By plane
Mazatlán has an international airport - General Rafael Buelna International Airport IATA: MZT ICAO: MMMZ, also known as Mazatlán International Airport. It receives international travelers from: Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland, Houston, South Shore Harbor, Salt Lake City, Phoenix, Denver, Minneapolis, Calgary, Edmonton, Regina, Saskatoon, Toronto-Pearson, Vancouver, and Winnipeg. You can reach Mazatlán from many other international origins via Mexico City.
By car
Mazatlán is approximately 18 hr. drive from Phoenix, AZ. There are many considerations when bringing a car into Mexico.
By bus
Mexico has an extremely well developed bus route system and one can easily find a bus to wherever one needs to go. Mazatlán is about 12 hours away from Mexico City ~$90 one way, 6 hours from Guadalajara ~$40 one way, 15 hours from Nogales ~$50 one way, and only about 2 hours from Culiacán. Note: for whatever reason, the bus companies crank up the A/C, so bring a sweater!
By train
Mexico's passenger rail system including the old Nogales-Guadalajara route that passed through Mazatlán went out of service in the late 90's.
By ship
Baja Ferries runs a ferry between Mazatlan and La Paz in Baja California. The trip takes 16 hours or more and leaves Mazatlan almost daily check for weekend departures. Also, Mazatlán has a busy port which accommodates a number of cruise ships that sail up and down the western coast of the Americas. From the port, it's a five-minute taxi ride to the southernmost hotels or fifteen minutes to the more modern and more expensive places to the north.