Which activity for which port?? Help!!..

[Cruisingbear]

We will be cruising the Mexican Riveria in early February 2007.

Our ports are Puerto Vallarta, Cabo San Lucas, and Mazatlan.

We want to do one activity in each port. We would like to

do a beach day in one port, whale watching in one port, and

just walk the city in another port, but are unsure which port

is best for one of the acitivites. Any adivse is appreciated.

Thanks.

Happy Sailing...............

[Bruin Steve]

We will be cruising the Mexican Riveria in early February 2007.

Our ports are Puerto Vallarta, Cabo San Lucas, and Mazatlan.

We want to do one activity in each port. We would like to

do a beach day in one port, whale watching in one port, and

just walk the city in another port, but are unsure which port

is best for one of the acitivites. Any adivse is appreciated.

Thanks.

Happy Sailing...............

I'd do it this way:

Whale watching out of Cabo (even though Cabo has some of the better beaches as well)...

Beach Day in Mazatlan--though this is more difficult--you may have to go some way for a nice beach...We did an excursion to "Deer Island" for kayaking and beach...and enjoyed that beach...very remote and uncrowded...

City day--Puerto Vallarta...easily the most historical, best shopping and most charming (Cabo is also a nice town--and picturesque--but it's "new"...PV is more historical...more classic charm...You can taxi into Downtown PV..or find a cab to give you a little mini-tour--take you down to Mismaloya and elsewhere and end you up in Downtown, where you can walk around...stroll the Malecon, venture over to Ile Cuale, visit the Cathedral, Shop and have a nice little lunch in one of the many good restaurants...

 

Have fun...

[cruzinpam]

We will be cruising the Mexican Riveria in early February 2007.

Our ports are Puerto Vallarta, Cabo San Lucas, and Mazatlan.

We want to do one activity in each port. We would like to

do a beach day in one port, whale watching in one port, and

just walk the city in another port, but are unsure which port

is best for one of the acitivites. Any adivse is appreciated.

Thanks.

Happy Sailing...............

 

Heh! Bear check out these.

We did these same ports the last week of Sept. 2006 on the Carnival/Pride.

 

In Puerta Vallarta;

After 2 days on ship we ( all 8 of us ) were glad to get back on land. We did the Canopy & Rappelling tour. Took almost 6 hours but was well worth it for the tropical forest and the little streams with breathtaking waterfalls were so beautiful. A very adventures' and active tour.

 

In Mazatlan;

I booked horseback riding in advance with King David on Stone Island. This was by far the highlight of our trip. David himself met us right off the ship with his cute little turtle sign. From there we ferried across the harbor

to Stone Island and then by charming little open-air taxis to the casa of Miguel (under giant trees) who had all our horses saddled and ready to ride. The ride on that beach is glorious, along a very wide beach for as far as the eye can see. We even rode in the shallow gentle surf a few times. Part of the ride goes thru the huge coconut plantation which parallels the beach. Never seen so many coconut trees in my life. After the ride we were taken to a nearby beach restaurant. “Molokay” (pronounced mo-lo-ki) . We were all very impressed with this restaurant with its palapas to sit under with a fantastic view of the beach. Our lunch was not included in the tour , but after a recommendation from our waiter (spoke perfect English) we ordered 4 special shrimp platters for the 8 of us. Wow! Oh! Wow! on each platter were these giant shrimp prepared in 5 different styles. Never ever in my life have I ever experienced eating shrimp prepared so well. “Shrimplicious” They let my 2 children use their boogie boards at no charge & we were all able to use the covenant showers and lockers. The bathrooms were also very clean. No problem with the beach vendors here unlike the other nearby restaurants because they have their very wide restaurant front roped off to keep vendors from pestering the tourist. We were taken back to our ship with time to spare. All of us want to do this again, the sooner the better.

 

Cabo San Lucas;

We booked from the ship the "Sail & Snorkel" tour. A very relaxing tour.

I personally did not snorkel but the rest of our group did. The water was warm and very clear. They saw lots of colorful fish and even “angelfish”. We went to “Lovers Beach” at the end of the Baja peninsula, that's like no other place on earth. ( Interesting note here-

Lovers beach is quite small and if you walk West between the small gaps between the huge rock formations you come out onto the beach named in Spanish “Playa de Divorciado” or in English “Divorced Beach”

which is very large and is on the pacific ocean side of the Baja.

I would recommend this tour highly but next time try to book it myself instead of through the ship.

Enjoy cruzinnpam

[gottago2mexico]

We will be cruising the Mexican Riveria in early February 2007.

Our ports are Puerto Vallarta, Cabo San Lucas, and Mazatlan.

We want to do one activity in each port. We would like to

do a beach day in one port, whale watching in one port, and

just walk the city in another port, but are unsure which port

is best for one of the acitivites. Any adivse is appreciated.

Thanks.

Happy Sailing...............

 

Although Bruin Steve makes good points, I think I'd do it a little differently:

 

Cabo San Lucas - Beach Day. Medano Beach, Santa Maria Beach, Lovers Beach, and Chileno Beach are all better than the best beaches in PV or Mazatlan. The water is clearer in Cabo for snorkeling, and a prettier color. Medano Beach has all the water sports and beach restaurants, while a boat tour to Santa Maria or Chileno offer the best snorkeling on your cruise route.

 

Mazatlan - City Day. Although actually, as Steve mentioned, PV is second to none for this activity, it is also way better than Maz for whale watching. Mazatlan, on the other hand, offers better prices for shopping, and also has an old-world charm. The Golden Zone will have all the tourist shops and restaurants while a jaunt down the Malecon and into downtown will offer better bargains. Also, there just aren't as many tours and things to do in Mazatlan as the other two, so I'd do the city day here by default.

 

PV - Whale Watching. PV is the only one of the three to offer humpback whales, which are bigger and more exciting to watch than the gray whales of Cabo (though those are also very fun). Unlike the grays, they will sometimes leap out of the water (breach) which is very exciting. Head to the Marietas Islands for the best whale watching.

 

I hope this helps - you'll have a blast no matter which you choose. All three are wonderful in their own way!