the huge pile of suitcases to be unloaded in MZT. This got us started on "slowing down," as they recommend you do when vacationing in Mexico.
The bus ride to our hotel took 40 minutes, passing by poverty, dead dogs on the side of the road, a prison, and lots of concrete plants. Everything there is made of brick and concrete. There are lots of palm trees, but I don't know if they're native, since they were planted in nice straight lines. I couldn't get over how many people were just standing around. They may have been waiting for a bus.
We stayed at the Westin Camino Real in MZT. The grounds were the best of any hotel I saw there: Tons of palm and banana trees, lush vegetation, green grass, and flowers. The rooms were pretty nice, but the hotel is showing its age (I'd guess it's 20-30 years old). The Camino is about three miles north of most of the other hotels, so it's pretty secluded, but some of the beach vendors still manage to make it up there. I would have preferred a hotel closer to the action, like the Playa Mazatlan. The people there were more my age (younger), whereas the Camino had mostly older folks. I found a cockroach in my room, despite the frequent spraying they do in the mornings. There was always someone sweeping or mopping the floors. This was true everywhere; in most every shop we entered, there was someone mopping the floors. It almost became comical.
Hotel rooms in Mexico are generally "ROH: Run Of the House." This means you take the room they give you, and if you don't like it, you complain and/or pass them some money, and you get another. I'd recommend a sea view over a lagoon/mountain view. The lagoon side of the Camino also had a heavily-traveled road. The busses sounded like Huey helicopters (what's a muffler?!), and ran late at night and early in the morning.
Getting around is easy. Taxis are plentiful but expensive. The fun and cheap way to travel is with "palmillas," little open-air carts a little bigger than golf carts. It costs $2 to travel from one end of town to the other (about 5 miles). Although they're not supposed to, they'll bargain the price with you. If you're walking along the street, one will slow down and whistle at you (which means "do you want a ride," as opposed to the plentiful whistles of the kind my wife received) about every thirty seconds.
Most places in MZT deal only in pesos. Although I thought "nah, I have a math minor, I don't need a calculator," it sure would have been easier to have had a small (watch?) calculator, to figure out the conversion to and from dollars. The Camino gave the best exchange rate I found down there (2710 pesos to the dollar), but most other places were just 10-20 pesos lower. I usually just fudged and figured 10,000 pesos == $4. Mexicans sometimes use the notation of a dollar sign with one vertical line to mean pesos and two lines to mean US dollars. I never got used to spending 90,000 pesos on a nice dinner!
The El Cid hotel complex is huge! If you want to be surrounded by people and have all the amenities, this is the place. It's fairly expensive.
The Playa had the best beach. Most of the others were fairly shallow. All the beaches are public, so bring a towel if you're going to use beaches at hotels other than the one at which you're staying. My wife went parasailing. It costs $20. She said it was pretty fun, not really scary, and gave a nice view. It wasn't the "thrill" she was expecting it to be though. Most of the beaches to the north were full of Americans. The many to the south (near the central district) had mostly Mexicans.
Despite the travel books' comments about restaurant service in Mexico being very slow, I found it to be among the best I've ever experienced. The waiters were very attentive, polite, and quick at almost every place we ate. The meals were generally good, but nothing memorable. I do like Mexican French Toast though. In general, the breakfasts were better than the other meals. I wouldn't recommend "La Costa Marinera." Although it was billed as "the premier seafood restaurant," the food was mediocre, the drinks bad, and we were interrupted by eight vendors (the only restaurant I found street vendors at). If you feel bold, you can usually ask other vacationers about places they like to eat.
The weather was mostly clear and 72-76F during the day with strong winds during the evenings. Definitely warm enough for shorts, but not the "roasting" heat we were expecting. Acapulco would have been nice at 88F. One day was mostly cloudy.
Mexico makes one realize how well we live here in the USA. I would look at the furnishings in our room and think how long it probably took someone to make. Most things are simply-built in Mexico, and ornamentation is not used extensively, as it is here. I felt embarrassed for the incredible wealth of the US.
Street vendors are everywhere. I learned to finally just not look at them; they won't pester you unless you indicate interest. Be careful if you show the slightest interest in something; they're apt to follow you for blocks, showing you everything in their collection. My wife once asked a vendor of tableclothes if he had one with red. The guy ended up unfolding every one of the 12 samples he was carrying on his back. After fifteen minutes of us saying "no, gracias," he finally laboriously folded up each one again and went on his way. They work hard for their money, and are very serious about bargaining.
We went to Valentino's disco, on a bluff overlooking the ocean. Cover charge was 10K pesos/pp. It was modern and had a nice light show, but the "strawberry margaritas" tasted like cherry cough syrup and the dance floor was pretty small. I'd recommend "El Caracol" at El Cid instead.
We both got the dreaded 24-hour sickness. It didn't bother me at all, but my wife was very tired for a day. Pepto-Bismol tablets helped, I think. Neither of us watched what we ate or drank, but we did stay away from the street food vendors.
I was thinking that our trip from MZT to SJD would be quick, but we left the Camino at 10 a.m. and didn't arrive at our hotel in SJD until 2:30 p.m. The plane trip only takes thirty minutes; the rest of the time was spent waiting at the airport or traveling to/from the airport. The taxi ride from SJD airport to Cabo San Lucas took 30 minutes (it's 42 KM) over a two-lane twisty highway. The gas and smoke fumes gave us both a headache by the time we got to our hotel. We stayed at the Melia San Lucas, a new (Feb 89) hotel next to the venerable Hacienda. Our initial impression was very good--it had a beautiful lobby, nice view, and the room was very nicely appointed. The hotel has all the amenities you would expect in a high-class Portland hotel. All of the rooms have an ocean view, but ours was partially obstructed by the next wing's walls. The higher-priced rooms had the best view, of course. The Melia has an automatic 10% service charge, so no tipping is allowed. At first, this seems very convenient and is cheaper than the 15% I usually give, but the thing that suffers is the service. The waiters weren't nearly as attentive. Room service never brought our order.
I couldn't get over how much development has taken place between '86 and now. There are many more hotels, shops and people. The beaches are still big, white, and fairly uncrowded, but are littered with cigarette butts and bottle tops. There were about 90 boats moored around the cove. The ubiquitous "wide-bodied Californian" was complaining loudly about the service or something. We stayed in San Jose Del Cabo on our honeymoon, and wanted to return there. Cabo San Lucas is about 35 KM away, and the taxi ride was too expensive (92K pesos RT) for us to bother going. The water is so different between the two cities. In San Jose, the waves crash and the undertow is strong, whereas in San Lucas, the water is calm, beautiful, clear, and swimmable.
Again, none of the restaurants were memorable. We had a $10 lobster dinner at El Jardin, but besides the lobster, which was very good, the dinner was pretty bad. We went to Anuiti in San Jose on our honeymoon, and remember that as our favorite restaurant then. Great steak and lobster next to an estuary.
We took a glass-bottom boat tour for $5/pp. This was well worth it. We saw two whales that we followed for a while. The fish underwater were spectacular. And the difference of the water between the Sea of Cortez and the Pacific Ocean was remarkable.
Part of the reason we decided to go to Cabo on this trip is because we thought we would be guaranteed nice weather there in case the weather in MZT was bad. But it actually turned out the opposite. Only one of our three days in Cabo was nice enough to sunbathe in, and even then it was windy and chilly. Don't forget that the sun can still burn you even on a cloudy day (believe me, I know).
Downtown Cabo San Lucas is much bigger now. There are tons of t-shirt shops, and new construction sites are everywhere. There are fewer beach vendors in Los Cabos than in MZT. Most places accept pesos or dollars.
We had no problems getting back to SFO and through Customs. However, our US Air flight to Portland was delayed 2-1/2 hours because of the weather at LAX. We drove back home through a snowstorm at 1 in the morning, and finally dragged ourselves to sleep at 2:30 a.m.
As we found out by the end of our trip, everyone that does anything for you expects a tip.
It really helps to know conversational Spanish. The three years I took in middle school 12 years ago really came in handy. Most Mexicans speak enough English to get the basic ideas across. They know their numbers very well.
Summary: It went too fast, of course. The weather and food could have been better. But it was very relaxing, and I did what I set out to do: Forget all about work and the "real world." After just one week back, already my neck is tight, I have a headache, and I'm clenching my teeth. It's time to go back to Mexico!
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Jim Battan - Sequent Computer Systems, Beaverton, OR battan@sequent.com or uunet!sequent!battan +1 503 578 5129
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