Originally Posted by
JDiver
Is Mazatlan safe? Relatively so - but it also depends on where one visits, what time of day or night, what activities one participates in. The fact many Mexicans from the City and Guadalajara are even now planning to visit Mazatlan in droves during semana santa (March 31 - April 8) with their families is a pretty good indication it's not so unsafe - though I can promise it will be crowded, dirty and with very high prices, so I'd certainly not go then.
Questioning whether or not it's safe to visit Mazatlan, the answer depends on who's asking. And at what level the person is traveling; the style of travel. I consider it unsafe, given my style of travel. But someone with money who stays in an AI or top-level place and doesn't venture out or doesn't travel as the average Mexican does ... will proably be very safe. Foreigners have the option of visiting many different places. People in Mexico, Guadalajara as the example, don't. Not the average Mexican tourist. So a beach vacation to Mazatlan may be the only beach vacation possible. The same holds true for Capitalinos in Mexico City visiting Acapulco. More people were murdered last year in Acapulco than in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago ... combined. Yet that beach resort town will be crowded at Semana Santa. For the past two years, I've avoided Acapulco. This, after visiting once or twice yearly for more than 40 years, and monthly when I lived in the D.F. I have other choices. Surprisingly, one of them has been Rio de Janeiro. Go figure.