ikirumata

When I was in Curacao last, I had an underwater case for my iphone. Worked great!

I think it’s a good reminder of our threshold of what we think crime is. In my short Mazatlan experience last month, I never felt like I was unsafe, especially in the old town or malecon areas. I can’t speak to what happens after dark, but during a normal cruise tourist day, doing normal cruise tourist activities, Mazatlan seemed very safe.

blows my mind that Lubbock, Texas is more dangerous than Chicago, Illinois

I was in Mazatlan this past Feb and it felt very safe. We asked our driver about the violence and he reassured us that Mazatlan is very safe. The drug violence is several hours drive north of the city. The only thing you will have to worry about is the beach vendors interrupting your patio lunch. They are relentless!

how many other ships are in port at that time? If you are the only one, then you may make it if you can secure early tender tickets.

We did CaboWhaleWatch and they were great! On the way out and when the whales were taking breaks, the guide gave us all kinds of great facts about the whales. It was around $90 per person and they were very considerate of our time and dropped us off back at the tender port (it’s a public dock, so you had to pay a couple bucks to the dock master). This allowed us to stay out watching the whales a bit longer. I had my camera, but they also took some fantastic photos and shared them via dropbox link. I attached some photos I took. The photos the tour guide took were equally as awesome! We plan on coming back and using whale watch cabo again.

I was on the same cruise. First time taking a ship out of LA. In LAX, they have an area designated for ride share called LAXit. You can catch a shuttle to the area once you leave the baggage claim (terminal 1 is within walking distance). Once you are there, there are different spots for the different companies, uber, lyft, etc… just follow the signs when you exit the shuttle. In Cabo, there is tons of shopping everywhere once you get off the tender boat. I personally would not book any flights before noon if you need to go to LAX. The hardest part was getting a ride out of cruise port. Pro tip, use the porters when you get your luggage. They have a faster line through customs (and you don’t have to drag your things through the snaking customs line).

We have done this whale company quite a few years ago and they are superb! In fact, when we got back from our morning tour, we loved it so much, we purchased tickets for the afternoon tour! I’m glad we did because we got to see a blue whale with her baby!

I agree $250 for 8 people will be hard to find, especially when cruise ships are in port. We paid around $90 per person when we docked there last week through whale watch cabo (I highly recommend). You may be able to negotiate with a dock vendor (there were a ton of them…some look sketch at best), but I have no idea what kind of quality experience you are going to get. Oh, and it takes about 30 mins to get out to the whales.

also depends on how many other ships are in port too. On our trip on Navigator last week, it was pretty quick. We had a private tour that started at 3. Our ship started tendering at 12:30. We also were worried about getting off, so we booked a cheap excursion through the ship to get off quickly (cheaper than a suite or the key) and just walked off the dock to the port area. We rolled into town a little before 1pm…had enough time to find our excursion company, use the bathroom, and grab a couple drinks at one of the restaurants near the port area.

Port Monkeys channel on youtube details this excursion. Just search for “ExclusiveBeach Resort Getaway Puerto Vallarta, Mexico” and look for the Port Monkeys Channel. Looks pretty nice!

We booked Mazatlan Van Tours for our cruise last week. Our driver, JeanCarlo was a very good guide! Although it seemed he had a pre set itinerary in his head, he was very accommodating. He was very knowledgeable about Mazatlan and his narration throughout the tour was enlightening. I think you need to be assertive about what you want. We told him that we wanted to skip some parts ( wasn’t interested in cliff divers) and go do other parts (I really wanted to try Pescado Zarendeado). Between everyone in our tour, we hit all the things we wanted to do. A couple highlights for us were: A local vanilla soda that he bought for us while we were at Mercado Mechado. I asked for a local soda (I don’t drink alcohol) and he picked out a good one. I wish I could remember the name. Helado de Queso at a small stand behind the big church. Cheese ice cream! Hand churned. It was excellent! Coconut Shrimp (best I have ever had) and Pescado Zarendeado at La Costa Marinera. HOWEVER… fergmom is absolutely correct about the beach vendors. Throughout the meal, they just set up right outside our table and consistently asked to buy their goods. The WORST part was the bands. Full on mariachi/marching bands competing for tips. I felt like I was at a college football stadium. It’s really too bad because the dishes we ordered were superb. La Costa Marinera was right in the middle of the Malecon. It wasnt too far from the other places we visited…Church, Mechado Mercado, Shrimp Market. It was neat to see the statues going up in preparation for their Carnival celebration. JeanCarlo made sure to slow down so that we could snap a few shots on the way back to the cruise terminal. Mazatlan Van Tours is a company front comprised of several independent van operators. JeanCarlo was our operator for the day and he was excellent.

in Mazatlan we got a chance to try Pescado Zarendeado! Whole fish butterflied open, marinated in a special sauce, then cooked over coals. It was fantastic! Takes some time to cook, but it’s worth it! We ordered it at La Costa Marinera along with the best Coconut Shrimp I have ever had! I’m sure there are other places to order these dishes, but if you do go to La Costa Marinera, DO NOT eat on the patio. You will have a stream of beach vendors trying to sell you stuff and several bands (with horns and drums) trying to compete for your attention. Not a peaceful beach experience. Try to sit indoors away from the public beach area. Mazatlan is known for their fresh shrimp. If you want, I can recommend a van tour operator that does a special tour where he helps you buy food like a local and then brings you to a kitchen to prepare authentic Mazatlan food. Good luck!

Growing up in Texas, I never had a fish taco up until pretty recently. Fish tacos are pretty much a California mex thing. With more Californians moving to Texas,there seems to be more Cali-mex places popping up. Also growing up in Texas, I watched as TexMex became mainstream American Mexican. Every where I travel in the us has TexMex influences. I am not ashamed of any food being Americanized. For generations, restauranteurs in all countries have survived by tailoring their menus to the local palate. Look at BBQ across America. Several region, several local palates. As an American local, American Chinese and TexMex are the superior versions.