Getting to Mazatlan… Travel Information
Fly, drive or bus
Air travel to Mazatlán from the US is relatively expensive, there
are connections from most American and Canadian cities and non-stops from
Los Angeles, San Francisco, Phoenix, Denver, Salt Lake City and Houston
daily.
FROM EUROPE
There are daily flights to Mexico City from major European cities with frequent connections to Mazatlán. There are also connections through Los Angeles.
FROM THE PACIFIC
There are several daily non-Stop flights from Los Angeles.
Bus Travel to Mazatlan
If you live in the Southwest driving or bus travel are often the best option. The 750 mile tollway from Nogales to Mazatlan is in excellent condition but very busy with trucks and busses. If you're driving alone it can be quite expensive when you add up insurance, road tolls and gas. The bus is not for everyone, it's a long 16 hour journey from Nogales with at least 6 stops if you can't get a direct non-stop service.
MEXICAN BUSSES
Unlike the airlines you travel when you like, just buy a ticket when you're ready to travel, no restrictions. These modern German busses are clean and comfortable with toilets and movies. Seats are a good 30% wider than the airline's with lots of legroom. Often you will end up with two seats to yourself, if you take a night bus.
Getting information online about busses to Mazatlán is difficult, we find only a few bus lines that operate from the US or border towns with websites. Tufesa (see right) leaves several times a day from Los Angeles, Phoenix and Tucson. Travel time can vary depending on the service you take. If you travel over the border to bus stations in Mexico there are more choices, leaving every 30 minutes, TAP and Tufesa are two offering first class service from the west and Grupo Senda from the east. Few offer non-stop so check before you go.
Tufesa offers some non-stop services on their luxury Gold busses from US cities. These run to major cities like Culiacán, where you can change to another bus for the two hour trip to Mazatlan. Their website doesn't mention this so call their local number for information, listed on their site.
If you're traveling long distances try the night busses, leave Nogales at 3pm arrive Mazatlán around 8:30am. Or take a break half way and spend the night. Guaymas/San Carlos is a good stop and the hotel Armida is two blocks down the street from the bus station.
