Snorkeling in Puerto Vallarta

We will be in PV in December. Are there any good snorkel tours available. There is nothing offered from the ship (or else they are sold out).

There are snorkeling excursions and there are excursions where snorkeling is a part of the larger excursion. I rarely recommend excursions where diving/snorkeling is the primary activity.

Here is a third party tour broker that has a good reputation with the cruising community: http://www.puertovallartatours.net/snorkeling.htm

Keep in minds that the locations that offer half way decent snorkeling are an hour's travel away by boat.

As an alternative to an excursion, some people have taken a taxi/bus to Mismaloya. There, they hire a panga off the beach to take them out to the Los Arcos Marine Park to snorkel. Tours that start in Mismaloya include: http://www.vallartadiscovery.com/tour/Snorkeling_Los_Arcos_Tour.php

Others may be able to offer additional information on this. After a decade, we don't take our snorkeling gear along any more.

Enjoy!

We have tried snorkeling all over PV. Nowhere have we found great snorkeling. The best was out at the Marietas islands because the water was so beautiful and clear and there were some fish. But still not a great variety or large numbers. The water was also clear last New Year's Day in Las Caletas. Again just a few fish but beautiful water, much better than in most of the bay. There are lots of colorful fish near Los Arcos but they're all the same kind. I still love to snorkel so if you adjust your expectations you can still have fun.

I agree that perhaps other activities would be better than snorkeling in PV. You cannot assume that there will be great snorkeling everywhere off the coast of Mexico.

Puerto Vallarta is a lovely city with a lot to offer, just not known for ease of snorkeling.

Looks like I won't need to pack my snorkel gear for this cruise. Thanks for all the input.

I used Leslie for both Scuba and Snorkeling. Yes, in January the water was a bit murky, but we dove in Los Arcos and snoreled in Majahuitas (further away).

http://www.puertovallartadivers.com/

VERY reasonable pricing and small groups/personalized service with lunch included.

Water is warmer and clearer in the summer months, though.

DW and I love to snorkel, own our own gear, and have managed to enjoy this activity all over the world. In the winter we live in Puerto Vallarta (for about 10 years) and the first two years we would bring our snorkel gear and try the local "snorkel spots." The most common area is around some huge rocks called Los Arcos and another area is just off the Marietas Islands. Neither is very impressive as the waters in this part of the Pacific are just not conducive to good snorkeling. We no longer bring down our snorkel gear and usually recommend that snorkelers save their money (and time) and snorkel elsewhere.

Hank