Cabo San Lucas - Help with Planning

[handbellplayer]

We will be in Cabo San Lucas at the end of October on a Panama Canal cruise.  I have searched these Boards and Trip Advisor, but have not found much information.  (At least not the amount of info I'm used to for Caribbean and Alaskan ports.)  All of the recommendations seem to be excursions that don't pick up at the cruise port or those that require you to put your own group together for a flat rate.  This port stop is on my birthday, and I'd like to do something fun and special.  We are active 65 year olds that enjoy history/sightseeing and love being on the water.  Some of our favorite excursions on other cruises have been sail/snorkeling trips with gourmet lunch and open bar.  Any suggestions that might fit our needs in CSL, or are we stuck with a cruise line excursion?

[TMR2]

Have you checked with https://cabosanlucascruiseexcursions.com/ ? They have private sailing and snorkeling trip as well as luxury yachts but I think they only offer private trips so you'd have to see if its worth it depending on the size of your group.  

[handbellplayer]

21 minutes ago, TMR2 said:

Have you checked with https://cabosanlucascruiseexcursions.com/ ? They have private sailing and snorkeling trip as well as luxury yachts but I think they only offer private trips so you'd have to see if its worth it depending on the size of your group.  

I did - this is one of the groups that requires you to put your own group together.  There are only two of us and we have a less than active roll call, so I don't see it happening....

[thekidsandi]

On 5/25/2019 at 4:00 PM, handbellplayer said:

I did - this is one of the groups that requires you to put your own group together.  There are only two of us and we have a less than active roll call, so I don't see it happening....

I will be on the Legend cruise from LA to Tampa in October. I too am having trouble deciding what to do in Cabo and who to purchase from. I think I'd like to do ATVs, but Carnival's excursion offerings for this are limited and I'm not sure about buying from a local company, without some kind of recommendation from someone that has used them. I've tried to get suggestions from the roll call, with no success.

[Mike45LC]

When you get off the ender, you will be inundated with salesmen pushing their excursions and tours.  I normally allow one of these salesmen to sell me a "glass bottom boat" ride to the Arches and back.  Upon request (and a few dollar tip), the boatman will drop you off at the beach on the return -- be prepared to wade ashore.

 

[Lido deck main]

On 5/25/2019 at 3:04 PM, handbellplayer said:

We will be in Cabo San Lucas at the end of October on a Panama Canal cruise.  I have searched these Boards and Trip Advisor, but have not found much information.  (At least not the amount of info I'm used to for Caribbean and Alaskan ports.)  All of the recommendations seem to be excursions that don't pick up at the cruise port or those that require you to put your own group together for a flat rate.  This port stop is on my birthday, and I'd like to do something fun and special.  We are active 65 year olds that enjoy history/sightseeing and love being on the water.  Some of our favorite excursions on other cruises have been sail/snorkeling trips with gourmet lunch and open bar.  Any suggestions that might fit our needs in CSL, or are we stuck with a cruise line excursion?

When we were in Cabo we went snorkeling we took a boat just off the port takes you to lovers beach, great to go on your own instead of ships tour as you decide how long you want to stay snorkeling.  You don’t have to prebook  this.  We brought our own snorkel gear, but they do rent gear.   Our price to get to Lovers Beach was about 20.00 per person.  Lovers beach is not that far away, but have to take boat there, can see the shore port area from beach.  This is the same place ships snorkel goes too.  Also for birthday lunch maybe go to Cabo Waco, Sammy Haggards restaurant bar.

[LBumb]

cabo wabo is a cool place but in town a bit

bars and restaurants on the beach are awesome

[USERBOYD66]

LBUMB -

 

Do you know the best way to get into town?  Especially to see the bars and restaurants?

[Mike45LC]

21 hours ago, USERBOYD66 said:

LBUMB -

 

Do you know the best way to get into town?  Especially to see the bars and restaurants?

Walk.  Take pedi-cab.  Take regular cab for the short drive.

 

[riffatsea]

The tender leaves you in town . You can just walk to restaurants and shops.

Agree that there are tons of tours directly from the dock.

There is nothing wrong with taking a cruise line tour once in a while.

For something quite different I did the riding the camels along the beach tour with lunch and a walk in a desert garden. I don't plan to go to Africa so this was an interesting new experience for me that was quite different than just hanging on a beach!!

[KurtMo]

I'd recommend googling Cabo Adventures and looking at their offerings.  We did a very nice "luxury day sail" that they ran (offered through Princess) and also the camel riding (we bought direct).  Both were top-notch excursions with good food & drink, interesting narration, and very professional.

[dobiemom]

http://superiortoursvallarta.com/ treated us very well. I would use them again. 

[almost40nCruisin]

On 7/23/2019 at 12:37 PM, KurtMo said:

I'd recommend googling Cabo Adventures and looking at their offerings.  We did a very nice "luxury day sail" that they ran (offered through Princess) and also the camel riding (we bought direct).  Both were top-notch excursions with good food & drink, interesting narration, and very professional.

Did you have any problems booking directly through Cabo Adventures?  We cruising on the Carnival Panorama in March and booked a couple dolphin swims directly through them.  When I got my confirmation it said in fine print on the bottom that cruise guests must book through the cruise ship. Wondering if this will be an issue or if it's just something they put on there to cover their own behinds? 😁

[CanWeGoYet?]

On 7/11/2019 at 9:16 AM, riffatsea said:

 

For something quite different I did the riding the camels along the beach tour with lunch and a walk in a desert garden. I don't plan to go to Africa so this was an interesting new experience for me that was quite different than just hanging on a beach!!

Curious as to the camels, are they foul smelling?   All I know about camels is the ones at our local zoo when I was a kid.  Could not stand within 10 feet of them without gagging the smell was so bad.   

[riffatsea]

No! There was no odor! I imagine that your zoo was not kept very well if the small was that bad!

These camels are outdoors in a lovely setting near the ocean.

 

[handbellplayer]

On 7/23/2019 at 3:37 PM, KurtMo said:

I'd recommend googling Cabo Adventures and looking at their offerings.  We did a very nice "luxury day sail" that they ran (offered through Princess) and also the camel riding (we bought direct).  Both were top-notch excursions with good food & drink, interesting narration, and very professional.

I would love to do the luxury day sail, but when I go to book it on their web site, it only offers hotel pick-up, not cruise port.  We are on RCCL, and they don't offer it as a ship excursion.  Did they pick you up for the excursion you bought direct? 

[KurtMo]

On 8/6/2019 at 9:00 AM, handbellplayer said:

I would love to do the luxury day sail, but when I go to book it on their web site, it only offers hotel pick-up, not cruise port.  We are on RCCL, and they don't offer it as a ship excursion.  Did they pick you up for the excursion you bought direct? 

Cabo Adventures building (where they have the dolphin interactions) is just a short (5-10 minutes?) walk from the pier after you leave the tender.  But even better - the boats left right from the marina very near where you tender in.

[handbellplayer]

1 hour ago, KurtMo said:

Cabo Adventures building (where they have the dolphin interactions) is just a short (5-10 minutes?) walk from the pier after you leave the tender.  But even better - the boats left right from the marina very near where you tender in.

 

Thanks. I have emailed them a second time to ask about this.  Their first response was that I had to book through the cruise line (but they don't offer this excursion or anything like it).

[baylorgirl80]

On 5/25/2019 at 6:00 PM, handbellplayer said:

I did - this is one of the groups that requires you to put your own group together.  There are only two of us and we have a less than active roll call, so I don't see it happening....

Hi handbellplayer - we are on the same cruise and might be able to join you for the sail and snorkel.  Tried to message you through CC but could not....

[handbellplayer]

11 hours ago, baylorgirl80 said:

Hi handbellplayer - we are on the same cruise and might be able to join you for the sail and snorkel.  Tried to message you through CC but could not....

Email me at annewpayne@gmail.com.

[yoolykeme]

Cabo is one port that I've been to where the hawkers weren't too irritating, and their prices weren't too elevated.  I would be very comfortable with walking the pier and seeing which excursions were available, and picking from one of them.  You could check the cruise line website for ideas, and then just pick a vendor when you get to port.

 

Personally, I'd suggest parasailing from the boat 😉

[Mike45LC]

On 8/28/2019 at 8:48 AM, yoolykeme said:

Cabo is one port that I've been to where the hawkers weren't too irritating, and their prices weren't too elevated.  I would be very comfortable with walking the pier and seeing which excursions were available, and picking from one of them.  You could check the cruise line website for ideas, and then just pick a vendor when you get to port.

 

Personally, I'd suggest parasailing from the boat 😉

I find the tour hawkers at Cabo to be very annoying.  Too many of them, and too aggressive.  However, I always buy a glass-bottom boat tour from them!

 

We have done parasailing from a boat a couple of times in Cabo.  I like the launching from (and landing back on) a boat far more than from the beach!

[KeepCalmBearOn]

Personally I'd never use Cabo Adventures precisely because they have a captive dolphin program. Captive dolphin programs outside the U.S. and especially in Mexico and the Caribbean aren't subject to many controls. There are probably good ones and bad ones, but just the demand alone for captive dolphins keeps the Taiji dolphin slaughter and capture going.

 

La Princesa Sailing Catamarans does a nice job on snorkel tours.

[handbellplayer]

1 hour ago, scottca075 said:

La Princesa Sailing Catamarans does a nice job on snorkel tours.

Thank you - that one looks good.  I will probably book with them.

[Ombud]

On 6/20/2019 at 1:00 PM, Mike45LC said:

When you get off the ender, you will be inundated with salesmen pushing their excursions and tours.  I normally allow one of these salesmen to sell me a "glass bottom boat" ride to the Arches and back.  Upon request (and a few dollar tip), the boatman will drop you off at the beach on the return -- be prepared to wade ashore.

I was hacked 2× using cards online so I'm paranoid. I was going to book a 1hr glass bottom boat tour but your post makes me wonder if I can just pay in USD when I get off the tender. Can I just wing it or do I need to pre-reserve? I won't have pesos