My parents and I took a trip to Pueblo Bonito (all inclusive resort) in Mazatlan (the “t” is silent), Mexico in May. It was AMAZING! I’m going to walk you through my entire trip starting with arriving at the airport, because seriously, this was one of the best trips we’ve ever taken and I want to share all of the details so you can take advantage of all Mazatlan has to offer as well!

If you are wanting to book your next trip to Mexico, book with Pueblo Bonito Resorts in Mazatlan, Mexico or Cabo San Lucas and use my special code ENJOYPB22 to take an ADDITIONAL 10% off the package price as well as a $50 Spa credit! Who doesn’t love a good spa service?! This code is good for ANY of their resorts- not just the Mazatlan resort. They have 4 properties in Cabo and two in Mazatlan. I’ve taken pictures at all four in Cabo as well. They’re all beautiful, you can’t go wrong with ANY of them. Right now, you can book a vacation for two people Monday through Friday at Pueblo Bonito Mazatlan in January for around $500- all inclusive!! (does not include airfare) Seriously, check it out! My code is good until December 2023.

Arrival- airport and travel

You can fly into Mazatlan via American Airlines. American Airlines average cost for a flight is around $500 round trip with a stop in either Dallas or Phoenix and a total travel time of about 5 hours. You can leave KC at like 7am and get into Mazatlan at 1pm! It’s really not a long travel day! Mazatlan is only an hour difference (earlier) from CST, for my local KC readers!

The resort is about 27 minutes from the airport. The airport there is fairly small. Masks were required as of May 2022 in the airport but once we got through customs and the airport we did not have to have them on the rest of the trip.

We reserved transportation to and from the airport through the resort. I recommend having the resort pick you up because you know you can trust the driver, they know where they are going and they can just include it in your bill with the resort.

It was a very nice drive from the airport to the resort. It was short which was nice and we got to see the city and neat scenery.

The entire trip was VERY SAFE. I felt safe the entire time we were there and so did my parents. My mom usually gets a little nervous traveling and she said she didn’t feel that way at all while we were there. Mazatlan was extremely non commercialized which we LOVED. It felt more low-key as far as resorts go. We felt safe to leave and see the city and then come back to the resort as the resort was in town and close to everything. Everyone was very helpful. Mariachi bands were playing on the beach. Local people were selling jewelry and fruits. We felt like we were more in the Mexican Culture than other resorts we’ve been to in Mexico and we really enjoyed that.

Pueblo Bonito Mazatlan Resort

Pueblo Bonito Mazatlan is right in town. It is across from Bird Island, which made a beautiful view especially from our balcony. It was the very first all inclusive resort out of the resort group. The owners of Pueblo Bonito are from Mazatlan! It was recently remodeled and it is a very nice resort. I love all of the decor, the style and the concept of this resort in general.

The food was excellent. My dad loves homemade food and homemade food only (lol Thanksgiving meal for every meal type of guy), and honestly I was nervous about him because he is either a love it or hate it type of “foodie” but he absolutely loved everything and went on and on about it. You can get “americanized” food like hamburgers and chicken strips, they had steaks and seafood, but they also served food local to Mazatlan. It’s all inclusive, so we tried a little bit of everything! One of the best parts about an all inclusive, right?? They have breakfast everyday at Paloma’s and Cilantro’s. Paloma’s has a breakfast buffet but you can also order food from the menu there and Cilantro’s is a little more elevated, higher-end breakfast that you order from the menu. There are so many options, for example they had an omelet station and a waffle station along with 12 different types of pastries and donuts to choose from. It was all delicious.

I suggest making reservations for places and times you want to eat. At each PB resort, you get a butler. They are all connected to wifi, so you just text them with whatever you need. For example, they will remind you of your dinner reservations and if you can’t make the time, you just text your butler and they can push back your reservation for you or take care of whatever it is you might need.

There are TWO pools with pool bars and servers at each pool.
Travel Tip We took a lot of dollars, fives and even twenties to bring for tips. I mean, who doesn’t appreciate tips, right? So, we had excellent service while we were there.

Molly’s “Must Try”
Drink Recommendations

Here are my top drink recommendations at the resort. Remember, it’s all inclusive, so just try it and if you don’t love it, order something else!

Pina Colada
Red Fruit Mojito
Miami Vice
Modelo Light
Pacifico Light

The City of Mazatlan

We had SUCH a great time at the resort but also a lot of fun was had exploring the city of Mazatlan and hearing about the rich history of this unique city.

YOU MUST take a PULMONIA ride. Pulmonias are the size of a golf cart, but it looks like a little plastic car. They are called Pulmonias, which translates roughly to pneumonia (lol), because taxi cab drivers got upset when they first started being used several years ago because people preferred them over taxi cabs so the taxi drivers would tell people they will get sick with pneumonia if they took one since they are open air cars. Butttt that’s not true! It just stuck and is now a fun story. They are so much fun and a great way to tour the city!

Like I said, Pulmonias are open air cars, they drive slow and you can sightsee around the city. Your driver will tell you everything about the city and you can drink on them, they stop and let you get more drinks or use restrooms. They run about $20 an hour and you can fit about 4 people in there with you. We took one on our second day for about 3-4 hours. He took us all around and never got irritated with me wanting to stop every where to take pictures. Our driver spoke really great English and he told us all the history of everything, which I absolutely loved. I took a ton of pictures during our ride, check out my Mazatlan highlight on my Instagram about halfway through so you can see all of the videos! We loved it so much we did it again for our ride to the Observatory on the last night we were there.

Mazatlan Observatory! What an absolutely beautiful and informative tour and overall amazing experience. First, you watch an interesting historic video over the history of Mazatlan. You then ride a trolly cart to the top. Once there, you break into groups. There was an English speaking group and a Spanish speaking group. There were only two other English speakers there so our group was just a small group of five. Our guide took us around and showed us how they made mezcal and the history of why and how it’s made. They also have a bird sanctuary with rescued exotic birds. There are over 70 different species of birds. We were IN the cage with them!! One of the birds landed on me and tried to take off my earring. I haven’t laughed that hard in a long time!! It was SUCH a fun and different experience!

At the end of the tour you go to the very top of the observatory. They served wine, specialty drinks and small bites. It was very charming with a breathtaking view. I for sure recommend it. I’m so glad we went. It was an experience I would not have booked for myself but it was highly recommended by the amazing staff members at Pueblo Bonito Resorts. I’m so glad I listened to their recommendation and tried something new!

On Wednesday night, we went to Casa 46 for dinner. Casa 46 is an off-site restaurant owned by Pueblo Bonito. It is down on Machado Square, or Plaza Machado. Machado Square gives off a cleaner New Orleans vibe. There was music on the street, people dancing and after a certain time, the streets would close down and restaurants would move their tables out to the street. Casa 46 is on the second story and they have a cool porch where we ate dinner that overlooks the Machado Square.

Other Stops to Make in Mazatlan

Famous Cathedral downtown
Drive by the Fish Market
Colorful streets
Walk through Plaza Machado
The Beatles Tribute
Lighthouse
Aquarium
Venados Game (Mazatlan’s Pro Baseball team)

Final Recommendation!

All in all, Pueblo Bonito, Mazatlan is now one of my top favorite resorts. It was a really cool experience. The service was amazing. You can be as causal or as dressy as you want! I was more dressy for the evenings just because I like to get dressed up! Everything is reasonably priced and inexpensive. Something I really admire about Pueblo Bonito is that they still paid all of their employees and workers their wages during the Covid shut down. Everybody who works there loves their job and it shows! We met a ton of employees who have worked there for 12 years, 20 years, 25 years. I think that’s a true testament to the management.

I, personally, like to be around people and be in a scene. I like to be busy. I know some people want to be more secluded on vacations and sit in quiet and read. Either vacation style is fine! It takes all types of people to make the world go round! I personally enjoyed Mazatlan the most. Maybe because I just went and I have never heard of anyone going there before so it seemed more new and different. But hey, either vacation style you are, Pueblo Bonito Resorts has you covered. I have been to each one of their all inclusive resorts. Keep reading for my takes on them and to see which one would fit your style best!

ALSO! Kids are welcome! It’s not overwhelmingly full of kids like Disney but there were kids at the resort enjoying family time. Look for specials on their website because different months have different specials, they even had a special where your first and second kids go for free. Right this very second they have a 60% off deal, and my code, ENJOYPB22, gets you an ADDITIONAL 10%. Again, you can use my code for any of their resorts. Below I will highlight a quick blurb about the differences in each of the resorts.

Emerald Bay, Mazatlan- If you’re looking for more of a secluded vibe where people aren’t trying to sell you things on the beach - more jungly and full of nature - peacocks and flamingos- more spread out and use golf carts to travel around. Not many people were on the beach or getting in the ocean here but instead using the many pools on the property.

If you go to Emerald Bay, you MUST get the iced Chocolate Milk at La Cordeliere. ( I think you have to order it from your server) It’s a French themed restaurant named after a French boat that sunk in the war in Mazatlan.

Cabo San Lucas

Sunset Beach - It’s a little more spread out and more family friendly. It’s a lot of walking and you use golf carts to get around. More of a pool scene, since you can’t always get in the ocean as it sits on the Pacific side of Cabo. It is right next to Pacifica. Each building at Sunset Beach has it’s own pool area.

Pacifica - It has been rated one of the top romantic resorts in the world. It is quiet and peaceful. Top of the line, fancier than the rest of the resorts. They have a cool swim up bar at the pool. It is for adults only. There are lots of couples and groups of couples. You can get a cabana at the beach, however, you can’t play in the ocean during certain times of the year, so it has more of a pool scene. I recommend Pacifica for groups of adults or honeymooners, or you and a significant other for a getaway. I mean, I went with my mom and then the second time with one of my best friends so you don’t have to be in a romantic relationship to enjoy this spectacular resort! 🤪

Quivera Golf Club is right off the ocean and it is immaculate..a really good steak house with a beautiful view. I think it has an upcharge, but totally worth it, especially if you’re there to celebrate a special occasion! If you stay at Pacifica, it is up the hill from there and they will transport you over there for your reservation!

Rose and Los Cabos - These are both right next to each other and directly across from the famous arch in Cabo. You can go to any of the bars or restaurants between the two, they share. I liked this spot a lot because you can get in the ocean here and the water and beach were really nice. You can also see the cruise ships ported right in front of this stretch of the beach and the popular Marina downtown is close by along with the trendy Cabo bars. The last time I was there was in January of 2020. Locals told us the best time of year to travel to Cabo is in the Winter time, Jan-Feb was their recommendation for the most beautiful weather and to be able whale watch. Highly recommend taking a boat tour to the arch right in front of these hotels if you stay here or are visiting Cabo.