Mazatlan Frank

[abhb]

I would like to book Frank. He has so many tours. For those of you that have used Frank, what tour do you suggest? We don't want to do the beach.

[lovevacadays]

His city tour is really great. The best time I've had in Mazatlan of the 8 times I've been there. However, you should email him first and ask him what tours he has available for the date you are there. He does list alot of tours on his site but doesn't do every tour every day. He takes first come, first served. So if someone has asked for a specific tour he will then fill up that tour for that date. He also has a minimum number of people he will need to do a tour. For instance, I asked him about a tour to the villages outside of Mazatlan for last February and he needed a minimum of six people to do it. I was traveling solo and he didn't have anyone else interested in the tour so no go. He does a tour himself and then has a couple of other guides that do tours as well.

[gocalfan]

You will love Frank's tours. My family split up in Mazatlan, some did the zip line while others did the Pacifico Brewery Tour. His guides are highly professional as is Frank. Prices are also cheaper than the ship's prices. What is nice is when you are walking through the terminal and everyone is yelling at you for a deal, all you need is to say "we are with Frank" and they will leave you alone and point the way to Frank. You won't be sorry! :)

[vplsh]

I agree. We did the city tour with Frank 2 years ago and it was great. We are booked to go to the Pacifico Brewery this time.

[Sunny AZ Girl]

We did Frank's City & Beach Tour two years ago and loved it. We are repeating it in a month.:)

 

Here are my pictures of that tour:

 

http://travel.webshots.com/album/562311829vTFOQg?start=96

[belkin]

Sunny Az Girl thanks for the pictures they are really nice. We will be on the splendor January 2011.

[Gingee]

Thank you Sunny for the pictures of the tour with Mazaltan Frank. Do you feel like the tour of the city was worth it or could you have walked around the town from the ship?

[lovevacadays]

Thank you Sunny for the pictures of the tour with Mazaltan Frank. Do you feel like the tour of the city was worth it or could you have walked around the town from the ship?

 

Hello, Franks' city tour is actually really spread out so you couldn't walk it. You could walk the Old town portion on your own. Here is what our city tour with Frank included: ( we just did the city tour and didn't add a resort or beach time)

 

We left the cruise terminal and drove up to a lookout point high above the city. It was a beautiful view of Mazalan, the cruise ships docked and the lovely ocean. There was a little shopping area there as well. From there we went to Old Mazatlan and saw the cathedral which was beautiful and had a chance to walk through the farmer's type market there. This is where the locals shop for their produce, meat and etc. You do need to walk into the market past the T-Shirt and touristy stalls before you see the very interesting market. From there Frank took us around the back of the market to see the seafood market which was quite interesting. From there we went to see the cliff divers, from there he took us back to Old town but a bit north of the area we were in previously. The second old town area he tooks us to is being restored and was quite interesting. We also saw a "town square" there which was really beautiful and the Opera House, from there he took us to a family's house/studio. They did pottery and some jewelry so an interesting stop to shop if you want to, from there he drove us through a neighborhood that had large, beautiful homes, from there we went to the Golden Zone for a quick shopping stop, from there we went to Tony's on the Beach for lunch (extra charge) but worth it. We had something called the lava which was really tasty and had chicken, beef, lots of yummy stuff and the waiter was giving us free shots of teguila. It is right on the beach so you do have a little time to walk on the beach if you would like(what I liked about it is that because it is north of the Golden Zone it isn't packed with cruise ship passengers like some of the resorts and restaurants in the Golden zone are, from there he took us north to see the new marina area and all the new hotels being built (we were on this tour in 2008 so some of those hotels are now open) from there he took us through another section of town completely non-tourist - just locals. It looked like a middle class part of town in Mazatlan. There were many shopping malls, houses, restaurants. Very intersting. And from there back to the ship. I had been to Mazatlan 6 previous times but never had quite the wonderul impression of Mazatlan until I did this tour. If you can't book Frank, I'm sure there are other tour guides that do something similar.

 

Have fun in Mazatlan:):):)

[Gingee]

Thanks. I think we are booking him along with some other cruise critic people. We are also doing the stone island thing with him (which I guess you don't need for that but oh well).

[lovevacadays]

Thanks. I think we are booking him along with some other cruise critic people. We are also doing the stone island thing with him (which I guess you don't need for that but oh well).

 

Enjoy your time with Frank. If you are doing a city tour and Stone Island the same day you won't do the same things I outlined in my earlier email as we did just the all day city tour.

[Sunny AZ Girl]

Sunny Az Girl thanks for the pictures they are really nice. We will be on the splendor January 2011.

 

Thank you Sunny for the pictures of the tour with Mazaltan Frank. Do you feel like the tour of the city was worth it or could you have walked around the town from the ship?

Thank you for the picture compliments. We did the same tour as described by Chloedmom. And she is right, you could not do this by just walking around on your own. I hear so many people say that Mazatlan is nothing special. However, none of them has ever seen Mazatlan through Frank's eyes!

 

Since I did do this tour 2 years ago I would have normally chosen another tour this time (with Frank). However, my DH was not along that time I know he would enjoy seeing Mazataln the same way we saw it - so this time it's for him. Next time we may choose to go on one of his other tours.

[mountainhouse]

We had a great time with him a few weeks ago. He talked about setting up more unusual tours in the future, specifically for repeat customers. He mentioned a tour that would involve some cooking classes. Also, maybe some gourmet food. Interesting! Sounds like fun. If we decide to go to Mexico next year again, we'll definitely use him! Here's some more photos.

[lovevacadays]

We had a great time with him a few weeks ago. He talked about setting up more unusual tours in the future, specifically for repeat customers. He mentioned a tour that would involve some cooking classes. Also, maybe some gourmet food. Interesting! Sounds like fun. If we decide to go to Mexico next year again, we'll definitely use him! Here's some more photos.

 

That's cool to hear that Frank may add some additional tours. I cruise the Mexican Riviera every 1-2 years so would love to try something new.

[Gingee]

Where do you get to see the sand scultures and the people flying in the air?

[mountainhouse]

Where do you get to see the sand scultures and the people flying in the air?

 

Both were on the beach near the church in PV.

[lovevacadays]

Where do you get to see the sand scultures and the people flying in the air?

 

The sand sculptures are in Old Mazatlan very close to the Peralta Opera House. There is a really nice "city square" area with some lovely trees, flowers, and restaurants. This is not the city square area where the cathedral is. A taxi driver should be able to tell you.

 

The Paplanta Flyers are in the Golden Zone area.

[Gingee]

Hopefully Frank will take us there. Are the sand sculptures always there? Wouldn't the rain make them go away?

[lovevacadays]

Hopefully Frank will take us there. Are the sand sculptures always there? Wouldn't the rain make them go away?

 

Frank will most likely take you to the sand sculptures in Old Mazatlan. He is pretty flexible as long as everyone in the group agrees. As you saw from my earlier posting, this would be part of his regular city tour but you have added Stone Island so I'm not sure but would think he will do this. These sand sculptures are very elaborate (and not ones done on the beach). They are done by a couple of local artists and quite amazing. I'm sure the rain does wash them away and they do new ones. When we were there the artists were actually there working and had a couple of completed ones and were working on another. We were able to ask them some guestions using Frank as interpretor. Also the city square that they are in is quite lovely with nice foliage and some sidewalk cafes.

[dragon44]

We tried to schedule Frank in Mazatlan in early April but he was booked. He directed us to his associate Ismael Osuna. Ismael was a fine guy. He was very personable and knowledgeable and spoke passable English. The requisite and unwanted trip to the silver store was our only complaint. We saw the cliff divers, went to a catherdral and a local market and ate in a great seafood restaurant. Ismael says if you haven't eaten shrimp in Mazatlan, you haven't been to Mazatlan. He was right, the shrimp in the restaurant he took us to were the largest and the best I've ever eaten.

 

Our only complaint was that we feel we were a little bit taken. We were the only ones scheduled for this tour and agreed to a price of $35 each online. Ismael picked up three other couples while we waited and only charged them $25 per person. At least that's what he charged the two French Canadian couples who toured with us. So we would have been better off just casting around for a tour than booking in advance online.

 

On the other there is security in booking with a reputable operator like Frank even if you have to pay a slight premium. We took a private tour in Acapulco and were somewhat disappointed. It's the luck of the draw when you book this way.

 

If you pay for the highly priced ships tours you almost always get at least as much as you expect. If you're only going to these places once it might be worth it to bite the bullet and make sure you get what you want.

[big green]

How is the food???

 

BG

[Sunny AZ Girl]

How is the food???

 

BG

We really loved it! Yummy........

 

Seafood platter for two

 

Simmering cheese & chicken wrapped in tortillas

 

[JYL]

thanks for the pics, Ginny. We're taking the Mariner 5/30, so please make sure you leave plenty of food for us! I hope you have a great cruise and if you have any new insights, come back on and post, please. This will be our first time in Mazatlan and Cabo. I can't wait :)

[lovevacadays]

aaaah Ginny. Your pictures make me want to be at Tony's on the Beach eating that wonderful dish that is in the black container. I believe it was called "lava" something? It was soooo good.

[Sunny AZ Girl]

thanks for the pics, Ginny. We're taking the Mariner 5/30, so please make sure you leave plenty of food for us! I hope you have a great cruise and if you have any new insights, come back on and post, please. This will be our first time in Mazatlan and Cabo. I can't wait :)

LOL! I'm not sure if I can be good while I am there. I am looking forward to that Premier Seafood Platter again.....not even sure if I want to share!;) Seriously, you also get chips and delicious tortilla soup with it. So, two of us could not even finish the platter. it would have worked for three. We ended up giving some of the shrimp to an 8 year old on our tour who did not like his hamburger and he was in heaven. Another adult als tried the hamburger and did not like it. I would probably avoid that. But the seafood and mexican food - delish!:)

 

aaaah Ginny. Your pictures make me want to be at Tony's on the Beach eating that wonderful dish that is in the black container. I believe it was called "lava" something? It was soooo good.

My Mom had that dish. I can't remember the name for sure but I do think Lave was part of it. It was a dish that Frank recommended. It is served in a real Lava rock that was shaped like a bear. Mom liked it so much she asked to buy the dish. The owner sold it to her for $10 and we lugged that heavy thing all the way home!

[bedfordmom]

We tried to schedule Frank in Mazatlan in early April but he was booked. He directed us to his associate Ismael Osuna. Ismael was a fine guy. He was very personable and knowledgeable and spoke passable English. The requisite and unwanted trip to the silver store was our only complaint. We saw the cliff divers, went to a catherdral and a local market and ate in a great seafood restaurant. Ismael says if you haven't eaten shrimp in Mazatlan, you haven't been to Mazatlan. He was right, the shrimp in the restaurant he took us to were the largest and the best I've ever eaten.

 

Our only complaint was that we feel we were a little bit taken. We were the only ones scheduled for this tour and agreed to a price of $35 each online. Ismael picked up three other couples while we waited and only charged them $25 per person. At least that's what he charged the two French Canadian couples who toured with us. So we would have been better off just casting around for a tour than booking in advance online.

 

On the other there is security in booking with a reputable operator like Frank even if you have to pay a slight premium. We took a private tour in Acapulco and were somewhat disappointed. It's the luck of the draw when you book this way.

 

If you pay for the highly priced ships tours you almost always get at least as much as you expect. If you're only going to these places once it might be worth it to bite the bullet and make sure you get what you want.

 

 

Hi we also toured with Ishamael last week as Frank was booked. We were a party of eight so we had the van to ourselves. We enjoyed the tour except for the two requisite stops for jewelry (we did buy from a unique shop next door) We used their clean bathrooms and drank their soda so it wasn't a total waste. I also figured that we could have bargained at the stop but for the $35 we had the confidence that we would be safe if Frank recommended the guide. "Smiley" also gave us close to five hours rather than four for our tour which I thought was a good deal.