Mazatlán

Four Mazatlán days from the cathedral to Isla de la Piedra

Spend your first Mazatlán day in the old town. Begin at the cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, finished in 1899, where Stars of David in the upper stained glass recall a Jewish family who helped pay for it, then visit the Mercado Pino Suárez and walk the restored streets to the Plazuela Machado.

Tour the Teatro Ángela Peralta in the afternoon and come back to the plaza for dinner.

Day two: the headland. Climb to El Faro early, before the heat, on the stepped trail up Cerro del Crestón. Back at sea level, walk the malecón north past Olas Altas to El Clavadista, where divers leap from a rock tower into a shallow channel when the waves come in. Spend sunset at an Olas Altas bar.

Day three: islands. Take the small boat across the channel to Isla de la Piedra, a long, sandy beach with palapa restaurants serving fried fish, and go horse riding or just swim. Alternatively, join a boat or kayak trip to Isla de Venados, off the Zona Dorada, for snorkelling.

Day four: the north. Ride a pulmonía up the malecón, stopping at Playa Norte's monuments: the Fishermen's Monument, a bronze pulmonía and a tribute to the Pacífico brewery. Spend the afternoon on Playa Sábalo or Cerritos, and end the night in the Zona Dorada bars or back on the Machado.

Aguachile, zarandeado and smoked marlin tacos

Mazatlán's fleet lands some of Mexico's best shrimp, and aguachile is the way to eat it: raw shrimp butterflied and drowned in lime juice blitzed with green chilli, cucumber and red onion, served with tostadas, fierce and very fresh. Shrimp also come grilled, breaded, in garlic or in tall cocktail glasses with tomato broth.

Pescado zarandeado is whole fish, split open, rubbed with a chilli and citrus marinade and grilled over coals in a hinged basket, a dish to share at a beach palapa. At taco stands, try marlin ahumado, smoked marlin stewed with tomato and chilli, and fish or shrimp tacos at breakfast. South of the city, the town of Escuinapa makes tamales barbones, filled with whole shrimp whose whiskers poke out of the dough.

Inland Sinaloa adds chilorio, pork slowly cooked in chilli sauce and eaten in flour tortillas, and machaca. Mazatlecos are also keen on steak, so beef shows up on menus everywhere.

For eating, the Mercado Pino Suárez has cheap fondas, and shrimp sellers at street stands weigh out the day's catch by size. Seafood stands across the city do brisk business at lunch, and many close by early evening. Have your evening meal around the Plazuela Machado, where the restaurants spill out under the trees.

Finish with a coconut from a beach vendor, cut open and dressed with lime, salt and chilli powder, and a cold Pacífico, brewed in town since 1900.

Carnaval on Olas Altas, snowbird winters and hurricane months

Mazatlán's dry season runs from November to May, with highs of 25 to 30 C and almost no rain. January and February are coolest, with nights around 15 C and brisk water, when snowbirds from Canada and the western US fill the beach condos; March to May bring warmer seas and the clearest skies.

Carnaval is the city's showpiece and among the oldest in Mexico, dating back to the 19th century. It runs for about a week before Ash Wednesday, usually in February or early March, with nightly concerts along Olas Altas, the crowning of the Carnaval queen, poetry and literary prizes, and the Combate Naval, a fireworks display that re-enacts the 1864 defence of the port against the French. Parades roll along the malecón on the weekend. Hotels sell out, so book early.

March and April bring Spring Break crowds and Holy Week, when Mexican families pack the beaches.

The humidity climbs in June, and from July to September storms bring 170 to 230 mm of rain a month. Pacific hurricanes can hit until October, though direct strikes are rare. Prices drop and beaches empty, so it is a fair choice for flexible travellers with travel insurance.

By November the rains are over, the first winter visitors arrive and the beach restaurants reopen their full menus.