Mexico’s Time Zones and Seasonal Clock Changes

Mexico’s land territory, including the Baja peninsula, straddles an area between 23.6345° North, and 102.5528° West.  To give that some time-zone perspective, its longitudinal land mass covers a distance-equivalent starting on the Pacific coast in California USA, and ending near Pensacola, Florida—thus spanning some 1,700 miles.

Mexico’s four time zones

Mexico used to have three time zones, until February 1, 2015 when a fourth time zone was introduced for the southeastern state of Quintana Roo, home to Mexico’s most popular vacation resorts including Cancún, Playa del Carmen, and Tulum; as well as the islands of Cozumel and Isla Mujeres.

Mexico’s Baja California (North) time zone

Zona Noroeste — This northwestern-most zone covers the northern half of the Baja peninsula in the state of Baja California; it’s aligned with US Pacific Time. (Note that the state’s name is Baja California, not as it’s sometimes erroneously referred to as ‘Baja California Norte.’)

Mexico’s Pacific time zone

Zona Pacífico — This zone begins in Guayabitos, north of Puerto Vallarta (Vallarta and environs are part of Mexico’s Central time zone) and includes the states of Nayarit, Sinaloa, Sonora, Chihuahua, and Baja California Sur. Zona Pacífico is aligned with US Mountain Time.

Mexico’s Central time zone

Zona Centro — This zone covers most of Mexico’s land mass, including the central and southern colonial highlands, Mexico City, Monterrey, Guadalajara, and Mérida/Yucatán, and is aligned with US Central Time.

Mexico’s Southeastern time zone

Zona Sureste — This is the fourth time zone specifically affecting the state of Quintana Roo.  It’s constantly aligned with US Eastern Standard Time (EST) but unlike eastern states in the US, it does not move its clocks backward or forward each year.

Seasonal time changes

Mexico’s seasonal clock changes, which took place in the spring and fall of each year, were abandoned after the fall (back) clock change in October 2022.

Mexico’s congressional representatives and Senate voted to eliminate the practice of changing the clocks in the spring and fall, with exceptions for municipalities bordering the US.

Learn more about time and time zones in Mexico

Mexico has several time zones and most states move their clocks forward in the spring and back in the autumn.

• Learn about Mexico’s time and Time Zones
• Learn about Mexico’s annual clock-time changes
• Learn about seasons in Mexico