--- title: "Pulmonia Tour Mazatlán — Open-Air Sightseeing in the City's Iconic Vehicle" slug: "pulmonia-tour-mazatlan" lang: "en" category: "cultural" durationMin: "150" priceFromUsd: "66" languages: ["English","Spanish"] canonical: "https://mazatlan.tours/tours/pulmonia-tour-mazatlan/" updatedAt: "2026-05-01T00:00:00.000Z" --- # Pulmonia Tour Mazatlán — Open-Air Sightseeing in the City's Iconic Vehicle The pulmonia is a Mazatlán-only open-air taxi — part golf cart, part VW heritage. How to hail one for a fair fare, when to book a guided tour instead, and the routes worth taking. ## Highlights - Open-air sightseeing in a pulmonia — a vehicle you only find in Mazatlán - Malecón cruise: 21 km of boardwalk passing the bronzes, Olas Altas, and the cliff divers - Stops at Plazuela Machado, the cathedral, and the Mirador for cliff-diver photos - Open-roof photo angles you can't get from a car or van - Cruise terminal pickup with timing aware of ship schedules - Driver doubles as guide; English and Spanish on most operators ## What's included - Pulmonia and driver/guide for the booked duration - Stops at all itinerary points (Centro, Mirador, Olas Altas, malecón) - Bottled water ## Not included - Tips for the driver/guide - Food and drinks at any stop - Cliff-diver tip (typical 50 pesos per person if you stop at the Mirador) ## Details The pulmonia is the only vehicle in Mexico that you cannot find anywhere else in Mexico. Open-sided, no doors, four seats, a small roof to keep the worst of the sun off, and an engine that sounds like a Volkswagen because — give or take a few decades of modification — it is one. They line up at the cruise terminal, idle in the Plazuela Machado, and crawl along the malecón at the same pace as the bronze statues. Mazatlán adopted the pulmonia in the early 1960s; it has been the city's signature ever since. For visitors, the pulmonia is two things at once: a working taxi you flag down on the street for 150 pesos, and a sightseeing tour you book with a driver-guide for two hours and $70. Both are legitimate. Both are the same vehicle. The difference is the level of curation — and the gap between fair-fare logistics and a tourist-priced ride is where most first-timers leave money on the table. ## What a pulmonia actually is The vehicle is a hybrid: a small-frame open-air body — much like a stretched, four-seat golf cart — built on top of a Volkswagen chassis. The classic ones were assembled from imported VW Things and air-cooled VW Beetle engines. The modern fleet is a purpose-built local product: same general shape, similar engine layout, fully street-legal, painted in white-and-tan livery with a small driver's roof. Capacity is four passengers and a driver. The back seat is a bench wide enough for two adults plus a child, or three skinny adults if no one minds shoulder contact. There are no doors, no seatbelts in the back, and no air conditioning — the open sides are the air conditioning. A small windshield in front handles the bug problem; the rest of the airflow is what you signed up for. Pulmonias are unique to Mazatlán. The closest cousins are the *cocotaxis* of Havana — three-wheeled rather than four — and the *autorickshaws* of Indian cities, which solve a similar problem in a different shape. Inside Mexico, no other city has them. ## Why it's called pulmonia The name translates as "pneumonia" — a piece of Sinaloan dark humor at the expense of the early adopters. The local story (told in different versions by different drivers): when the open-air vehicles first appeared in 1960s Mazatlán, the joke went that riding around in winter air was a fast way to give yourself pneumonia. The nickname stuck and eventually replaced whatever the original brand name was supposed to be. The drivers themselves are *pulmoneros*. The fleet is the *pulmoneria*. Whether the etymology is literal or apocryphal, the name is now the institution. Mazatlán publishes pulmonia rates as a city tourism reference. Drivers wear pulmonia-branded shirts. The vehicle is on postcards. ## Hailing one vs. booking a tour There are two ways to use a pulmonia, and they answer different questions. **Hailing**: walk to a curb where pulmonias gather (the cruise terminal exit, the Plazuela Machado, the Zona Dorada hotel circle in front of the Holiday Inn, or the malecón near Olas Altas) and ask the driver for a fare. Fares are negotiated, not metered, and the rate depends on where you're going and how busy the day is. This is the cheapest way to use a pulmonia for short rides — Centro to Zona Dorada, malecón loops, errands. **Booking**: pre-arrange a 1–4 hour sightseeing tour with a driver-guide. The booked version comes with cruise-terminal pickup, an English-speaking guide (most operators), an itinerary that covers the obligatory stops (Centro, the cathedral, the Mirador for cliff divers, Olas Altas, sometimes the Devil's Cave), and a fixed price. This is the version most cruise visitors take. The premium over hailing is real but you save on the negotiation, on the language barrier if you don't speak Spanish, and on the route planning. The decision tree: if you live in or near Mazatlán, you hail. If you're on a cruise day with three hours and a partner who doesn't want to argue prices in Spanish, you book. ## Fair fares and the routes worth taking A few benchmarks for negotiating short rides. Prices are per pulmonia, not per person — a pulmonia carrying four passengers costs the same as a pulmonia carrying one. - **Cruise terminal to Centro Histórico**: 150–200 MXN ($9–11 USD). It's a 10-minute ride. - **Cruise terminal to Zona Dorada**: 250–300 MXN. - **Centro to Zona Dorada**: 150–200 MXN. - **Centro to Cerritos** (the far north end): 350–500 MXN. Pulmonias don't always do this run; an Uber is often cheaper here. - **Malecón loop**, 60–90 minutes with two or three photo stops: 600–900 MXN. This is a classic and is one of the cheapest "tours" in Mazatlán. - **Centro → Mirador → Olas Altas → Centro**, 90 minutes: 700–1,000 MXN. The opening quote you hear at the cruise terminal will be 30–60% above these numbers. Counter politely (politeness matters; a curt counter resets the negotiation), name the number you want, and most drivers will land near the fair-fare benchmark. If a driver refuses, walk to the next one — the line is rarely empty. The scenic routes worth taking, in priority order: 1. **Malecón cruise from Olas Altas to the Aquarium**. The 21 km boardwalk is the city's spine. From a pulmonia at 30 km/h with the wind in your face, it's the best vantage in Mazatlán. Stop at the bronze sculptures (Tortugo, the Continuity of Life, the Pulmonero himself) for photos. 2. **Centro Histórico loop**. Plazuela Machado, the cathedral, Teatro Ángela Peralta, the cliff divers' Mirador if their schedule lines up. A pulmonia handles Centro's narrow cobblestone streets better than a taxi. 3. **Sunset on Olas Altas**. The bay-side stretch of malecón at sunset is one of the city's iconic scenes. A pulmonia ride along it from 18:30 onwards in winter is a 200-peso golden-hour upgrade. ## What a guided pulmonia tour looks like The booked sightseeing version is typically 2–3 hours, picks up at your hotel or the cruise terminal, and follows a route along these lines: - **Pickup and malecón drive**: the operator confirms time the night before; pulmonia and driver-guide arrive at the curb. The malecón drive starts immediately. - **Plazuela Machado stop** (15 minutes): the colonial heart of Centro. Quick walk, photo stop, optional churro at the panadería on the corner. - **Cathedral and Teatro Ángela Peralta** (10 minutes): drive-by with a brief stop for the cathedral's twin spires and the theater's facade. - **Mirador de los Clavadistas** (20 minutes if a dive is scheduled): the cliff divers leap from a 13-meter rock at 11:00, 12:30, 14:00, 15:30, and 18:00. If your tour times it, you stop. If not, the Mirador is still a worthwhile photo angle. - **Devil's Cave / Cerro del Vigía** (10 minutes): viewpoint over the bay; driver climbs the lookout for you. - **Olas Altas and the bronzes**: the curve of beach south of Centro with the early bronze sculptures along the malecón. - **Drop-off**: hotel or cruise terminal. Total cost for the standard 2.5-hour version: $66–$80 USD per group up to four. Cruise-tailored versions with shorter windows run a bit less. ## Pulmonia vs. Uber vs. regular taxi Honest comparison: - **Pulmonia wins**: short scenic rides, photos, the experience itself, anything along the malecón or in Centro, sunset cruises along Olas Altas, anytime you're going somewhere because the journey is the point. - **Uber wins**: longer rides, fixed-price certainty (no negotiation), late-night (pulmonias mostly stop running by 23:00), to/from the airport (pulmonias don't go to the airport), in heavy rain, and when you have luggage that doesn't fit on a small bench. - **Regular taxi wins**: middle-distance rides where price certainty isn't critical and you want AC. Mazatlán's red-and-white *aurigas* are closed-cabin sedans that handle these well. The all-three rule: in any given day in Mazatlán, expect to use all three. Pulmonia for the morning malecón cruise, Uber for the airport return, taxi for the late-night ride home from a cantina. ## Best time of year and time of day **Daylight is non-negotiable** for the experience reason — the malecón at noon and the malecón at sunset are different products. Most cruise excursions run in the morning to fit ship schedules, but if you're flexible, **17:00–18:30** is the magic window. Light gets gold, the heat eases, the crowds on the malecón thin out, and the sea breeze carries up the open sides. **November to April** is the right season. December–February evenings can drop below 18°C and a light jacket helps; the rest of the year a t-shirt and shorts are right. **June–October** brings afternoon thunderstorms — a pulmonia in heavy rain is wet, full stop, no matter how many tarp-roofs the driver pulls down. If you're on a cruise during summer and weather looks unstable, a closed-cabin tour or a city walking tour is a better bet. Avoid Saturday afternoons in Centro; the streets jam with locals and the pulmonia loses its main advantage. Monday and Tuesday are quietest; Sunday is great early morning, busy by mid-day. ## Tips from locals A few things first-time pulmonia riders miss: - **Negotiate before you sit down**, never after. The phrase is "¿cuánto al/a [destination]?" and the response is the opening quote. Counter with about 70% of that quote and meet in the middle. - **Round up the fare for the tip**. If the agreed fare is 180 MXN, hand over 200 and don't ask for change. For booked tours, 10–15% is the going rate. - **Pulmonia stickers tell you who's legitimate**. Look for the city tourism sticker on the windshield (small green-and-white round). Pulmonias without it are usually fine but the licensed ones tend to be better-maintained. - **Don't pay before the ride.** Pay at the destination. Drivers who insist on payment up front are an outlier — walk to a different one. - **Five passengers in a four-passenger pulmonia** is a hard no. Drivers will sometimes try; police occasionally enforce; the vehicle can't legally carry five and your trip-cancellation insurance won't cover an accident if it does. - **Loud banda music is a feature, not a bug**. If you don't like banda, ask the driver politely to turn it down. Most will. Some will bargain — "tip the driver, music goes off." - **The cathedral has two arrivals**: the front (Plaza Revolución) and the back (calle Belisario Domínguez). The front is the photo angle. Tell the driver "frente de la catedral" if you want it. - **Sunset cruise tip**: ask for "el malecón hasta el Aquario, lento" — you'll get the long version of the boardwalk drive at the right pace for photos. ## Related Mazatlán tours The pulmonia pairs naturally with most Centro-based content: - **[Centro Histórico Walking Tour](/tours/centro-historico/)** — the walking tour is what you do after the pulmonia drops you in Plazuela Machado. The two pillars cover overlapping ground at different paces. - **[Mazatlán Cliff Divers](/tours/cliff-divers/)** — the Mirador stop is the cliff-divers viewing point. If their schedule aligns with your pulmonia tour, you stop; if not, the standalone visit is independent of the pulmonia. - **[Mazatlán Food and Cantina Tour](/tours/food-and-cantina-tour/)** — most food tours start in Centro, exactly where a pulmonia drops you. Doing the pulmonia tour in the morning and the food tour in the evening is a viable single-day in Mazatlán. ## FAQ ### What's a pulmonia, exactly? An open-air, four-passenger sightseeing vehicle unique to Mazatlán — a golf-cart frame on a VW chassis, with a roof but no doors, no windows, and no air conditioning. Pulmonias started in Mazatlán in the early 1960s as adapted Volkswagen Things and have evolved into a purpose-built local fleet. You don't see them anywhere else in Mexico. ### Why is it called pulmonia? Local lore says the name —'pneumonia' in English— came from joking that an open-air ride on a winter morning would give you pneumonia. Sinaloan humor at the early adopters' expense, basically. The name stuck and is now the brand. ### How much does a short pulmonia ride cost? Ask the fare before getting in — there's no meter. Typical fares: Centro Histórico to Zona Dorada around 150–200 MXN ($9–11 USD); cruise terminal to Centro 150 MXN; a malecón cruise (60–90 minutes with a few photo stops) 600–900 MXN total for the pulmonia, not per person. Tourist quotes start higher; politely counter and most drivers settle near these numbers. ### Pulmonia vs. taxi vs. Uber — which when? Pulmonia wins for short scenic rides, photos, and the experience itself — anything along the malecón, in Centro, or to the Mirador. Uber wins for longer rides where price certainty matters (cruise port to a Cerritos rental, late-night returns, airport transfers — pulmonias rarely run late and never to the airport). Regular taxi is the middle ground; most are red-and-white aurigas with closed cabins and AC. ### Can I do a guided pulmonia tour as a cruise excursion? Yes — this is the most popular use case. A 2–3 hour booked tour with cruise-terminal pickup and itinerary covers Centro, the malecón, the Mirador for cliff divers if their schedule lines up, and a stop at the Devil's Cave or Olas Altas. Operator timing is built around your ship's departure window. Budget about $66–$80 USD per group of up to four for the standard route. ### Is it safe? What about for kids? Safety record is generally good for the speeds involved (city streets, no highways). Most pulmonias seat four adults max — the back bench is genuinely tight for three. Kids fit fine; there are no formal seatbelts so an under-five in a parent's lap is the practical answer for short rides. Don't ride with five passengers in a four-passenger vehicle — drivers will sometimes try this and the police occasionally enforce it. ### What should I wear and bring? Sunglasses, a hat that won't blow off, and sunscreen — the pulmonia has a roof but the sides are wide open. In December–February evenings get cool on the malecón and a light jacket helps. Phone in hand for photos, not in lap (wind catches things). Cash for the fare and small notes for the tip. ### Do I need to book in advance, or can I just walk up? Both work. Walk-up: pulmonias line up at the cruise terminal exit, the Centro plaza, and the Zona Dorada hotel circle — point at one and ask the fare. Book in advance: useful for guaranteed cruise-day pickup, English-speaking driver, and a fixed itinerary. The guided sightseeing tour is the booking version; the same pulmonia hailed off the curb is cheaper but less curated.