Puerto Vallarta Adventures

[TrayceeJ]

Could anyone e-mail what companies you have used outside of the cruise line to book excursions in Puerto Vallarta. We are interested in Las Caletas and Yalapa & Mahuitas. Anyone do either of the excursions? I would LOVE feedback. It will be my husband and I and our daughters 13 and 5. Both are very strong swimmers and want to do some snorkeling. Thank you!! We leave November 6th on the Diamond Princess.

Tracy

[bzy1]

Traycee,

I tried to email but you have it set to not accept emails.

If you are looking to book Caletas / Yelapa & Majahuitas, you must do so through the ship, as Vallarta Adventures is the company that does those tours and only allows you to book it through the ship.

 

Of the two trips, both are excellent, although I am fond of Caletas. The girls will enjoy either, but I think for a family, Caletas is best.

Enjoy:)

[TrayceeJ]

Traycee,

I tried to email but you have it set to not accept emails.

If you are looking to book Caletas / Yelapa & Majahuitas, you must do so through the ship, as Vallarta Adventures is the company that does those tours and only allows you to book it through the ship.

 

Of the two trips, both are excellent, although I am fond of Caletas. The girls will enjoy either, but I think for a family, Caletas is best.

Enjoy:)

The Yelapa/Majuitas excursion does not seem to be offered through Princess and looks great as well as the Caletas. I wonder what to do with that one. Are there any other reputable tour operators out of PV that caters to cruise passengers?

 

I set up my e-mail so now it will accept responses. Sorry I did not know it did not before.

 

Thank you for your response.

Tracy

[pvpam]

Hola from PV, Because the Yelapa-Mahauitas is not offered by the cruise ship, you should be able to book online with Vallarta Adventures for this one.

[sdl]

We noted that the VA and other large 'tour' ships into Yelapa were incredibly loud and seemed to be encouraging heavy drinking as well :(

With two daughters this may be a bad match for you.

 

With 4 of you, booking a smaller boat to take you along the south shore for some snorkeling and a stop in Yelapa for lunch and exploration might just be more cost-effective as well.

You could also set the return time to your schedule this way.

I would recommend doing an online search of 'puerto vallarta, snorkel, tour" on Google or somesuch and deal with one you can contact via email and/or via their website. Make sure you tell them you are arriving on a cruise ship as this can sometimes affect whether or not they can book you due to contracts they may have with lines.

 

Note that if you need to get to an independent tour NOT leaving from the same docks, walk out from the dock area PAST the white suburbans/etc right at the entrance and up the little cobblestone access road you can get a taxi for a fraction of the cost of the 'official' white ones, the only difference being they paid to be that close to fares.

 

Note: If you walk out of the dock area and up the cobblestone road, there is a small coffee place opposite the 'entrance' area and just towards the main road- by far the BEST coffee I have ever consumed... tastes like a rich coffee with the smells of cinnamon and chocolate overlaid...<sigh>

 

I would NOT recommend planning on snorkelling in Yelapa bay proper, as the drop-off is steep or rocky or both, and the tide and wave action is extremely strong. Comparison is I live in Northern CA where we have both as common conditions; I would say that the warmer water is the biggest difference.

 

Plan for the cost of a meal in Yelapa to be MUCH more than other locales, mostly because they need to pay to get nearly everything shipped in by boat (the more 'local' the ingredients the lower the menu price)- comparatively what it would cost stateside for a lunch but with smaller portions generally.

 

S

[sunsetme]

I would not recommend Yelapa either, very murky do not go to the waterfalls, the horses are awful, starved, the place is dirty and the falls not worth it at all. There are many independent excursion companies at the pier, you may have to pay cash but it will be much less than the cruise ship charges. You are better off going to the beach excursion (hotel). they have a slide, small zoo the beach is decent the pool very nice.

[TrayceeJ]

I would not recommend Yelapa either, very murky do not go to the waterfalls, the horses are awful, starved, the place is dirty and the falls not worth it at all. There are many independent excursion companies at the pier, you may have to pay cash but it will be much less than the cruise ship charges. You are better off going to the beach excursion (hotel). they have a slide, small zoo the beach is decent the pool very nice.

Thank you so much for the advice. Which hotel is used for the beach excursion? I will definitely skip Yelapa upon yours and sdl advice.

[TrayceeJ]

SDL

Thank you so much for you for your response to my e-mail on Yelapa. The additional information will be quite useful. I have printed out your e-mail and put it with our travel things.

 

Hope to see you on the cruise.

 

Tracy