MAZATLAN · MAY · SINALOA, MEXICO
May is Mazatlan’s nearly rainless month. Across the whole of it, Mexico’s national weather service records 0.05 inches of precipitation, and the afternoons top out around 86.0°F. The Pacific has warmed to 80.1°F by then, warm enough for a long swim off the beaches north of the historic center.
The month has an edge, and it is the calendar. June brings highs of 90.3°F and 2.2 days of measurable rain, so May is the last easy stretch before the heat and the wet arrive together. If you are weighing April against May against June, the numbers below settle it.
THE MONTH AT A GLANCE · MAZATLAN IN MAY
May gives Mazatlan almost no rain, 86.0°F afternoons and 80.1°F water, and asks you to read the State Department’s Level 4 advisory for Sinaloa before you book.
HIGH 86.0°F · LOW 70.0°F · 0.05 IN OF RAIN · SEA 80.1°F
Go for: a dry month with warm ocean water, a historic center with a protected monument zone, and boat crossings to Isla de la Piedra and the bay’s three islands.
Think twice before: booking without reading the U.S. State Department advisory, which rates Sinaloa Level 4, ‘Do not travel’, or if 86.0°F afternoons are already more heat than you want.
Air: SMN station 25062 · Sea: Open-Meteo Marine · Daylight: sunrise-sunset.org · full sources below
On this page
- Mazatlan weather in MayHighs of 86.0°F, lows of 70.0°F, 0.05 inches of rain
- Can you swim in Mazatlan in May?Sea at 80.1°F, a mean of daily maxima
- How busy is Mazatlan in May, and what does it cost?The 3% Sinaloa lodging tax and what we could not verify
- Things to do in Mazatlan in MayEl Faro, the historic center, Isla de la Piedra, the bay islands
- Mazatlan itinerary for MayTwo days built around a 5:22 a.m. sunrise
- Mazatlan in May vs April and JuneHighs of 82.4°F, 86.0°F and 90.3°F
- Is May a good time to visit Mazatlan?Who should book May, and the Level 4 advisory
Comparing Mazatlan with other months starts at Where to Go by Month, and other cities sit in the destinations index.
Mazatlan weather in May: average highs, lows and rain days
| Measure | Mazatlan in May | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Average high | 86.0°F | SMN normals 1981-2010, station 25062 |
| Average low | 70.0°F | SMN normals 1981-2010, station 25062 |
| Precipitation | 0.05 inches | SMN normals 1981-2010, station 25062 |
| Days with measurable rain | 0.1 | SMN count, threshold unpublished |
| Sea surface (mean of daily maxima) | 80.1°F | Open-Meteo Marine API, 2015-2024 |
| Daylight on May 15 | 13 hours 19 minutes | sunrise-sunset.org |
| Sunrise and sunset on May 15 | 5:22 a.m. and 6:41 p.m. | sunrise-sunset.org, converted to Mazatlan time |
Every air figure here comes from the Servicio Meteorologico Nacional, Mexico’s national weather service, and its 1981-2010 normals for the Mazatlan observatory (station 25062). That is a measuring station in the historic center, not a grid-cell reanalysis. The Zona Dorada hotel strip and Cerritos beach, a few miles north, are not measured separately, so read 86.0°F and 70.0°F as downtown numbers.
May is close to dry: 0.05 inches of precipitation for the month and 0.1 days of measurable rain in an average May, as the SMN counts them. An average that low means most Mays pass without a single wet day, so day plans rarely need a rain option. The SMN sheet does not publish its threshold for a measurable day, and we will not guess one.
The gap between the 86.0°F high and the 70.0°F low is 16.0 degrees. Afternoons call for a hat and sunscreen. Evenings on the Malecon stay mild, so a light layer is enough for anyone who runs cool.
Daylight on May 15 lasts 13 hours 19 minutes. Sunrise is at 5:22 a.m. and sunset at 6:41 p.m. local time (sunrise-sunset.org gives 12:22 and 01:41 UTC, and we converted). Put the outdoor hours right after 5:22 a.m., when the air is still near the 70.0°F low.
Can you swim in Mazatlan in May? Sea temperature
The sea surface off Mazatlan averages 80.1°F in May, per the Open-Meteo Marine API over 2015-2024. That figure is a mean of daily maxima, so it runs a shade warmer than a 24-hour average would. The water first thing in the morning will read a touch lower.
For someone walking in from the sand, 80.1°F is warm water. It sits 6.6 degrees above April’s 73.5°F, so May is the month the ocean stops feeling like a shock. Zona Dorada and Cerritos, the hotel-strip beaches, are the obvious places to test it.
Our sources carry no wind or swell data for May, so we cannot say how rough the water runs on a given day. Ask at your hotel front desk the morning you plan to swim.
How busy is Mazatlan in May? Crowds and prices
We found no occupancy series and no monthly hotel-rate series for Mazatlan, so we crown no month the cheapest or the busiest. What we can place is the weather calendar. May follows April’s 0.16 inches of rain and precedes June’s 0.77 inches, and rainy days go from 0.1 in May to 2.2 in June.
We could not verify how far ahead May rooms fill, so we give no lead time. Humpback whales are seen off Mazatlan in winter, and the marina whale-watching boats follow that season, so do not build a May trip around them.
Sinaloa’s lodging tax, the Impuesto Sobre Hospedaje, is 3% under Article 27 of the state’s Ley de Hacienda, and the rate is confirmed unchanged for 2026. Whether a listed room price already includes it is something we could not verify, so read the fine print before you book.
The one line where paying more changes the month is the room itself. With lows of 70.0°F in May and 77.2°F in June, working air conditioning matters more than an extra star, and it matters more each week you move toward summer.
Things to do in Mazatlan in May
May pairs almost no rain with 80.1°F water, which suits the outings that need both: the boat crossing to Isla de la Piedra, a boat out to the bay islands, and a beach day at Zona Dorada or Cerritos.
El Faro stands 157 meters above sea level on Cerro del Creston. Below it, a federal decree published March 12, 2001 declared the city and port a Zona de Monumentos Historicos, which protects the historic center, and the Angela Peralta Theater sits inside that zone. The Malecon, a coastal promenade, links the center to the Zona Dorada.
Isla de la Piedra, a beach across the harbor entrance, is reached by small passenger boats (pangas) from a pier near El Faro, a few minutes each way. Venados, Pajaros and Lobos, the three islands facing the bay, form a federally protected natural area reached only by boat. We could not confirm a panga fare, because informal sources disagree, so we print none. May air is 3.6 degrees hotter at the high than April’s, so the climb and the crossing both go better early.
We have no admission or opening-hours data for these sights, so we label nothing free or paid for May. The Malecon is the one plan with nothing to book, and hours for El Faro and the theater are worth confirming locally.
Mazatlan itinerary for May
Day one starts at first light, since sunrise is at 5:22 a.m. and the air is near its 70.0°F low. Climb El Faro on Cerro del Creston, 157 meters above sea level, before the temperature heads for 86.0°F. Walk down into the historic center for the Angela Peralta Theater, then follow the Malecon toward the Zona Dorada. Save the beach for the afternoon, when the water is 80.1°F, and watch the sun set at 6:41 p.m.
Day two goes on the water. Take a panga from the pier near El Faro across the harbor entrance to Isla de la Piedra, or arrange a boat to Venados, Pajaros or Lobos, the three protected islands in the bay. If the weather turns, heat is a likelier cause than rain at 0.1 days, so move the outing to the morning and spend the hottest hours in the shade or indoors in the historic center.
Mazatlan in May vs April and June
| Measure | April | May | June |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average high | 82.4°F | 86.0°F | 90.3°F |
| Average low | 64.4°F | 70.0°F | 77.2°F |
| Precipitation | 0.16 inches | 0.05 inches | 0.77 inches |
| Days with measurable rain (SMN count) | 0.4 | 0.1 | 2.2 |
| Sea surface (Open-Meteo Marine, 2015-2024) | 73.5°F | 80.1°F | 85.1°F |
Highs climb 3.6 degrees from April to May and another 4.3 degrees into June. Lows rise faster, 5.6 degrees into May and 7.2 degrees into June. The sea gains 6.6 degrees from April and 5.0 degrees more by June. Air figures are SMN normals for 1981-2010, and sea figures come from the Open-Meteo Marine API.
A month earlier, in April, buys 82.4°F highs and 64.4°F lows, but the sea is 73.5°F and rain is 0.16 inches against May’s 0.05. A month later, June gives 85.1°F water, and costs you 90.3°F highs, 77.2°F lows and 2.2 rainy days.
Is May a good time to visit Mazatlan?
Yes for beach and sun plans: 0.05 inches of rain, 86.0°F highs and 80.1°F water make a dependable week. Not for anyone who wants cool afternoons. Read the U.S. State Department’s Mexico travel advisory before you book too. It rates Sinaloa at Level 4, ‘Do not travel’ (checked Sep 30, 2026), and that rating covers the state in every month.
If 86.0°F afternoons are already more than you want, April’s 82.4°F highs and 64.4°F lows are gentler, and the price is a 73.5°F sea. If warm water is the priority, June’s 85.1°F beats May’s 80.1°F, along with 90.3°F highs and 2.2 rainy days.
Among April, May and June, May is the driest at 0.05 inches, and it arrives with 80.1°F water already in place.
The last word
Book May for the last nearly rainless stretch before June’s 2.2 rainy days, and run the days on the light: El Faro after the 5:22 a.m. sunrise, the water at midday, the Malecon for the 6:41 p.m. sunset. General Rafael Buelna International Airport (MZT), operated by OMA, sits southeast of downtown Mazatlan, so leave the last evening free on the seafront and fly out the next morning.
Sources & data for this guide
- Air temperature, precipitation and rain days · Servicio Meteorologico Nacional (CONAGUA), normales climatologicas 1981-2010, station 25062 (Mazatlan (Obs)) · checked Sep 30, 2026
- Sea surface temperature, mean of daily maxima 2015-2024 · Open-Meteo Marine API · checked Sep 30, 2026
- Daylight, sunrise and sunset on May 15 · sunrise-sunset.org, converted from UTC to Mazatlan time · checked Sep 30, 2026
- Sinaloa lodging tax, 3% · Camara de Diputados, Gaceta Parlamentaria, Feb 13, 2024, citing Article 27 of the Ley de Hacienda del Estado de Sinaloa, rate confirmed for 2026 by El Contribuyente and J.A. del Rio · checked Sep 30, 2026
- Travel advisory, Sinaloa Level 4 · U.S. Department of State, Mexico Travel Advisory · checked Sep 30, 2026
- Historic zone decree of March 12, 2001 and Angela Peralta Theater · INAH, Catalogo Nacional de Monumentos Historicos Inmuebles · checked Sep 30, 2026
- El Faro height, 157 meters · Ayuntamiento de Mazatlan tourism portal, read through search results · checked Sep 30, 2026
- Airport operator · OMA, oma.aero/mazatlan · checked Sep 30, 2026
- We found no occupancy or room-rate series, no panga fare we could confirm, no exact date for the bay islands’ protection decree and no May event dates, so we give none. Hours, admissions and advisories change · check them when you book.