Puerto Chiapas Shore Excursions - help please!

We're hoping to be in Puerto Chiapas for a day in October with NCL and like other folks who have posted I've trawled the internet and I'm coming up with very little information. I dont really fancy just hanging around a beach or the local town for the day - I have to be up and doing! Would love to do the Argovia Coffee Plantation trip but at $189 its a small fortune!

Can anybody tell me if we can book independent trips with any local guides? Or if there is any other way of getting further than Tapulcho?

I hate the thought of wasting a shore day!:rolleyes:

Thanks

Helen

Northern Ireland

Just outside the big grass hut there will be a couple of private tour companies. We purchased a tour from one of them (about $30 each) that went to the Izapa ruins, a chocolate making demonstration(very interesting) at private home in the "Chocolate City" and a brief stop in the town square in Tapachula. There we went into city hall, a local church and had a nice lunch.

They brought back to the ship in plenty of time. Nice small group (six or seven of us) The tour was very reasonably priced, comfy, cool van, and very safe.

I'm sure the there were other destinations with the same company (can't recall the company name)? I was under orders that we were going to see the ruins:rolleyes:

Hi, Here's the deal. The Dept of Tourism built a nice Open-air Arcade right at the Pier's end to sell T-shirts, leather belts and put on a sing-song w/dancing. It is quite nice actually. There IS NO TOWN at PuertoChiapas. Period. There's an industrial wharf next door called Puerto Moderno and a gritty island settlement beyond the waterway. 1 stall sold beer and oranges outside the Arcade's guardhouse fence, so I and others took the Mini-bus shuttles to Tapachula 30miles inland for $10bucks to stroll around the City Square to gawk and shop. Shuttles left every 1/2hr or so each way. Good Security in Tapachula on 'Ship Day' near the town square. I paid a Taxi $16USD in Tapachula to go to Guatemalan border and Ixapa Ruins for a look-see at Tacana Volcano in the jungle etc. and then had a few local beers and tacos with him. Other's booked the Motorcoach Tours to Tapachula etc. I saw many fellow cruisers during my day in town and elsewhere. I paid $26bucks total. They paid more..... but then I'm comfortable dealing with foriegn travel and the language barrier. Locomotiveman Tom

Hi thanks for all the helpful info. It sounds like we might be better waiting until we get there to sort something out. Seems such a long time away!! :cool:

Helen

Hi, Here's the deal. The Dept of Tourism built a nice Open-air Arcade right at the Pier's end to sell T-shirts, leather belts and put on a sing-song w/dancing. It is quite nice actually. There IS NO TOWN at PuertoChiapas. Period. There's an industrial wharf next door called Puerto Moderno and a gritty island settlement beyond the waterway. 1 stall sold beer and oranges outside the Arcade's guardhouse fence, so I and others took the Mini-bus shuttles to Tapachula 30miles inland for $10bucks to stroll around the City Square to gawk and shop. Shuttles left every 1/2hr or so each way. Good Security in Tapachula on 'Ship Day' near the town square. I paid a Taxi $16USD in Tapachula to go to Guatemalan border and Ixapa Ruins for a look-see at Tacana Volcano in the jungle etc. and then had a few local beers and tacos with him. Other's booked the Motorcoach Tours to Tapachula etc. I saw many fellow cruisers during my day in town and elsewhere. I paid $26bucks total. They paid more..... but then I'm comfortable dealing with foriegn travel and the language barrier. Locomotiveman Tom

Tom This was a great post! This is exactly what I am looking for when we get to Puerto Chiapas. Just a few questions. Would doing this with a family of 4 be sketchy? I am guessing that the taxi waited for you to see the AMAZING ruins at Ixapa...so did they drop you at the doc when you were done? Word ordering a taxi ahead of time or just by phone save some money on the Mini Bus shuttle?