Mazatlan Mexico Travel

Mexico travel briefs

It's about time -- Planning a trip to Mexico? When you're checking out the flight schedules, keep in mind that the saying, “spring forward, fall back” applies to times south of the border, too.
Just like in the U.S., Daylight Saving Time (DST) ends in Mexico on the first Sunday in November. So, at 2 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 1, you'll turn your watch back to 1 a.m. There's only two differences: First, the Mexican state of Sonora just south of Arizona doesn't observe DST, and Mexico has three time zones versus four in the U.S.
Baja California (the upper half of the Baja Peninsula below San Diego) is the only Mexican state on Pacific time. The bottom half of the Peninsula (Baja California Sur) is on mountain time, as are the western states of Sinaloa, Nayarit and Chihuahua. All the rest except Sonora are on central time.

) St. Regis resort on the Riviera Nayarit.
Visitors to the new resorts sprouting up on the Pacific beaches of the Riviera Nayarit are reminded that their nearest airport (sometimes just a few minutes away) at Puerto Vallarta is in the adjacent state of Jalisco – which is on central time (versus mountain time on the riviera).
Down to business – Perhaps you're going to a business meeting or a convention down south. If so, you'll find newly opened convention centers in Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta and Zacatecas and recently expanded centers in Colima, Guadalajara, Monterrey and Tampico. Also, new centers are planned to open over the next year or two in Aquascalientes, Ciudad del Carmen, Queretaro and Torreon.
New in Mexico City – Visitors who need to be hospitalized or who run into emergencies in Mexico City are eligible for the free benefits of a recently debuted Medical Assistance Program (MAP). Accessed through a 24/7 multilingual call center, free MAP services – said to be the first of their kind in the world – range from ambulance rides to hospital stays and even coverage of your hotel bills while you're recovering from illnesses or surgery. Another part of the program offers free legal services to visitors who've been robbed or lose their passports or other important documents. More information on MAP: http://watchboom.com/archives/www.mexicocity.gob.mx.
Good deals – Between deeply discounted airfares and all kinds of money-saving promotions at hotels, vacationers heading to Mexico this fall will enjoy some of the best travel bargains in years. Says Mexico travel analyst Jaime Capuli, “On top of a global economic meltdown, our country's tourism industry has been hit by everything from the H1N1 swine flu to battles between druglords and even a couple of earthquakes...and now corporate executives are scrambling to fill all those empty airline seats and hotel beds. For tourists, Mexico is truly a buyers' market.”

Hoteliers hope to see more vacationers on Mexico's beaches.

Ixtapa Jewelry manager Nacho Salazar says silver prices have been cut to the bone.

At the swanky Ritz-Carlton in Cancun, for example, guests can book four consecutive nights for the price of three nights. (Standard rates start at $269 a night for a double room.) The deal is good through Dec. 15. Capuli notes, “This fall, it'll be hard to find a hotel that hasn't slashed its prices.”
He said Mexican merchants are crossing their fingers that conditions will be substantially improved in 2010 by the time two top milestones in the country's history roll around. First will be the bicentennial celebration of the event that launched Mexico's war of independence from Spain, to be followed by the 100th anniversary of the onset of the Mexican revolution, both to be marked by country-wide festivities next fall.
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Story and photos by Bob Schulman