Updated January 2020

Mazatlán’s Olas Altas and El Centro

Each time I start a new "tour" in Mexico, I enjoy sharing pictures and videos of the place I’ve rented for that year. With every passing summer, I’ve inched a little further south on Mazatlán’s malecón, ending up this year in a flat in the area of Olas Altas (Tall Waves), the most well-known of Mazatlán’s surf spots.

If you’re sightseeing on a boat off Olas Altas looking toward land, you would be facing El Centro, the city’s historic district. You have both the best surf and the most intriguing part of the city at your feet by living near Olas Altas and the city’s historic district.

Practically all colonial towns in Mexico have an El Centro, or historic commercial center. The historic districts are among the most desired places to live among expats. Full of music, colorful plazuelas, galleries and restaurants, expats feel they can better breathe in the Mexican culture in these older neighborhoods.

What makes El Centro in Mazatlán distinct from historical districts in other Mexican towns is the Angela Peralta Opera House, which serves a wide selection of play, ballet, concerts, exhibits and of course, opera. Once I had the privilege of hearing graduating opera singers sing their final exams to an audience of 80 people in one of its adjacent galleries. 

Living in El Centro is particularly exciting these days because of the millions of dollars recently invested upgrading the area. The city has planted up lit palm trees in the sidewalks throughout El Centro and the malacón. The results are dramatic and the upgrades continue.

The city widened a large section of the strand and prohibited traffic from buses to better accommodate the throngs of couples and families who promenade along the malecón (beach boulevard) every night eating raspados (a type of snow cone they top with all kinds of craziness) and buying baubles from table vendors. Several new restaurants have opened on the malecón’s beach side, like Muchachos, which usually has a line out the door.

My place is one of five privately-owned flats in the small two-level complex at the top of a short hill. As frequently happens since I stay during shoulder months and off season, I am here alone, giving me complete privacy to the pool and the little compound. I also love its location at top of a short hill. The street dead ends on the malecón.  From my patio, I can look down my street and still see people strolling and hear music from the party buses.

After four years doing this reverse schedule, coming in the summer with a shoulder month or two, I can’t imagine scheduling it differently. The city isn’t full of expats. I can negotiate good deals on rent. I don’t have to listen to any “you’d better reserve it right now” pressure from property managers and realtors. Owners are more relaxed about deposits in low season, and not as insistent on paying rent in advance.

Decorated in peach tone furniture, with brightly painted and decorate walls, it scores the highest with my Mexican friends and is the coziest of any I’ve ever rented. They especially adore the pool (I’ve never met a Mexican yet who didn’t love a private pool). The place costs about $950 dollars a month, including 800 pesos towards the electricity and internet. Emptied of tourists, the shoulder months spent are more authentically Mexican.

On those nights that I’m not writing or cooking, I take occasional breaks to play in the water by the pool lights. I often find myself meditating on all the forces that brought me to Mexico (and why sage looks so different here)

The sounds of a Mexican neighborhood

What I’ll always remember most about this apartment will be its constant gentle cacophony of sounds. When Helen Keller was asked which sense she missed most, she said hearing. I’ve always been similarly attuned - whether it’s music, the crack of the lightning, or the distinctive deep-throated rumble of a Harley Davidson motorcycle. (One of the most erotic experiences I ever had was a boyfriend simply leaning over my shoulder and seductively whispering in my ear).

About an hour before dawn in this apartment, I hear the birds shaking themselves awake. A multitude of doves begin their cooing. By dawn, they are in full orchestra.  In mid-morning, I might hear the strumming of a guitar from one of the neighboring apartment buildings. In the afternoon, an occasional truck with loudspeakers announces a sale or political candidate.  Once in a while, I hear someone speaking on the street below my windows, which carries the music of Spanish up to a point as to almost feeling part of the conversation.

As the day moves forward into the night, I start hearing geikos click their territorial or amorous intentions and an occasion reggaetón beat from the oregas (open red trucks with opposing bench seats in the back for transporting larger groups) on the malecón. All of these sounds set themselves against the more powerful voice of the Pacific ocean that lies at the foot of the hill.

Strangely, I knew none of these audio qualities when I chose the place. Many rental units in Mexican coastal towns lack oven. A number of recipes for my cookbook, The Lazy Expat: Healthy Recipes That Translate in Mexico needed to be tested multiple times in Mexican and U.S kitchens. I needed an oven for testing some of the recipes. (I consequently learned they could usually be made in a toaster oven).

Ironically, the oven turned out to be flat’s only freaky feature. I’d like to say it’s from the 50’s, but I’m not sure it’s that advanced. It’s a stainless steel box on top of a gas flame coil. Its settings are 1-2-3-4-5.  You can hear the the oven breathing, as if alive, when you open the door.

These sounds are often enough, but some nights when I’m restless, it’s only a ten minute walk to El Centro, where even if am by myself, I never feel alone.

Related: 

From mobile homes to casitas, you have many choices of lifestyle in Mexico. - Ventanas Mexico

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If you think you have to speak fluent Spanish to get anything out of a poetry reading in Mexico, you'd be wrong. It’s a “Best Practice” way of making Mexican friends.

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Choosing a dentist in Mexico and its surprising cultural overtones [blog]

About the Author

Kerry Baker is the author of "If Only I Had a Place," a guide to renting well in Mexico. Renting in Mexico is different. Avoid the pitfalls and take advantage of the special opportunities you have as an expat renting in Mexico. Get the most luxurious places for less year after year.

The third book is “The Mexico Solution": Saving your money, sanity, and quality of life through part-time life in Mexico.”  This is the only manual on how to live in Mexico that will not leave you numb. It’s a how-to that reads like a novel. Her most recent book is a cookbook for travelers, snowbirds and expats, “The Lazy Expat: Healthy Recipes That Translate in Mexico.” Cooking in a foreign culture is a real challenge. This book will enable you to maintain a healthy diet in Mexico.