I am thinking about a short holiday to the West Coast of Mexico (either Puerto Vallarta or Mazatlan). I am wondering if it is practical to book a one-way flight and then return by bus up the west coast of Mexico to San Diego or v/v.

Can anyone provide me with information about bus service:
-schedules
-fares
-website links much appreciated
-also any info about language barrier (I don't speak Spanish) and safety would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

I'm curious, too.

I am not sure about service from San Diego but once inside Mexico the buses are wonderful. I am particularly fond of ETN. Here is a link if you can figure out the spanish.


http://www.etn.com.mx/

Highly recomended.

The major bus line serving northwest Mexico is TAP (Transportes y Autobuses del Pacifico). Website is http://www.tap.com.mx

First class service from Mazatlan to Tijuana currently prices at 875 pesos one way. Trip takes roughly 26 hours so you'll probably want to break this up somewhat. There are frequent departures. BTW, Puerto Vallarta to Mazatlan is a 7-1/2 hour bus ride and costs 280 pesos one way.

Here's a typical itinerary for Mazatlan-Tijuana that I got off the website. Each city pair is followed by the departure date/time and arrival date/time. This trip departs Mazatlan at 12:30 a.m.:

MAZATLAN - LOS MOCHIS
24/03/2007 00:30 24/03/2007 05:45
LOS MOCHIS - OBREGON
24/03/2007 06:00 24/03/2007 09:30
OBREGON - HERMOSILLO
24/03/2007 10:15 24/03/2007 13:45
HERMOSILLO - SANTA ANA
24/03/2007 14:15 24/03/2007 16:30
SANTA ANA - ALTAR
24/03/2007 16:45 24/03/2007 17:45
ALTAR - CABORCA
24/03/2007 17:45 24/03/2007 18:05
CABORCA - SONOYTA
24/03/2007 18:15 24/03/2007 20:15
SONOYTA - SAN LUIS RIO COLORADO
24/03/2007 20:45 24/03/2007 23:15
SAN LUIS RIO COLORADO - MEXICALI
24/03/2007 23:30 24/03/2007 23:40
MEXICALI - TIJUANA
25/03/2007 00:00 25/03/2007 02:40

The Ticketbus (https://www.ticketbus.com.mx/ticketbus/inicio.jsp) website (a little klugey, but usable,) has some good information on the various classes of busses, lines and destinations.

For (also at times klugey) English use this link (https://www.ticketbus.com.mx/ticketbus/eng/index.jsp).

I only wish we had bus service like Mexico's Luxury / Executive services in the US!

ETN is by far the best bus I was on in Mexico.