Pueblo Bonito Emerald Bay

The location This resort lies in an open bay North of Mazatlán, right after Punta Cerritos (or Hilly Point). It consists of many 5 and 2 storied buildings and some villas, spread in a large area that requires carts to move along or take good walks. During high season, carts were not sufficient. Trees and hedges along the sea shore provide privacy, but also block the sea view. You have to come closer to properly enjoy the sunset. The premises There are many trees, ponds with fishes, birds and iguanas, and oddly, some Greek god statues to decorate the gardens. The resort has one large and two mid size pools, one of them for adults only. The main pool is noisy and full of life, and the other 2 are quieter. The beach is very rocky and with abundance of stingrays and jelly fishes, so the red flag is always on. As they advertise, the proper beach is in their sister resort, Pueblo Bonito Mazatlán, with 2 shuttle services in the morning and 6 in the afternoon and night. Ask for your tickets a couple of hours ahead. The pools in Emerald Bay are much nicer. The All Inclusive package also includes entrance to the Acquarium which we used and will review in a separte post. The main problem with the pool was the towel service. According to the sign, they should be available till 8:00pm, but most of the time, the hut was empty. When finally a cart with towels arrived, you could see the guests rushing to the hut like seagulls for fish. And the clerks, probably tired of giving the same explanation (“we´ve run out of towels. Try a little later”) became increasingly rude. Some of them complained that the guest kept the towels instead of returning them in the afternoon, while some others sugested us to do the same. As in many resorts that offer Timeshare, the sellers can be very persistant, pretending you have to explain and argue why you don´t want to buy. And of course, they insist this is not Timeshare, but something else, something better. Food The venues include one full restaurant, the Bistró, one buffet for breakfast and dinner, the Cordelière, and pool side cafeterias, one of which offers sushi at night. The food is good and the buffet changes theme every night: Italian, Mexican, Meditarranean (although they repeat some choices, and the “sopa campesina” or country soup becomes Minestrone). The sushi bar is very small and long lines form after 7:00pm. Room service has a 4 dollars charge. You can choose to visit the other resort but take notice that the last shuttle back is at 9:30. Our room was ready at 4:00pm, but we were welcomed in the restaurant as soon as we arrived; actually, the All Inclusive service runs from noon till noon of the last day. Drinks and food can be brought to your pool chairs, after a long wait, but waiters work only till 5:00pm. Cocktails and beer are OK, and in some restaurants, sodas came from a can and in others, form fountain dispensers. Licquors included in the package are cheap, and the quality ones have to be ordered with an extra charge. Don´t try the wine, it´s terrible. Both white and red are a Chilean wine that ranks 3.2 in my wine app. The suites Our family had two connecting rooms, a Jr Suite and a Master Suite. The latter has a small bedroom, with 2 queen size beds, 2 full bathrooms, 2 small TVs, a large living room with a table for 4; a kitchenette with a mid size refrigerator, microwave, 2 burners connected upon request, crockery and flatware, pots and pans, and a coffee maker, if you bring your own coffee and filters. The Jr suite had a large bedroom, with king size bed, a small table with chairs, a balcony with 2 deck charis, a bathroom and the same kitchenette. All TV´s were rather small, with no streaming connection and no possibility to connect our Fire TV, since there´s only one AC plug. Conclusion Yes, we would return to Pueblo Bonito Emerald Bay (we would not consider the other one), but not on high season. We came on Easter Week, and will not repeat this mistake.

Very beautiful views and great pools! With lots of amazing food and excellent service! Friendly staff and rooms are big and well kept!

Tony Perez was amazing. He was so hospitable and remembered our favorite orders.

I recently returned from a three week stay at Emerald Bay, and I have to say the quality of this visit was excellent!! From house keeping to management the service and friendliness was wonderful, the hospitality of the crew of the Elite staff Melissa,Erick,David,Adrianna and Remy was fantastic, looking forward to returning in October. Thank you Emerald Bay!

A great, safe place to vacation in Mexico. Emerald Bay resort has several pools, tennis courts, pickleball courts, and many pool activities. They also offer free shuttle buses to town and back.