Excursions in Mexican Riviera

Cruising at the end of June to Mexican Riviera and would like some excursion suggestions for Puerto Vallarta & Cabo. I've researched the tours through the ship as well as 3rd party companies & it seems Carnival charges quite a bit more. Any suggestions on outside tour companies?

Lisa,

When we were there (November '13) we took the Cousteau-narrated boat tour via the ship in Cabo -- the audio was very poor but the scenery was nice and it got us off the ship on an early tender. Then we just walked around, drank margaritas and shopped.

At PV, we took the bus to the stop near the end of the Malecon (like a long boardwalk) where we walked the length of it, had some more margaritas at a table on the sand, walked inland a block or two, had tapas at a cute cafe, and caught a taxi back to the port.

Note, my DH is fluent in Mexican Spanish, so that might have helped with the no-excursion excursions. But it is very possible to do IF you just want to walk the tourist areas or a block or two off from them.

Also we live in So.California 15 miles from a beach, and own a 4WD, so those sorts of excursions didn't appeal (for the money) for us. YMMV

We suggest you get active on the Ports of Call/Mexican Riviera Board where we discuss many options for the various ports. While an excursion might be the best thing for you, there are plenty of other Do It Yourself (DIY) options which might better meet your needs. I should add that we live in Puerto Vallarta for 2 months a year (for the past 10 years) and absolutely love the city. In 10 years we have never taken an "excursion" since we simply walk out of our condo, go where we please, eat in over 40 different restaurants every year, spend most days relaxing on the beach, etc. Personally, other then the Las Caletas Excursion (this place can only be visited on an excursion) we are not prone to recommend any "tour" in PV. For 7.5 Pesos (50 cents) one can simply take a local bus from outside the port into town and enjoy the city on your feet. In fact, the only way to really explore the city (both Centro and the southside Old Town) is on foot.

Hank