Mazatlan, Mexico Pearl of the Pacific View Properties Mazatlán (Mah-Saht-LAHN) is a destination with a split personality. Despite the importance of its visitor industry, Mazatlan remains very much its own city. It nicely balances its double indentity as México's largest commercial port while being one of the country's most popular beach resorts. Mazatlan is Mexico's second largest coastal city (after Acapulco), with nearly 600,000 inhabitants. It has the largest port facility between Los Angeles and the Panama Canal, and is home to Latin America's biggest fleet of commercial shrimp vessels (over 800 boats). Nearly 40 tons of shrimp are processed each year, making Mazatlan "the shrimp capital of the world". Mazatlan has many events and festivities during the year. Carnival, in February, brings the cities colorful lifestyle to the forefront as thousands of costumed celebrants throng the resort's streets & beaches making Mazatlan's mardi gras the third largest in the world. Fishing and other sporting tournaments, as well as cultural events and various Mexican holidays fill out the year.