Mexican Riviera Excursions

[tkq]

We will be visiting Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan, and Cabo in September on the Diamond. What shore excursions would your recommend for a family traveling with kids 8 & 4? Looks like lots of options and I am interested in your past experiences.

 

Thanks in advance.

[JKJoannie]

We've been to Mexican Riviera twice. The first time we did the shore excursions Princess offered. We did the tequila factory and it was boring. We did the glass bottom boat and it was fun, but still not worth the money. The only organized excursion we enjoyed was the lunch at the hotel followed by beach time. I can't remember the names of all the excursions.

 

The second time we went - on the Diamond. We rented a car at each port and drove around, had lunch and did a little shopping all on our own.

 

We are seniors so we enjoyed the second time. But with kids, I would suggest the more active excursions like the beach time. Some of the others, where you go on a tour bus, I personally woudn't recommend.

 

I have grandsons that age and they love the beach.

[lois1112]

In puerta vallerta you can do the swim with the dolphins. Its expensive but your children will love it. I have been there twice and done the Dolphin swim and dolphin trainer for a day. Both were excelent trips.

In Cabo you only have 1/2 a day. If your children like to snorkle they have several trips that are fun tha tdo that.

[mii]

Maybe you would get some ideas if you go to the Ports of Call board and scroll to Mex. Riviera. There is a wealth of information there.

 

Marilyn

[craven3]

We've been on the Mexican Riv cruise 6 times because it's close and usually cheap for southern Californians.

 

Several have recommended water activities; be wary about where you go because much water down there is polluted from untreated or poorly treated sewage. Swimming in the bays isn't a good idea. Baja is an exception.

 

In Baja I'd recommend going to a big hotel and using their water facilities; they ship should have a bus going to one, and I'd opt for that, especially if your four hours there are in the morning. Not too many taxis there in the am. The hotels will be on the east side of the peninsula; those on the west side might have pools, but the water on the west is dangerous because of undertows.

 

I can't recommend things in the two other ports that young children would enjoy because our kids were already grown when we began doing that cruise. However, we adults very much enjoyed the excursion to an old gold mining town in the mountains; much cooler than Mazatlan was that day.

 

But you know what your kids like to do so I'd check the Princess website and read over the shore excursions to make a decision.

 

charlotte

[spingal]

In PV, I did the swim with the dolphins and really enjoyed it. A lot of people love the ziplining in PV. I did that in Hawaii and it is a blast!! So I would recommend looking at those two excursions for PV! :D

[mtaylor04]

Highly recommend the swim with the dolphins. It is a little pricey but so worth the money and you can purchase pictures of the kids with the dolphins. Makes great memories.

 

Mary

[causeyoutdoor]

One of our favorite things to do in PV is go on the pirate boat. I know. It sounds crazy. But we have a really good time, and the kids love it. The private beach is great, and the alcohol is free flowing.

[estebofarr]

Any more suggestions for first timers (without children) to this area?

[paradise4ever]

The grandkids loved the pirate boat and so did their parents. We took the bus excursion south and was not impressed. It is definately not for kids. There was alot of walking before we left pv and we even had to cross a rope bridge. I did not like that. In mazatlan we found a tour when we got off the ship that was really reasonable and fun. The guide was excellent and took us everywhere. There wasn't any kids going so i'm not sure how the kids will like that expecially at that age. The one trip my grandsons enjoyed in Mazatlan was the flyers and lunch and swiming at a hotel. The beach there was really nice. Small/short but nice. Cabo has great shopping but we know kids hate that. I do believe you can leave them on board in the kids center. It may cost a little extra but worth it. Pv is famous for the Dolphin swim and everyone loves it. Pricy tho. HAve fun

[Jules1]

Randi's Happy Horses in Mazatlan is great - we rode horses for a couple hours on an absolutely deserted beach (didn't see a soul on the beach).

 

Los Veranos Canopy Tour in PV was the highlight of our trip. 14 ziplines - it was fantastic!

 

We went snorkeling in Cabo to Santa Maria Cove - it was nice.

[cynbar]

We did the Mexican Riviera in January of 2005 on the Diamond Princess. In Mazatlan, we booked a private tour with Mazatlan Frank -- we did the one that takes you up into the Sierra Madre mountains to a couple of Mexican villages but he also offers city tours. Frank is wonderful -- his tour is a van with only a limited number of people and he answers all your questions, will go out of his way to make your trip enjoyable. It was one of the best tours we have ever taken, and that's saying something since we've taken quite a few!!! Here's a link to his website: http://www.mazatlan-frank.com/. Also, here's a link to our webshots with albums for both Diamond Princess and Mazatlan: http://community.webshots.com/user/cynbar101. Enjoy -- it was a great cruise with a great itinerary.

[SueCruz]

Very gentle horses grea for kids and there is beach time at the end of the ride. The price was great. You can book on-line and pay when you arrive.

[CassCruise]

TKQ we were on the Diamond in Nov 04 with our dd's who were then aged 4 & 7 yr - in PV we negotiated with a driver to take us on a tour of the city - the whole time all the girls wanted to do was go back to the kids club - so in Mazatalan we left them onboard (something prior to sailing with them I NEVER thought I would do) and again hired a driver to take us on a tour he then dropped us at a hotel and returned 1hr or so later and took us back to our ship - we then took the girls off the ship to the little shopping market there for hair braiding!!! in Cabo we insisted the girls had to hop off the ship and we again negotiated for a glass bottom boat tour which the girls LOVED..... if we were to do it again I think we would definitely do the pirate tour - that looked like a lot of fun and watching them come and go everyone looked very happy!!