42nd Annual Meeting of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (PME-NA 42)

Travel Information for PME-NA 42, Mazatlán 2020, México

Travel to Mazatlán should be by air or by sea. We strongly discourage foreign participants to drive by land to the conference.

See more about Mazatlán in the conference venue page.

Flights information

Mazatlán has an international airport (MZT) which receives flights from Dallas/Ft. Worth, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Houston, Minneapolis, Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto-Pearson, Vancouver, Winnipeg, as well as from Mexico City, Monterrey, Tijuana and Querétaro.
For a list of airlines and their routes, see: https://www.oma.aero/en/passengers/mazatlan/flights/airlines--routes.htm

Transport between the airport and the conference venue

Transport (at a small extra fee) will be provided by the conference organizers between the airport and the conference venue (located in Mazatlán's Zona Dorada). Sign-up for this will be done through the registration system.

Regarding travel advisories for Mexico and the state of Sinaloa

Mazatlán's Zona Dorada (where the conference venue is located) and the historic town center, as well as direct routes to/from these locations and the airport, are generally considered safe. They are the exceptions to the travel warnings for the state of Sinaloa, which has a do-not-travel warning (which is why we strongly discourage foreign participants to drive by land to the conference).

  • The US Embassy has issued the following statement:

“The U.S. Department of State warns U.S. citizens about the risk of traveling to certain places in Mexico….
Sinaloa: Mazatlan is a major city/travel destination in Sinaloa – Defer non-essential travel to the state of Sinaloa except the city of Mazatlan, where you should exercise caution, particularly late at night and in the early morning. … We recommend that any travel in Mazatlan be limited to Zona Dorada and the historic town center, as well as direct routes to/from these locations and the airport.” 
(Source: https://mx.usembassy.gov/travel-warning-mexico/ )

  • The Canadian government recommends to “avoid non-essential travel … to all Sinaloa, except the city of Mazatlán” (meaning that Mazatlán is considered safe).
    (Source:  https://travel.gc.ca/destinations/mexico )
  • We also received the following letter in December 2018 from the Mazatlán Tourism Board:

"The US Travel Advisory gives green light basically at all the areas where the tourists stay and visit, so no problem right there. Despite the fact that the rest of the city is not mentioned, I personally would give it the same “green light" status, however you very seldom see tourists around there. They prefer the Old Town, Downtown and Beach areas.
You may want to directly ask questions at the Trip Advisor forum and hear from other Americans and Canadians who have visited Mazatlán in the past. Here’s the link.
https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowForum-g150792-i257-Mazatlan_Pacific_Coast.html
Over two million tourists have visited and stayed in Mazatlán in 2018 plus about 300 thousand cruise ship passengers. We’re a pretty safe destination and about 10,000 ex-pats enjoy permanent vacations in this wonderful destination.
Relax and have safe travels. See you in Mazatlán! Let me know if you need anything or if you want me to personally talk to any of the persons who may have concerns."
Warm Regards,
JULIO BIRRUETA, Director, OFICINA DE PROMOCIÓN DE MAZATLÁN, MAZATLÁN TOURISM BOARD, jbirrueta @ gomazatlan.com

Nevertheless, please check with your institution regarding travel to Mazatlán.