Mazatlan

Mazatlan may be less manicured than other coastal Mexican resorts, but it offers surprisingly affordable beachfront golf, fresh lobster dinners and an authentic cobble stoned old town.  Climb up to Mazatlan Lighthouse, which crowns the rugged Crestor Hill at the bottom of the Peninsula, for swivel views of the city, harbor, foam-fringed bays and the never ending Pacific.  True to Mexican form, at sundown Mazatlan wheels out smiling mariachi bands, unscrews the tequila bottle and dances on tabletops until the wee hours.  Locals and tourists mingle in beachfront bars, clubs and in old Mazatlan's rustic cantinas.  Matazlan's festive hospitality is epitomized by the Hotel Plaza.  Mazatlan's free beach fireworks show every Sunday evening in fall and winter.