I like the revival!
Mazatlan - Mexico
https://mediaim.expedia.com/destinat...6&h=384&q=high
I don't know how to post pics with the new 2p2 format, bleh. pic above is the city from the north - Golden zone - where higher end tourists live. Top of the pic far away is downtown/centro. Really nice and tons of good restaurants, one of the only decent and safe centros of any latin american city imo
Often overlooked by tourists, I think Mazatlan has a ton of potential. The state is Sinaloa, where famous el chapo drug dealer comes from - but this is mostly just media garbage and if you aren't in that industry there's not much to worry about. Medellin was similar for years and everyone was afraid to go pre 2010. Absolute glory years there from 2010 to 2016 or so when gringo tourists from the world over came and took over. I see similar with mazatlan. It's also the ONLY major city in mexico with warm water year round waves in front of your doorstep.
Cost of Living - 5/10 Honestly not tons of value in mexico overall. Summertime is low season for mazatlan, as most tourists are Canadian snowbirds looking to escape winter - so prices and availability is a bit better during summer months. Can find decent apartment for $500/mo, very nice for $1000/mo that will be within a block of the beach. High rise luxury places on the beach start around $1.5k/mo. Food isn't the cheapest, lots of seafood which can be pricey, but you can always eat for $5 and have just about anything on the menu for $10. Beers are $1.50 in resturants. Buses are amazing here and cost 50 cents, the only place you need to be is along the coast so the bus takes you there simple. Uber also cheap.
Recreation - 7/10 I live in mazatlan for warm water surf in a big city in mexico, so that's really all I came for. I do have a lot of fun, and its a gigantic destination for mexican tourists from neighboring states, so weekends crack off like crazy. There's some really fun clubs I visited a handful of times, and if you get in with the right crew then party life goes on and on and on. Lots of ocean activities, one of my friends is a tour guide and takes people kayaking to a close island, then on a boat to go whale/dolphin/turtle watching. Winter months mazatlan is one of the more famous places in the world to see whale breeding grounds. The boardwalk is one of the longest in the americas like 5-6 miles and is fun to cruise down, always packed with people skating, jogging, chilling.
How Scary? - 6/10 It's still mexico. I wouldn't come to live if you don't speak spanish, but locals have been improving their english over the years. There's 2 basic zones to live in, centro being one of them and is not the safest to be alone past midnight. Where I live is called the golden zone and 24/7 it's pretty much fine to cruise around the street running along the beach. I've been stopped by police 4-5 times in the 5 months there, just lots of **** talking and threats but they never do anything and I never pay the bribe if I'm not in the wrong. Police suck here. People are pretty cool here. Narco activity really doesn't exist at all. Girls aren't the easiest but you'll get laid. You probably won't be robbed if you are smart, I'm a dirty drunk skater wandering around at 2am sometimes so I get into some interesting situations
Poker Playing - 4/10 There actually is poker! Multiple casinos right next to my house, and one of them runs poker thurs-sunday I believe. Again summer is low season for tourists, but they were running 25/50 games which is like 200NL or so. No idea of softness of games and I believe rake is 5% and there is a cap. Always meant to go splash around on a drunken night but never did.
How Easy to Get There and Stay There? 8/10 Not tons of direct flights but coming from USA is simple. Town is 20 mins from airport. Once here ubers are great and its like $4 from one side of the city to the other, plus a bunch of weird go cart pickup truck filled with 12 mismatching speakers blasting music and fun to take with friends. Buses also legitimately great here and I take them often.