Sightseeing Attractions
Carpa Olivera saltwater pool A Mazatlán public swimming pool tradition since 1914!
Centro Historico | Plaza Machado | Angela Peralta Theater | Museo de Arte
Museo Arqueologico | Pedro Infante Museum | Pino Suarez Mercado Centro
Central Mazatlan Cathedral / Basilica | The Malecon | Mazatlan Cliff Divers
Carpa Olivera Pool | Acuario Mazatlan Aquarium | El Faro Lighthouse
Bosque de la Ciudad | Estero del Yugo Nature Preserve
Download a free self-guided Centro Historico Walking Tour map with descriptions!
La Carpa Olivera is the public saltwater swimming pool at the north end of Olas Altas Beach on the western edge of the Centro Historico.
If want to swim in saltwater in a protected environment, you're in luck -- this is a popular public swimming facility that started serving customers over 100 years ago! For generations, adults and children in Mazatlan have splashed and played comfortably as waves explode over the ocean-side of the pool.
Before you read a bit about the history of Carpa Olivera, check out this beautiful video from Colectivo Urbano, the architects of its recent rehab / rebuild.
Video of Carpa Olivera Swimming Pool from Colectivo Urbano, designers of the recently re-built public saltwater pool in Mazatlan
Carpa Olivera has been a traditional beachfront destination for families in Mazatlan since the earliest days of World War One, and has a fascinating history that is evolving even today.
The pool was part of a much larger development dream of Antonio Olivera, a Chilean chef who arrived in Mazatlan aboard a cruise ship in the early 1910s and, seduced by the beauty of our port, decided to stay.
Olivera envisioned a business built over the water at the north end of Olas Altas that would have ocean-fed saltwater pools below it and that would provide tourist and entertainment amenities such as a bar and restaurant.
It is said that his inspiration was similar businesses he had seen in Portugal, where such pier-like structures are fairly common in Lisbon and other ports.
The resulting business, Carpa Olivera, opened in 1914 -- just about the worst moment imaginable in Mexican history.
By 1914 the Mexican Revolution had reached Sinaloa in a big way.
Constitutionalist General Alvaro Obregón had only entered Sinaloa from the north in November, 1913, and was driving south toward Mazatlan -- which he would bypass, effectively isolating the port for a considerable period of time.
With commerce disrupted people began to hoard things of value, especially metal money -- mostly silver pesos -- and Constitutionalist governments began to issues paper pesos that had questionable backing.Despite the times -- or perhaps because of them -- Carpa Olivera was an instant success, with Mazatlan families flocking to its pool, restaurant and bar.
The structure weathered remarkably well given how exposed it was, and it survived numerous tropical storms and hurricanes that rolled up the Pacific and into the Sea of Cortez in the more than four decades from 1914 until 1957.
On October 21, 1957, Hurricane Twelve made landfall at Mazatlan. The storm had just strengthened explosively, with maximum wind speed having jumped from 50 mph to over 140 mph in only six hours.Tracking in off the open ocean rather than up the coast -- where energy is often dissipated -- Hurricane Twelve packed a punch.
Eight people were killed by the storm in Sinaloa, and extensive property damage was reported throughout Mazatlan and surrounding communities. The Mazatlan baseball stadium collapsed, power and telegraph lines were downed, high winds tossed vehicles through the windows of oceanfront buildings, and many commercial fishing boats sank in the storm.
Carpa Olivera sustained sufficient damage from Hurricane Twelve to cause the business to close and on October 24, 1975, Hurricane Olivia finished the job, tearing the battered structure to shreds and sending rubble cascading into the abandoned pool and the ocean around it.
The Carpa Olivera pool has a bright future, and the renovated Carpa Olivera is now open to the public! The new amenities include a water slide, fountain, wheelchair accessible ramp, and all-new bathrooms and changing rooms.
Location Paseo Claussen, just north of Olas Altas Beach
Hours 7am until 8pm every day, unless weather conditions do not permit the pool to be safely used...
Map to Carpa Olivera Swimming Pool
from Google Maps
Centro Historico | Plaza Machado | Angela Peralta Theater | Museo de Arte
Museo Arqueologico | Pedro Infante Museum | Pino Suarez Mercado Centro
Central Mazatlan Cathedral / Basilica | The Malecon | Mazatlan Cliff Divers
Carpa Olivera Pool | Acuario Mazatlan Aquarium | El Faro Lighthouse
Bosque de la Ciudad | Estero del Yugo Nature Preserve
Download a free self-guided Centro Historico Walking Tour map with descriptions!