Before the Zona Dorada existed, this was the tourist Mazatlan — a curving bay at the south end of the city, fringed by hotels built in the 1940s and 50s. The Hotel Belmar, the Hotel La Siesta, the Hotel Freeman — most are still standing, some still operating, some converted to apartments. The Malecon starts here and runs north for over twenty kilometres.
Olas Altas means 'high waves', and the surf does pick up here when the swell turns west. Today it is one of the more pleasant places in Mazatlan for sunset — a beer at one of the terrace bars, the divers leaping from the headland a short walk north, and the cliffs lit gold by the dropping sun.