Mex Riviera-Public Transit Places?

[Mom2008]

Hi:

 

We're taking HAL Dec 13/08 to Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan and Puerto Vallarta. Not a lot of $$$ to spare, with three kids, 14, 11 and 6 (girl/boy/girl). Wondering about options where we could walk or take public transit to hang out at a beach or something local and not touristy. Kids love to swim, we all like to learn about culture of other countries, museums, local ruins, and see the local colour.

 

Any advice or first-hand experience? We're in port 8-5 the first two ports, 8-10 in PV. Thanks.

[6rugrats]

Go to the Ports of Call section of this webpage and ask there.

[Kerry's Girls]

If you do a search on the family board under each of those ports, you'll find a bunch of great info - plus the ports of call board. But the short answer:

 

Puerto Vallarta - the Krystal Resort is walking distance and charges no day pass, but you should plan to buy drinks and lunch there + tips if you are going to use the facilities (plan on about $20 per adult/older child - still a huge price break off the cost of a ship excursion).

 

Mazatlan - you can walk to where they have ferry you to Stone Island for a beach day. There isn't much else that's walking distance - it's a very skid-row-ish port area.

 

Cabo - you can walk into the town area for shopping and there are lots of people at the dock who will take your family on a little boat out to see the rock formations and the beach.

 

We always have a great time and save money by going out on our own.

 

Best,

Mia

[Mom2008]

Thank you Mia:

 

I have checked the ports of call, Mexican Riviera and Family, but mostly I've found threads about swimming with dolphins and $$ excursions. I'm just wondering about walking (thanks for the suggestions) or public transit. So just wondering what other families have done that's low cost and local. Should I post it at the ports of call section? Thanks.

 

Theresa

[calikak]

In Cabo, with a family of 4 it's probably cheaper to take a taxi than to take the bus. We actually walked to the main street and then ended up hopping into a horse-drawn carriage that took us up to the ME Resort by Melia for $10 (not per person, that's total). It's a bit of a hipster hotel but it's on the beach with a great pool and the staff was super-nice to our son. No fee to use the hotel for the day, they even gave us beach towels to use. Taxi back to the pier was also about $10 if I remember right. You can also walk from the tender area to some beaches, or take a water taxi, which is also not expensive. Be willing to haggle with the water taxi guys.

 

I also can't say enough nice things about the Krystal in PV--wading pool, regular pools, beach with loungers, and no day pass fee. We were only there for the morning (it was ridiculously hot during our October cruise and we'd retreat to the air conditioning in the afternoons) so we just ordered a couple of drinks, not lunch or anything like that. Only downside was that the ocean water was too rough for swimming that day--not sure if that's typical or not, but the pool was great so it wasn't a big deal.

 

Note: there are lots of beach vendors in Mexico that will come up to you while you're lounging and try to sell you things. We found that a polite "no gracias" was all that was needed to send them on their way. And none of them are allowed by the pool areas, so if they're really bothering you, just pick a lounger by the pool instead.

[Tggrtoes]

This may have been said already, but we just got back from this same itinerary a few days ago. There are lots of suggestions over all the ports of call board. In mazatlan, I highly recommend Stone island. do it yourself - you don't need the shore excursion. there are directions on teh ports of call board and it's pretty easy to find. We did the water taxi with a stroller and a 1 year old, so if we can do it, anyone can. :D

 

PV has stronger tide and courser sand, so many people go to a local resort and play in their pool and beach. There is a map of all the resorts on the ports of call board too.