Sightseeing Attractions
Acuario Mazatlán Aquarium The Mazatlan Aquarium - One of largest in Latin America!
Centro Historico | Plaza Machado | Angela Peralta Theater | Museo de Arte
Museo Arqueologico | Pedro Infante Museum | Pino Suarez Mercado Centro
Central Mazatlan Cathedral / Basilica | Malecon | Mazatlan Cliff Divers
Carpa Olivera Pool | Acuario Mazatlan Aquarium | El Faro Lighthouse
Bosque de la Ciudad | Estero del Yugo Nature Preserve
Free shows | Special activities
Conservation and animal rescue programs
The Mazatlan Aquarium -- Acuario Mazatlan -- is one of the largest in Latin America, and makes for very enjoyable Pearl of The Pacific sightseeing when you need a beach break.Founded in 1980, the Mazatlan Aquarium is the only aquarium on the Pacific coast of Mexico.
Its construction was funded by the state of Sinaloa, and the objective -- beautifully realized -- was to provide a space where residents and tourists can be entertained while learning important lessons that promote conservation and encourage connection with the sea and its wildlife.
The Acuario Mazatlan features the beautiful sea life that lives just off our coast, and is a great place to introduce children to the wonders of the ocean. With 52 tanks containing sharks, eels, seahorses, lobsters, and over 250 saltwater and freshwater species from around the world, the Mazatlan aquarium offers entertainment for the entire family.The collection is diverse and lots of fun: clownfish, octopus, seahorses and sturgeon cavort with sea turtles and sharks while dedicated tanks exhibit carnivorous piranhas and air breathing Mudskippers -- amphibious fish that breath air and use their fins to walk on land!
The scale of what you will see is breathtaking: the massive main Oceanic Fish Tank holds over 420,000 gallons of sea water!And don't forget to visit the Stingray Pool, 92,000 gallons of pure ray fun stocked with six different types of stingrays: Butterfly, Chilean, Common, Pelagic, Round and Tecolote.
One of the most popular Mazatlan tourist attractions, the Mazatlan aquarium draws international visitors and tourists from all over Mexico, with over 5000 visiting the facility in just one day over the Semana Santa holiday in 2014!
Acuario Mazatlan is also a great aquatic education teaching venue -- the aquarium hosted over 20,000 elementary school students last year alone.
Video about the Acuario Mazatlán aquarium
The aquarium hospital also provides care for hurt, sick or confiscated terrestrial and marine wildlife from South Sinaloa, and administers care for stranded marine mammals.
The Mazatlan aquarium also has sea lion and exotic bird shows which are usually offered several times a day.In addition to the sea life exhibits, the Mazatlan aquarium has another of the more-visited Pearl of The Pacific tourist attractions: a lovely adjoining botanical garden and aviary.
This shady oasis provides a nice place to take a break from sightseeing and cool off, and the bird shows staged there are a particular treat.
Conducted under the shade of a beautiful Huanacaxtle tree, Mazatlan aquarium staff teach about the habitats and behaviors of the many tropical birds that live in the botanical garden including the exciting Birds of Prey show featuring spectacular eagles and hawks.
The Mazatlan City Guide highly recommends a visit to the aquarium!
Location Avenida de los Deportes 111 Two blocks inland from the Malecon, it's fronted by a giant statue of Poseidon!
Hours Open Daily 10:00am - 5:30pm
Admission Adults 100p, Children 70p
Telephone 669 981 7815
acuariomazatlan.com
Fun things to do at the Acuario Mazatlán aquarium and facts about its important conservation programs
Free shows | Special activities
Conservation and animal rescue programs
Your ticket to the Mazatlan Aquarium / Acuario Mazatlan gets you a lot more than looking at tanks of beautiful fish and other sea life!The aquarium stages four show series per day: three Sea Lion shows; three diving shows; three bird shows and two birds-of-prey shows.
Your general admission ticket also gets you entry to the Sea Museum and free run of the beautiful Botanical Garden.
Please note that show times are subject to change.
Sea Lion Show The Mazatlan Aquarium is home to four of the most talented Sea Lions on the planet: Bonny, Ely, Tito and Toby. Three times a day these huge sea creatures -- Bonny, who was born at the aquarium, weighs over 650 pounds -- perform for audiences in our state-of-the-art performance pool.
There are three Sea Lion shows daily: 11:00 am and 1:00 pm and 5:00 pm.
Cost for children and adults is...Free!
Diving Show Three times a day experienced divers enter the aquarium's tanks to feed the fish and other sea creatures. These diving shows are truly both fun and educational, covering everything from simply seeing how professional divers interact and communicate with marine life to information about the behaviors, reproduction and feeding habits of various marine species.
There are three diving shows daily: 10:30 am and 12:30 pm and 3:30 pm.
Cost for children and adults is...Free!
Sea Museum Housed within the main aquarium building, the Sea Museum is a treat for children and adults alike.
Dedicated to the remarkable biology of our oceans, visitors to the Sea Museum marvel at skeletons of giant marine mammals like whales and amphibians such as crocodile, while learning about fishing methods, conservation and protection programs.
The Sea Museum also mounts exhibitions of art related to the oceans and educational exhibits.
Botanical Garden Walk Most people, rightly, associate the Mazatlan Aquarium with fish and other ocean dwelling sea life.
But the aquarium is much more, and encompasses a nearly three acre botanical garden that is full of a fascination range of flora and fauna drawn from Sinaloa and other tropical environments from around the world including Africa, China and Japan.
The Acuario Mazatlan Botanical Garden is also home to aviaries where a substantial population of exotic birds is housed. Beside the aviaries there is a stream with a mini-waterfall and artificial ponds full of fish. Further from the main aquarium building, the back-garden area surprises visitors with large walk-through aviaries full of macaws, pelicans, toucans and other exotic birds roaming freely.
The Mazatlan Aquarium Botanical Garden has two areas devoted to land animals that do spend considerable time in the water...
• The Mazatlan Aquarium owns six American Crocodiles (Crocodylus Acutus), who lounge around the Crocodile Lagoon, bask in the sun and flash their massive teeth...
• The Mazatlan Aquarium is the only aquarium in Latin America with an area dedicated to frogs. Amphibians were the first vertebrates to adapt to life on land, and Mexico has the 5th largest variety of amphibians of any country in the world. The Frog Area within the botanical garden includes over 20 terrariums housing a wide range of amphibians indigenous to Mazatlan and southern Sinaloa including salamanders, the intimidating Mazatlan Toad and the graceful and beautiful Green Tree Frog.
Cost for children and adults is...Free!
Bird Show The Mazatlan Aquarium Botanical Garden Bird Show is held under the shade of a beautiful Huanacaxtle tree. Visit this free show and learn about the habitats and behaviors of tropical birds. Many of the show birds have been rescued and rehabilitated, including colorful macaws and cockatoos.
There are three bird shows daily: 11:30 am, 1:30 pm and 4:00 pm.
Cost for children and adults is...Free!
Birds-of-Prey Show Birds of prey -- sometimes referred to as raptors -- hunt other animals. These carnivorous birds have extraordinary vision that enables them to detect prey during flight, and powerful talons and beaks to kill it.
The Mazatlan Aquarium has variety of birds of prey such as Eagles and Hawks housed in its aviary within the Botanical Garden.
There are two bird-of-prey shows daily: 12:00 pm and 4:30 pm.
Cost for children and adults is...Free!
Swimming with Sea Lions Enjoy swimming with with Toby, the Mazatlan Aquarium's most personable sea lion! Learn what marine mammal trainers experience when you ask Toby to do acrobatic tricks, while also learning about sea lion feeding habits first hand and seeing close-up how they behave.
Cost for children and adults just 400 pesos!
Swimming with Sharks Taking place within the massive central fish tank, swimming with sharks at the Mazatlan Aquarium will make for memories that will last a lifetime! Highly supervised and very safe, take this opportunity to see some of the ocean's most majestic creatures from just inches away!
Cost for children and adults just 300 pesos!
Immersions with Sharks Ever want to feed a shark? Looking for a bit of adventure? Dive into the Mazatlan Aquarium's holding tank and feed and swim with sharks! This immersive experience includes information about shark behavior and the types of habitats they live in -- "fun and educational", so to speak...
Cost for children and adults just 200 pesos!
Stingray Encounter Stingrays are Nature's own B-2 bomber, and it can be argued that there is nothing in the ocean that moves more gracefully underwater. Dive into the Mazatlan Aquarium's 92,000 gallon ray tank, become part of the dance and watch these majestic sea creatures use their pectoral fins to fly underwater!
Cost for children and adults just 150 pesos!
rescue programs
Sea Turtle Conservation Over the past 25 years, the Mazatlan Aquarium's Sea Turtle Conservation Program has protected over 6000 sea turtle nests, saving nearly 400,000 hatchlings.
This is some of the most important marine conservation work taking place in Mexico: some of the turtles on the beaches of Mazatlan are the endangered Olive Ridley Sea Turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea), which nest from June to November, with hatchlings emerging from August to December.
This is quite a show: Olive Ridley Sea Turtles are known for nesting in mass numbers -- the swarm is termed an "arribada" -- and very large numbers of turtles can be seen on the beach during nesting season.
Stranded Sea Turtle and Marine Mammal Rescue Acuario Mazatlan plays a very important role in the preservation of marine wildlife not just in the waters off the coast of the city, but throughout Sinaloa State, particularly in the south.
Any injured marine mammal that is found in the southern part of Sinaloa is brought to Acuario Mazatlan for treatment. The aquarium has been particularly successful in treating injured turtles of a variety of species.
Once healed, these marine animals are returned to their natural habitat, the Sea of Cortez.
Macaw Protection Macaw is basically a fancy name for "parrot". If you want to get even fancier they are, technically, Psittacidae.
Seven types of Macaws are indigenous in Sinaloa including the Green Parakeet (Aratinga holochlora), Orange-fronted Parakeet (Aratinga canicularis), Military Macaw (Ara militaris), Thick-billed Parrot (Rhynchopsitta pachyrhyncha), Mexican Parrotlet (Forpus cyanopygius), Lilac-crowned Parrot (Amazona finschi) and the White-fronted Parrot (Amazona albifrons) all being present in the woodlands of the state.
Several of these birds are listed as endangered or vulnerable, and the Mazatlan Aquarium has played a vital role in supporting their continued existence in the wild, and by conducting successful breeding programs that have perpetuated populations in captivity that did not have to be harvested from the wild.
The Mazatlan Aquarium has been able to successfully breed Green Macaws, Yellow-headed Parakeets and White-headed Parrots.
Brown Pelican Protection Pelecanus occidentalis -- the Western Brown Pelican -- is not endangered, but the Acuario Mazatlan believes that it deserves our help!
The Brown Pelican is one of only three pelican species found in the Western Hemisphere, and is one of only two pelican species which feeds by diving into the water. It is estimated that there are about 40,000 reproductive Brown Pelican pairs in the Americas, over 50% of which live in the Sea of Cortez just off the coast of Sinaloa.
Operating since 1992, the aquarium's Pelican Rescue Program treats 70-80 brown pelicans per year, usually for injuries realted to contact with humans, such as embedded hooks, other puncture wounds and fractures.
Whistling Duck Protection The Black Bellied Whistling Duck (Dendrocygna autumnalis) is one of only two whistling duck species native to North America, and it is native to Mazatlan and the Sinaloa coast.
Dendrocygna autumnalis is not a protected species in Mexico, nor is it endangered, but the Mazatlan Aquarium protects this native bird and provides hospital care to wounded birds.
Nesting takes place on Bird Island -- a protected nature reserve -- from May to December. As the hatchlings mature a bit, the tiny birds paddle across the strait to swamps outside mazatlan.
Map to the Mazatlan Aquarium / Acuario Mazatlán from Google Maps