Mazatlan in November: Weather, Sea Temperature, Crowds and Lodging Tax

MAZATLAN · MEXICO · NOVEMBER

By November, Mazatlan is comfortable rather than punishing. Afternoons average 85.6°F, an average month brings measurable rain on only 2.0 days, and the Pacific sits at 80.6°F. That is 4.7 degrees cooler in the afternoon than October, and the lower humidity of a drier month is what lets you walk the old port for hours.

One fact comes ahead of any weather: the U.S. State Department’s Mexico travel advisory rates Sinaloa Level 4, ‘Do not travel’. A weather guide cannot settle that for you. Read the current advisory before you commit to dates, then use the numbers below to choose between October, November and December.

On this page

• Mazatlan weather in NovemberHighs of 85.6°F, lows of 66.6°F, 2.0 rain days
• Can you swim in Mazatlan in November?Sea at 80.6°F, and what that figure averages
• Mazatlan hotel tax and crowds in NovemberThe 3% Sinaloa lodging tax and what we could not verify
• Things to do in Mazatlan in NovemberEl Faro, the historic center, Isla de la Piedra, the three islands
• Mazatlan itinerary for NovemberTwo days built around a 6:18 a.m. sunrise
• Mazatlan in November vs October and DecemberHighs, lows, rain and sea for all three months
• Is November a good time to visit Mazatlan?The answer, and the Level 4 advisory

Every air and rain figure here comes from the Mazatlan observatory (SMN station 25062), in the historic center. Zona Dorada, north of it, and Cerritos Beach, farther north, are the main hotel-strip beaches, and neither has a thermometer of its own. Read the normals below as the city’s, not as a reading taken where your towel lands.

Mazatlan weather in November

The normals come from Mexico’s national weather service, the Servicio Meteorologico Nacional, for the Mazatlan (Obs) station over 1981-2010: an average high of 85.6°F, an average low of 66.6°F and 1.70 inches of precipitation for the month. These are official station normals, taken from a real instrument, not a satellite model of a grid cell.

SMN counts 2.0 days of measurable rain in an average November, roughly one day in fifteen. The station sheet does not publish the threshold behind that count, so we cannot say how much water makes a rain day. Keep one indoor plan in reserve and expect the other days of an average month to pass without measurable rain.

Between the afternoon high of 85.6°F and the overnight low of 66.6°F there is a swing of 19.0 degrees. Pack shirt-sleeve clothes for the day and one light layer for the walk back after dinner or for an early boat. Those are averages, so a given night can land on either side of that low.

On November 15 the sun is up for about 11 hours 03 minutes. Converted to local time (America/Mazatlan), sunrise is 6:18 a.m. and sunset is 5:21 p.m. Outdoor plans want to be finished, or pointed west, by late afternoon, because the light goes quickly once it starts.

Can you swim in Mazatlan in November? Sea temperature

The sea off Mazatlan averages 80.6°F in November, according to the Open-Meteo Marine API over 2015-2024. That figure is the mean of daily maxima, the warmest reading of each day. It runs a shade above a 24-hour average, so other tables may print a lower number for the same water.

At 80.6°F the sea is comfortable for a long swim, 5.0 degrees under the afternoon air high of 85.6°F. First thing in the morning, when the water is nearer its 24-hour mean, expect it a touch cooler than the headline number.

We found no November wind or swell data for Mazatlan, so we cannot say how calm the bay runs. Ask at your hotel or on the beach the day you go, and do it before you pay for a boat to the islands or across to Isla de la Piedra.

How busy is Mazatlan in November? Crowds and prices

We found no occupancy series and no monthly hotel-rate series for Mazatlan, so we cannot say where November falls among the year’s room prices, and we crown no month cheap or dear. The calendar facts we do hold are that the heat eases from October’s 90.3°F highs and that rain days fall from 4.2 to 2.0.

We have no booking-window data either, so no weeks-ahead figure appears. A practical way to settle it is to price the same room for November and for December on the same site, cancellation terms side by side, and take the flexible rate until you have read the State Department advisory.

Sinaloa’s lodging tax, the Impuesto Sobre Hospedaje, is set at 3% under Article 27 of the state’s Ley de Hacienda, and sources we read in September 2026 show the rate unchanged for 2026. Whether your hotel folds it into the quoted rate or adds it at checkout, we could not verify.

Boats are the one purchase where paying more changes what the month gives you: the island crossings and the whale-watching trips from the marina. We could not verify current fares, so no price appears. The water under those boats is the warm part of November.

Things to do in Mazatlan in November

November makes the walking sights easier than October does: highs of 85.6°F instead of 90.3°F, and rain on 2.0 days instead of 4.2. Humpback whales are seen off Mazatlan’s coast in winter, and whale-watching boats leave from the marina. We found no verified start date for the season, so we cannot promise a November sighting.

El Faro stands on Cerro del Creston, 157 meters above sea level, which is why the climb belongs in the cooler first hours. The historic center below sits inside a Zona de Monumentos Historicos declared by federal decree on March 12, 2001, and the Angela Peralta Theater is inside that protected zone. Three islands face the bay, Venados, Pajaros and Lobos, a federally protected natural area reached only by boat.

Isla de la Piedra is the short crossing: small passenger boats called pangas leave from a pier near El Faro and take a few minutes each way. Informal fare reports disagree, so we print none. The month shows up in the water under them, 80.6°F now, 7.1 degrees cooler than October’s 87.7°F and 4.0 degrees warmer than December’s 76.6°F (Open-Meteo Marine API).

We could not verify which sights charge admission in November, so we call nothing free. The Malecón, the oceanfront promenade linking the historic center to the Zona Dorada hotel strip, carries no ticket that we know of. It is the easiest place to use the last hour of light before the 5:21 p.m. sunset.

Mazatlan itinerary for November

Day one is on foot. Sunrise is 6:18 a.m., so be at El Faro by 7:00 a.m., before the afternoon reaches its 85.6°F average high. Come down into the historic center by mid-morning for the Angela Peralta Theater and the streets around it, take a long lunch through the hottest hours, then follow the Malecón north in the late afternoon and finish before the light drops at 5:21 p.m.

Day two is the water. Cross to Isla de la Piedra by panga from the pier near El Faro and swim in the 80.6°F sea, or arrange a boat to Venados, Pajaros or Lobos. If the weather turns on one of November’s 2.0 rain days, swap the boat for the historic center and move the islands to the next clear day.

Mazatlan in November vs October and December

From October to November the average high drops 4.7 degrees and the average low drops 7.7 degrees. Precipitation falls by half, from 3.39 inches to 1.70 inches, and rain days from 4.2 to 2.0. Into December the high loses another 5.2 degrees and the low another 5.3 degrees, rain days hold at 2.0, and precipitation falls to 0.78 inches. The sea, taken from the marine API rather than the station, reads 87.7°F, 80.6°F, then 76.6°F.

Moving four weeks later buys a drier stay and cooler nights (0.78 inches, 61.3°F lows) and costs a sea 4.0 degrees colder than November’s. Moving four weeks earlier buys an 87.7°F sea, 7.1 degrees warmer, and costs 90.3°F highs and 4.2 rain days. The later month has its own page: Mazatlan in December.

Is November a good time to visit Mazatlan?

For a beach-and-walking trip, yes: 85.6°F highs, 66.6°F lows, 2.0 rain days and an 80.6°F sea. One reservation outranks the weather. The U.S. State Department’s Mexico travel advisory rates Sinaloa Level 4, ‘Do not travel’ (travel.state.gov, read September 29, 2026). The rating names the state, not a month, so November does not change it. Read the current text before you book anything non-refundable.

If your answer is no, choose by what you would give up. For warmer water, October has an 87.7°F sea, along with 4.2 rain days. For a drier, cooler stay, December has 0.78 inches of rain and 61.3°F nights. If the advisory decides it, our when-to-go pages compare other places by month.

Among the three months, only November pairs a sea of 80.6°F with just 1.70 inches of rain. October has 3.39 inches of rain, and December has a sea of 76.6°F.

The last word

Read the advisory first, then book with the December numbers open beside the November ones. Fly into General Rafael Buelna International (MZT), which Grupo Aeroportuario Centro Norte (OMA) operates southeast of downtown, and walk the Malecón before dinner with the Pacific at 80.6°F beside you.

Sources & data for this guide

• Temperature and rain normals, 1981-2010, station 25062 (Mazatlan (Obs)) · Servicio Meteorologico Nacional (CONAGUA) · checked Sep 30, 2026. The rain-day threshold is not published on the station sheet.
• Sea surface temperature, mean of daily maxima, 2015-2024 · Open-Meteo Marine API · checked Sep 30, 2026
• Daylight, sunrise and sunset for November 15, converted to America/Mazatlan time · sunrise-sunset.org · checked Sep 30, 2026
• Lodging tax of 3% · Gaceta Parlamentaria, Camara de Diputados, Feb 13, 2024, citing Article 27 of Sinaloa’s Ley de Hacienda; 2026 rate confirmed unchanged by El Contribuyente and J.A. del Rio · checked Sep 30, 2026
• Travel advisory for Sinaloa (Level 4) · U.S. Department of State, travel.state.gov · checked Sep 30, 2026
• Airport operator · OMA, oma.aero/mazatlan · checked Sep 30, 2026
• El Faro height (157 meters) · Ayuntamiento de Mazatlan tourism portal, text as reproduced in search results · 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
• Protected islands · SEMARNAT environmental filings · checked Sep 30, 2026. We could not find the exact decree date, and an UNESCO designation year cited by some secondary sources could not be confirmed, so we omit both.
• We found no occupancy series, hotel-rate series, boat fares, admission prices, whale-season dates or November wind and swell data. Descriptions of the Malecón, the hotel-strip beaches and the pangas are editorial; check operators when you book.