what to do in mexico

[willtup5]

my family and I have booked a cruise on sapphire princess dec 17th 2005 to cabo mazatlan anf puerto vallarta. Waswondering if I could get suggestions, on good shore excursions whether through princess or privately in these ports of call. YOur replies are truly appreciated

 

Thanks! David

[Seaislegal]

I never book stuff through the ship as it is always overpriced. I ran an excursion for 200 folks in Mazatlan and went with King David's. It was $35 cheaper than what the cruise ship offered for the same type of excursion (except mine also included open bar). Check out my Mazatlan - Stone Island post for more info. They did a fantastic job for us!

 

In PV we just rented a taxi to take us around for the first 4 hours. He stopped at a couple of tequila places, did a short tour of town and then we went out towards Misamaloya and had lunch at a great place called Chico's. You can swim in the rock pools below the restaurant and it was gorgeous!

 

The only thing I saw in Cabo was the Cabo Wabo cantina as our group had a private party there, so can't comment on Cabo excursions.

 

Andrea in Atlanta

[Shelly97060]

We did this same itinerary on Diamond in March and booked the excursions through Princess. We did the PV beach Break. It takes you to a private resort that has a really nice beach or you can use the swimming pool. The kids loved the pool as it had to big waterslides that looked like alligators and you came slidding out of the mouth. Lunch was included as was one beverage.

 

In Mazatlan we did the Stone Island tour. You get a little boat ride, open bar for entire excursion which included bottled water, pop or adult beverages and then you went to the island for some beach time. Once there you could take a ride in a horse drawn carriage or a horseback ride. Lunch was provided as was a Pinata for the kids and they gave all the kids little mini pinatas to take home. There were lots of beach vendors on the beach but they were pretty nice and left you alone if you said no thanks...

 

both these excursions were good for families who just wanted some beach or pool time. Let me know if you have any other questions I can answer. It was such a fun trip! - Shelly

[JohnQ]

Of course it depends on what you are looking for, some go to port looking for big hotel to lay on their beach all day, or to find a bar and sit until time to get back on ship. Shoping is also popular. We have tried to do something in each port on each trip and there are several worth doing at least once. In PV, we have taken the City Tour and had a two or three hour bus tour of the city and major attractions, plus some of the large hotels on the coast, the church and some shopping time downtown. We have also taken Unibog 4x4 Safari Rainforest adventure in big Mercedes trucks thru small towns, ranches, and thru dry river beds to rainforest for short narrated walk, back to beach bbq and open bar with bunch of crazy fun tour guides.

In Mazatlan, we have done the Sierra Madre bus tour to Copala and Concordia, with stops at furniture factory, brick making, and nice lunch at resturant. All day tour and gives you an idea of what rest of non tourist areas look like. We have also gone to Stone Island and went horseback riding with Randi's Happy Horses, which was great and one of the most recommended tours I have seen. Nice laid back day in place that is 30-40 years in past.

 

In Cabo, besides Cabo Wabo, which you have to at least see, especially with older kids, there is great whalewatching. You will be getting there right a start of the season, on about 12/15 I think. This is a nice tour right outside the bay and you get a chance to see Lovers Beach, and Los Arcos, and hopefully lots of whales. Open bar and snacks. We also did City and Coastal tour to get feel for town on our first trip. Stopped at glass factory and drove along coast to San Jose de Cabo, a less touristy small city with nice town square and local bars, churches, tortilla factory.

[willtup5]

I appreciate all of your replies, I am intrigued by the Stone Island tour and Randys' happy horses.About how much did it cost? Also, my 17yr old son is insisting that we stop at Cabo Wabo. Does anybody recommend, any ATV excursions?

Thanks again David

[ikajus]

I just got back from the Star on 4/30. In PV, we did the Los Veranos Canopy Tour. It was great! See my other post. Very safe. VERY FUN! http://www.canopytours-vallarta.com

 

In Cabo, we just walked off the tender boat and there was a whole bunch people looking for our business. We ended up agreeing to go on glass bottomed boat called the "Dos Mares" It cost only $10 per person. The boat looked a little scary, but it had a great guide that took us within feet of the rock formations. It was a 45 minute tour. Definitely worth it!

[where next?]

Hi David,

 

We rode with Randi's Happy Horses in April 2005 and had a great day. My kids ages 13 and 9 loved it!

 

We also loved the ATV tour in Cabo. Your teenager will have a blast doing that tour. You drive ATV's through desert and then down to the beach. It was a great day. I booked through - Fvaldes@clubregina.com - Explora Adventours – Los Cabos

 

They picked us up at the ship in an air conditioned van and brought us to the ATV site and then returned us to the ship when we were done.

 

PV - our Dolphin Swim and Canopy Tours were cancelled since we were late into PV.

 

Hope this helps-

Bobbie

[mafemass]

willtup5: We too will be on the 12/17/05 sailing. We have our 15 yr old son sailing with us. Will u be having teens with u?

 

There is a rollcall for this sailing on the threads. Please look for it and join in.

[pvpam]

I can only give ideas for Puerto Vallarta - That is where I am! As stated there are numerous excursions offered through the ship. As well, you can do a canopy tour, private tour (city-jungle), spend the day on the beach (you can go to Los Muertos Beach-southside...lots of water activities and numerous palapa-restaurants where you can sit and shop from your beach-chair, sipping margaritas and buy from the beach vendors!), walk the Malecon (boardwalk) in the downtown, shop til you drop, go horseback riding through the jungle, visit the site of Night of the Iguana-Predator (to the south and very "jungley"), day cruise-evening cruise of the bay, dive, shop some more - - or just head to one of the open-air type bars on the boardwalk and watch the people go by!