Firstly, The Mayan Sea Garden consists of 4 older buildings(small rooms) and a Mayan Regency building (larger more luxurious rooms). There are future plans for two more buildings and possibly the tearing down of the oldest building, I think.
My wife and I stayed at the Sea Garden Mazatlan for 2 weeks in Feb 2009 and thoroughly enjoyed our stay. Our room was older and small, but once we re-arranged furniture and settled in, it was really good.
We were lucky as Carnaval ( http://www.carnavalmazatlan.net/) happened during our stay. The parade was exciting and it was a big celebration for Mazatlan. People came to town from all over Mexico.
The Staff were always very helpful and the rooms were in pretty good shape considering it is an older resort. Everything worked and if it didn't, they fixed it right away. Our room was in one of the older buildings and had 2 bedrooms and a kitchenette. We had a partial ocean view from the balcony which was good and an awesome ocean view from our room entrance. The bathroom was small but had a huge shower. The sink was separate from the toilet and shower room. The Master had a King size bed and the 2nd bedroom had two singles. We used it as a changing room.
We mostly cooked breakfast or just had cereal and fruit each day and if we stayed at the resort (pool day), we made lunch in our room too. Food was so reasonable at MEGA. We love to try different cuisine, so we did eat out a lot in town or at a lovely quiet restaurant near Cerritos which we walked to on the beach. It was great to watch dolphins and sunsets from here.
We also would sometimes plan a stop at Mega on our way back from a sightseeing trip to town to pick up shrimp for dinner (124.90 Pesos a kilo). Awesome!!! I also became a master at making beef quesadillas.
I can't comment much on the restaurants at the Sea Garden (we usually ate while we were out or in our room) except that they were always busy breakfast, lunch and dinner. We did have a drink at the pool once and had lunch on our last day while waiting for King David to take us to the Airport (return trip 290.00 pesos for 2). It was a sad day because we were leaving, but the awesome burger we had by the pool, watching the waiters feed the resident Iguana some canteloupe, eased the pain a bit. All prices I saw on the room service menu, pool snack bar and restaurant menu seemed reasonable to me even with the mandatory 15% tip added. Our lunch was around 250.00 pesos and was very good.
The swimming pools were all great. The two pools we frequented were near our building and were definitely heated. The main pool was always crowded and lot's of people were swimming so I assume it was heated too. I did dip my foot in that pool one day on my way to the beach and it felt warm. The pools, gardens, building hallways and all guest areas were always very clean and tidy.
If you go, you have to check out the model suites for their next addition to the Sea Garden. They are incredible! We didn't take the sales presentation which was offered at check in and twice during our stay, but we did wander through these suites on our own. They are at the end of the main pool near the sales centre.
The Resort is a good distance from the Golden Zone (Zona Dorada) and downtown, but is a quiet retreat if you want one. I would recommend this resort to anyone interested in R & R. There are some activities put on by the Resort if you are interested.
Below are some tips we learned while we were there:
Taxi's & other Transport:
After you book, Email the Sea Garden concierge from their Website and tell them when you are arriving, they wil most likely offer to pick you up at the airport. They use King David Transportation which is excellent. Our plane was delayed 2 1/2 hours and they were there waiting for us!!! Awesome tour company (We did the Tequila Factory tour), I would recomend them for any tours they offer.
Be sure to get a list of Taxi rates when you check in.
Taxi rates are fixed, we were told. Pulmonia (open air Volkswagen "Thing") rates are sometimes negotiable depending on the time of day and where you are going (IE: If the chance of getting a fare back is good, your ride will be cheaper). Rule of thumb they are usually cheaper than a cab but, if you think it's too much, try another Pulmonia to get a comparison or just don't be so cheap, you are on vacation. Most Pulmonias have loud stereos and you can request what you want to hear if they have it. Taking a Pulmonia at night can be a chilling experience, hence the translation: Pulmonia = Pnemonia.
If you are comfortable with the local buses, use them. They stop right out front and charge 5.50 (pesos) - 8.00 (pesos). The 8.00 peso bus is air conditioned. Buses run back and forth about every 5 minutes up until 9:00 -10:00 pm or so. I don't know how early they start.
Basics for buses:
Try to find a bus stop if you can, but the bus will stop anywhere it's safe to do so, just wave your hand. Likewise at the bus stop, wave your hand if it is the bus you want, if not step back from the curb.
Sabalo Centro - This bus goes all the way downtown to the market and a little further.
Cerritos / Juarez - This bus goes to Valentino's just before the start of the Sea Wall (Malecon) and then turns left to Mega, Sam's Club and The Gran PLaza Mall. We would catch this one to Mega, shop and then cross the street to catch it back to The Sea Garden (Cerritos). Sometimes we would walk to MacDonald's as there is a bus stop there and it is safer for the bus to stop. If you buy lot's of groceries, take a Pulmonia or cab back (S/B about 80.00 pesos), the bell boy will carry all your groceries to your room. We tipped him for this service.
There are lots of other buses you will see after Mega, we didn't use any of these, but I imagine they will take you almost anywhere in Mazatlan. One even goes all the way to the airport.
Go here for a pretty good list of bus routes: http://www.mazinfo.com/visitors/busroute1.html
*Any questions, please email me and I will try to answer them. Any information I have given is our experience and always subject to change (That's the beauty of going to Mexico, it's always a learning experience.)
