Mexican Riviera Experts: Advice Requested

[2Oregonians]

Hubby and I will be traveling with my parents and are kind of down on the ship-sponsored tours. Could you please make recommendations for us? I would sincerely appreciate it.

 

About us: I am 47 and hubby is 54. We are sorta heavy, so no zip-lines or horseback riding. Limited hiking is ok. Maybe even ATV's. Not that we're lazy, we just don't want to break the horse's back or be embarrassed when we find out that there's a weight limit on a zip-line!! We do enjoy snorkeling and city tours, but we don't want to get out at some cathedral and spend 30 min gawking, nor do we want to have every former "celebrity" home pointed out to us. Know what I mean? We basically want to see what the city is all about, and maybe spend some time taking a few pictures. LIMITED shopping for a few souvenirs to bring home. No helicopter tours or anything over about $75 per person. Swimming with dolphins sounded intriguing, but through the ship, it's $150 - $250. Jet boat ride might be fun too, but again ... about 100 bucks!

 

We may or may not do excursions with my parents, but if we do: they are 75 and 83 and can walk fine, but not anything like a hike or lots of uphill. When they cruise by themselves, they usually end up doing the basic city tour sponsored by the ship, but if we could find something to do with them that is NOT ship-sponsored, that would be great. Again, we don't have to do stuff together, so advise for scenarios of just us, just them, and all 4 together if you would.

 

We are going in November to Puerto Vallarta (8 hours), Mazatlan (10 hours), and Cabo San Lucas (7 hours).

 

Thanks in advance! :D

 

Joyce

[lovevacadays]

I would suggest Mazatlan Frank in Mazatlan. You can google him and email him. He may be booked since your cruise is not that long off. His city tour is really good. You do go to a church but he really shows you so much of Mazatlan off the path of what the ship's tours do.

[klfhngr]

My recommendation: I usually travel with friends and family (mom, aunt, etc.). Since I am the one the coordinates the cruises, I also try to set up the excursions (for those that need help). For the last 5 - 10 cruises, once we exit the ship, I look for a van/car (depending on the size of the group) and I negotiate a rate for someone to drive us around all day. We then tell the driver what we enjoy doing and/or what we want to see and do and they take us. We save so much money this way and end up doing a lot more than those that booked excursions on the ship. Plus, we see things that most tourist never see and eat at restaurants that tourist usually don't go to.

 

I'll give you an example: 2 years ago, we hired a driver in PV. He took half the group to swim with the dolphins, the other half to the Krystal. After, we did McDonalds, lol. We then went shopping. After, drove to Mismaloya then zip lines! Total price for the van: $120. Now you divide that among a few people, it's a bargain. I understand that your group is smaller, but the key word is NEGOTIATE! Most drivers speak English, so don't worry about the language barrier.

 

We also do this in Mz and Cabo. To me, the more the merrier.. and, it's cheaper this way :)

 

P.S. Next week, we're taking our 91 year old (going on 50) uncle with us and plan on doing the same thing.

 

Anyhow, that's my 2 cents :)

[swedish weave]

My recommendation: I usually travel with friends and family (mom, aunt, etc.). Since I am the one the coordinates the cruises, I also try to set up the excursions (for those that need help). For the last 5 - 10 cruises, once we exit the ship, I look for a van/car (depending on the size of the group) and I negotiate a rate for someone to drive us around all day. We then tell the driver what we enjoy doing and/or what we want to see and do and they take us. We save so much money this way and end up doing a lot more than those that booked excursions on the ship. Plus, we see things that most tourist never see and eat at restaurants that tourist usually don't go to.

 

I'll give you an example: 2 years ago, we hired a driver in PV. He took half the group to swim with the dolphins, the other half to the Krystal. After, we did McDonalds, lol. We then went shopping. After, drove to Mismaloya then zip lines! Total price for the van: $120. Now you divide that among a few people, it's a bargain. I understand that your group is smaller, but the key word is NEGOTIATE! Most drivers speak English, so don't worry about the language barrier.

 

We also do this in Mz and Cabo. To me, the more the merrier.. and, it's cheaper this way :)

 

P.S. Next week, we're taking our 91 year old (going on 50) uncle with us and plan on doing the same thing.

 

Anyhow, that's my 2 cents :)

 

Great ideas !!! I want to add a little suggestion. Go through the ships tour brochures and write down the things that pique your interest. Add any things you have seen or heard about that you may like. When you find a taxi or van, give him the list and ask if you can do this, and the time and cost. That way, you can combine items from several ships tours into your own customized tour and probably save a bundle doing it.

[2Oregonians]

Great responses! I did look up Mazatlan Frank and his tours look great. I'll bet he's filled up for Thanksgiving week though. I'll still send him an email just to see.

 

Thanks for the ideas about writing a list of things we like from the ship's tours then showing them to a taxi driver. I'm just worried about safety. You hear of people getting into a taxi and driven out to a remote area and the driver and his friends konk them on the head and take their money. I'm not usually a scaredy-cat, but it does happen! I guess that's why we've always stayed with the safety of the ship's tours - but we're so sick of the prices they charge and the itineraries that don't suit us, so I guess we're going to have to be willing to try this method.

 

So if we show him a list of stuff and he says it'll take X hours and cost $150, we can ask if he'd do it for $100?? And maybe he'd counter for $120?? Is that what you've done?

 

Oh, and how much is it to swim with the dolphins when doing this on your own? (not through the ship?)

[rjscott]

If Frank is booked, he may be able to recommend another driver. In PV, on our last visit, we used Superior Tours of Vallarta, and we had a good tour with Azael. www.superiortoursvallarta.com In Cabo, we hired a private driver thru Cabo San Lucas Tours.net and went to San Jose del Cabo for the day. San Jose del Cabo is a charming little town; much quieter than Cabo San Lucas, but still has shops and restaurants to enjoy. You can visit the lovely cathedral and stroll around the town square and do some shopping in the very nice shops without the press of people you'll have in Cabo San Lucas, and have a great lunch as well before heading back to your tender back to the ship. Just a few ideas for your time in the MR.

[klfhngr]

Great responses! I did look up Mazatlan Frank and his tours look great. I'll bet he's filled up for Thanksgiving week though. I'll still send him an email just to see.

 

Thanks for the ideas about writing a list of things we like from the ship's tours then showing them to a taxi driver. I'm just worried about safety. You hear of people getting into a taxi and driven out to a remote area and the driver and his friends konk them on the head and take their money. I'm not usually a scaredy-cat, but it does happen! I guess that's why we've always stayed with the safety of the ship's tours - but we're so sick of the prices they charge and the itineraries that don't suit us, so I guess we're going to have to be willing to try this method.

 

So if we show him a list of stuff and he says it'll take X hours and cost $150, we can ask if he'd do it for $100?? And maybe he'd counter for $120?? Is that what you've done?

 

Oh, and how much is it to swim with the dolphins when doing this on your own? (not through the ship?)

 

We've done this for approx 10+ cruises and have NEVER had a problem. That also doesn't include land based trips to PV, Cancun and PDC. I'm not saying that this will never happen, but we have not had any problems, ever.. and yet.

 

Exactly! NEGOTIATE! Counter what they quote, if they say no, start walking away. One of two things will happen, he'll drop his price, OR, another driver that overheard the conversation will do it for your price! Works all the time, walking away.

 

I'm not sure about the dolphins, but I've seen and experienced savings between 20% - 40%, depending on the excursion.

 

Hope this helps.

[klfhngr]

Another point: I never tell them every little thing that we want to do, I only mention that we want to shop, check out some sites and ask if he'll take us to other places as we drive. The reason I do this is because I don't want them to start calculating how much all these things will cost separately.

 

On my first post, we didn't even plan on zip lining, but he ended up taking us all the way up the mountain, all for the same price we negotiated from the very begining. I'm assuming that if we told him at the offset that we wanted to also go up there, that he would've charged more, but again, I'm assuming.

 

Most drivers will negotiate on the hours vs. where you want to go.... keep that in mind.

[swedish weave]

Great responses! I did look up Mazatlan Frank and his tours look great. I'll bet he's filled up for Thanksgiving week though. I'll still send him an email just to see.

 

Thanks for the ideas about writing a list of things we like from the ship's tours then showing them to a taxi driver. I'm just worried about safety. You hear of people getting into a taxi and driven out to a remote area and the driver and his friends konk them on the head and take their money. I'm not usually a scaredy-cat, but it does happen! I guess that's why we've always stayed with the safety of the ship's tours - but we're so sick of the prices they charge and the itineraries that don't suit us, so I guess we're going to have to be willing to try this method.

 

So if we show him a list of stuff and he says it'll take X hours and cost $150, we can ask if he'd do it for $100?? And maybe he'd counter for $120?? Is that what you've done?

 

Oh, and how much is it to swim with the dolphins when doing this on your own? (not through the ship?)

 

I would not be afraid to go with the taxi drivers that you see in the terminals. The cruise passengers feed their families, and they look out for you. I have known some of the drivers in Mazatlan for years, and they see me downtown and either wave or stop and talk. The drivers also keep each other in line because they don't want to give their city a bad name among cruise people. Sure !! They will ask for the high prices, and will negotiate, but that is different.

[riffatsea]

I agree about just walking out and bargaining with a taxi driver to take you around for the day in the city.

I wonder where you have read those stories about dangerous taxis?? The only thing I have ever read is that in large cities in the USA they may take you for a looonger ride so you have to pay more!!