PV beach, place to snorkel on your own?

[csobam]

Hello, I have a question regarding things to do in PV:

I’m taking a Princess cruise in two weeks and I pretty much have all the ports figured out except for PV. We’ve booked a city tour through the ship because I’d really like to see the cathedral and the downtown area. The tour is only 4 hours long though, and we’ll be done by 1 p.m., which means we’d probably end up spending some time shopping. But after that I’d like to go to a nice beach to snorkel and I cannot figure out where to go. I’ve seen in the posts that a lot of people are going to Krystal’s, but I don’t care much for a pool/towel/chair/massage thing. All I need is a nice calm beach, perhaps a restroom with a shower and maybe a bar for drinks. Also, something close to where the ships dock. Is this possible? The boat does not leave until 10 pm. I’ve also read that the beaches in PV are sort of tricky, and not always safe?

Also, would it be hard to go downtown by ourselves (2 people) and look at the cathedral and shop instead of doing the tour? Has anybody done this sort of thing?

Thanks, any opinions and suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

[soos1]

I would be curious as to the answer myself. I have been researching PV for a few weeks now and I am still struggling about what to do...

I have come to the conclusion that no, there are no nearby, easy beaches to snorkel at, (the water is too rough?).

we are in a similar situation- we want to see a tequila "factory" but not make it an all day adventure. the best option we have seen is this one:

"Normally, snorkelling off the beach is not very good in Puerto Vallarta. The best places for snorkelling are either at the Marieta Islands or at the South-beaches. However, at Mismaloya you can do something else as well. You can rent one of the tenders, which are there at the left side of the beach all the time, for one or two hours and ask them to take you to the Los Arcos Rock formations. These are at only 5-10 minutes distance from the the beach and snorkelling is quite good there. Take your own snorkelling equipment or look for a tender which has equipment for rent."

Good luck!

Sue

[melika091900]

i agree, we went to mismaloya thinking we would snorkel, but they said we need to go to los arcos to do this, we didnt since we had our daughter with us and she doesnt swim well, but the beach area was fun ..

 

if you go , go to the resturant bar, where you cross a bridge on, walking,

and tell ofelia that ice and melissa sent you ..

 

she will give you some shots of tequila on the house

[Hlitner]

I will make this a short answer (not like me at all). Forget snorkeling in PV, because its simply not that good anywhere. We spend our winters in PV (rent a condo) and have been underwhelmed by all their so-called snorkeling tours.

 

Hank