King David Stone Island Tour Question

[Sailfish]

We have a tour to Stone Island with King David in Mazatlan booked for next week, when we cruise on the Sapphire Princess. The boat and island tour includes two activities - we are considering snorkeling and horseback riding, however, I have a few questions I hope you can answer for me if you been there, done that!

 

Questions:

 

1. How is the horseback riding - can beginners do it? I understand I wil need closed toe shoes and long pants (at least that's what my tour voucher states). Is there a place to change clothes on shore? Since I have been on a horse only two times in my life, what can I expect? Where do the horses take you?

 

2. Where does the tour take you snorkeling? I understand we take a boat to Stone Island - do they take you by boat to snorkel or do you do from the beach? I am going next week in January - air temps according to weather.com are supposed to be in the 80's - how about the water?

 

Thanks in advance for your input!

 

Suzi

[nancy_s_leong]

Hello Sailfish,

 

My husband and I took the King David stone island tour 3 years ago, and enjoyed it.

 

It's my first time ride on a horse, no issue, pretty easy, only about half hour ride at the time.

http://family.webshots.com/photo/2887948590048719031LIetRV

ps. the kid in the front horse is our guard.

 

We choose horseback ride and banana boat ride. Did not go for the snorgling. But we rented a locker like for $5, and have a place to change cloth I remember.

 

Happy cruise,

 

Nancy

[Sailfish]

Thanks for the info; did you have to change into long pants and sneakers?

[nancy_s_leong]

For horseback riding, we did not need to change anything, but for banana boat ride, we changed to swim suit.

[grammacassi]

We have a tour to Stone Island with King David in Mazatlan booked for next week, when we cruise on the Sapphire Princess. The boat and island tour includes two activities - we are considering snorkeling and horseback riding, however, I have a few questions I hope you can answer for me if you been there, done that!

 

Questions:

 

1. How is the horseback riding - can beginners do it? I understand I wil need closed toe shoes and long pants (at least that's what my tour voucher states). Is there a place to change clothes on shore? Since I have been on a horse only two times in my life, what can I expect? Where do the horses take you?

 

2. Where does the tour take you snorkeling? I understand we take a boat to Stone Island - do they take you by boat to snorkel or do you do from the beach? I am going next week in January - air temps according to weather.com are supposed to be in the 80's - how about the water?

 

Thanks in advance for your input!

 

Suzi

 

Is king davids still offering the 2 activities with their tour?

Thanks,

cassi

[Bedazzled101]

I think you will enjoy it as much as my husband(expert rider) and myself(comfortable on a horse but not much experience) did. This tour has a very private small feel, and they let you walk separate from others on the beach and have space to where you feel like you have your own private tour. Our guide was a blond Canadian...which surprised and delighted me. We took an A/Ced van to the water taxis, took the water taxi's over to stone island(peninsula; make sure to take your camera out to take some amazing pics of Mazatlan), then an open truck bed with benches built in. You get to the place where the horses are kept, you can have a chance to use a bathroom before being saddled up on a horse. Then you go on your way, the horses know the routine, so not much steering is involved. The pace is slow as you make your way to the beach.On the way there, my friend's horse nuzzled against my leg, as she is a novice to horseback riding didn't know to keep horses faces out of the way of body parts LMAO. He didn't nip me, just gave himself a bit of a massage...to my relief.

Anyway, once you get within eyesight of the beach, they trot a bit to get onto it, then slow down so you can enjoy the views and company of those you came with. 30 mins in you take a trail that goes through the coconut trees which is much more enjoyable than I thought, then back on the beach for the second half of the ride. The beach was so beautiful you don't want it to end...their horses are very slow and gentle(kissing sounds get them moving a bit)...make sure to put your camera on a lanyard with you to take beautiful pics. The only thing that bugged me a bit was that I'm 5'4 and my stirrups were too long on my horse(for women they have some special stirrups that protect your toes so maybe you won't need toe protection but don't have much room for height adjustment). The horses canter a bit(like for 1-2 mins) every once in a blue moon if they are trailing behind the others, and gallop for 30 seconds while getting from the shore back to where the trail starts, but nothing alarming as even with stirrups forcing me on my toes I enjoyed it. My horse looked like it had a pinch of mule blood in it...rofl...but it was sweet and funny as it would go super slow, then realise it was at the back then it would trot to where it was with its other buddies up front. Its a relaxing pace for the 2 hr horse ride...you return to where they keep the horses, take a truck/wagon to the Restaurant, but I would recommend wearing your swimsuit under your clothes as changing in the dirty bathrooms freaked me out.

I believe any any of the water activities are provided by beach vendors if you want, but we just relaxed under the palapas and enjoyed a lunch and a cool breeze. Water was nice and swimmable on Dec 15 when we were there. But all I did was get my feet wet. There is an outdoor shower and I saw 2 curtained off changing rooms next to it(I personally have a need to be able to lock the door lol). If you like sarongs, there was a wide selection of them here. I wouldn't recommend anyone buy silver, thinking its real from beach/street vendors since what I saw looked completely fake and sounded like stainless steel when it clinked together. If you don't know what Sterling Silver looks, sounds, weighs, and feels like...why waste your money on junk you will throw out...and not just in Mazatlan.

Anyway look at my pics of the tour...If you have more questions, feel free to ask.

http://http://s153.photobucket.com/albums/s213/bedazzled101/Mexican%20Riviera/Mazatlan/?albumview=slideshow

[Bedazzled101]

Definitely, beginners will fall in love with horseback riding after this tour. Please do this one, my husband and I had an amazing time with our 2 best friends. This tour has a very small, private feel to it. Much better than I was expecting. I think you will be fine in jeans and tennis shoes. But a sandal with a back strap for the ladies is just as good since the saddles they use for women have a toe covering(you can see in my pics).

The tour starts out where you meed a blond Canadian woman at the port, you are taken on an A/Ced van to the water taxis. Take a water taxi to Stone Island(peninsula), make sure to get your camera ready for pretty pics of the port and Pacifico factory. Then you all get on a truck/wagon to get to where the horses are kept.

The horses are saddled and already ready to go, but you have a chance to use a bathroom if you need. The area looked clean, no smell of manure, and horses look like they just want to go back to sleep till later in the day...rofl. A funny thing we were told, is that all the horses on on stone Island eat gourds(not hardened) and love them. I guess it would have a lot of fiber and vitamins...but strikes me as very odd.

Since you've been on a horse before, you should have no trepidation whatsoever, these horses are so mild a 2 year old could ride them. My friend hadn't been on a horse more than 2 times in her life, and she had no problems whatsoever. Since she knows nothing about horseback riding, she let her horse's face get right next to my leg, it was such a gentle horse, he just nuzzled me without a nip and got a free massage out of it...ROFL.

There was even a girl in our group who was in a long skirt and flip flops who said she had no problems as a towel is put over every saddle and said she does it all the time that way. I still wouldn't recommend it.

The ride starts out very slow(snail pace) as the horses are just waking up, you are matched with a horse by size and riding ability, but all the horses acted like a beginner would have no trouble with them. I guess they go by the horse's preference of weight etc. You start off on the road/trails that lead to the beach. Then the horses wake up a bit as they get near the beach, and trot a bit till they get to the shore. Everyone goes at a slow walking pace along the shore, but you aren't allowed to take the horses in the water as they have to immediately be brushed off to get the salt out of their fur. This leisurely pace is kept 95% of the time. The tour guide will start a bit of a canter halfway to the coconut groves to give you a bit of a thrill, but if you don't care to go at a faster pace, just a slight pull of the reins and say wow will slow your horse down. If you want a bit of speed, you make kissing sounds...lol. This lasts only for about 30 secs to a min. Then back to the slow pace, then you get on a trail leading from the beach to the coconut groves, which is really serene, as you are surrounded by huge coconut trees, and can see the ocean at certain intervals...but you hear it as you are walking through. after about 20 mins, the trail takes you back to the beach, where the horses canter a bit to get to the soft sand near the shoreline again. The pace on the way back is a bit faster as you get closer to the trail leading the horses home...We even had a chance to break into a gallop before we got back onto the trails(completely optional)...which is what I live for on a horse.

My only gripe was that the stirrups were far too long for me being 5'4. It took a bit of the fun out of the few seconds where the horses went faster(I got a little bruise on my bum...but it was worth it). The special stirrups for women with the toe cover can only be adjusted so much...I didn't really care for them as I had tennis shoes on. I believe if I'd complained, I would have been given another horse with more adjustable normal stirrups. In my slide-show, I'm the one in the lime tank top on the white horse with a pinch of mule in it...LMAO...look at the pics, that what it looked like to me. Everyone else had full blooded horses.

The Ride is for 2 hrs, at a very slow walking pace...but every once in a while they get the horses to gallop...if you aren't comfortable with this just pull a bit on your reins till he horse slows. You are given space to ride with those you are with, where you feel like you are on a super private tour of just you and your party...we loved this fact as there was no herding of the tourists here LMAO.

After you return to the main house to drop off the horses, you get into another truck/wagon to go to the restaurant where you are given freedom to find a table and relax. You get one free drink. We stuck with canned sodas and ordered lunch. The octopus and shrimp appetiser was delectable, but the garlic shrimp(actually langostinos...head and all) was just blah. Hubby ordered 2 tacos...and they had almost no meat in them and they were deep fried beyond recognition...also hidden under a pound of shredded lettuce. Not what we were expecting in the least...we should have ordered the grilled chicken which you see as you are walking up to the place. It gets your mouth watering for sure. But the tables were big, it was nice and cool under the palapas...and very relaxing of an atmosphere. The beach was beautiful, clean and full of vendors along the wall.

There is a guitar and singing duo that go around the restaurant hustling people for cash. Hubby and I tend not to like that in restaurants, let alone while you are relaxing by the beach. But eventually once they serenaded every one of the 3 tables...they left us in peace. The Water on Dec. 15 was fine for swimming and tanning...very nice and sandy too. Molokai's has bathrooms with stalls(kind of grimy), outdoor sinks to wash up before you eat, 2 outdoor changing stalls curtained off, and a large outdoor shower to rinse off. I got my feet wet on the beach but that was about it. If you like there are all kinds of beach vendors offering some sort of water sport activities(snorkeling is on the beach...I'd much prefer going to Chileno Bay in Cabo for this activity), there is a place to get massages as you look out to the beach...I personally most enjoyed the peace and quiet in the restaurant looking out to the water. If you want to do beach stuff I say you'll enjoy laying out and playing on the beach over snorkeling by the shore. There was soothing modern Mexican music playing in the background. Nobody in our group did any water activities, so we stayed there for 2 hrs and all left...but you have the option to stay longer.

You take one of the wagon/truck's back to the water taxi, then the a/c'ed van to the port. This is a perfect tour, and a perfect tour company to use.

 

http://http://s153.photobucket.com/albums/s213/bedazzled101/Mexican%20Riviera/Mazatlan/?albumview=slideshow

 

[dolphinwyo]

Great review! Do you think the water is suitable for a child to snorkel in? My DD, 7, wants to take her snorkeling equipment, but hate to pack it if the water is too rough, murky or cold for her to enjoy. Thanks.

[tamiq]

We have a tour to Stone Island with King David in Mazatlan booked for next week, when we cruise on the Sapphire Princess. The boat and island tour includes two activities - we are considering snorkeling and horseback riding, however, I have a few questions I hope you can answer for me if you been there, done that!

 

Questions:

 

1. How is the horseback riding - can beginners do it? I understand I wil need closed toe shoes and long pants (at least that's what my tour voucher states). Is there a place to change clothes on shore? Since I have been on a horse only two times in my life, what can I expect? Where do the horses take you?

 

2. Where does the tour take you snorkeling? I understand we take a boat to Stone Island - do they take you by boat to snorkel or do you do from the beach? I am going next week in January - air temps according to weather.com are supposed to be in the 80's - how about the water?

 

Thanks in advance for your input!

 

Suzi

We had 6 people in our party and we had one girl that had never been on a horse before. I believe that you should wear your clothes to ride to the tour but afterwards on the beach at the restaurants you can change. the horses ride along the beach and thru some small village and through a coconut plantation. DO this tour and you wont be dissappointed. I will use King David everytime I go back. I couldnt wipe the smile off of my face that whole day. The day was terriffic for me and our party.

[Bedazzled101]

The water looked clear and the surf was flat...water temp was a bit on the chillier side in the middle of December, but swimmable as many people were in the water. I think she will have fun snorkeling, I personally don't know how the snorkeling is in Mazatlan. But the snorkeling I did in Cabo was fabulous in Santa Maria and Chileno bay...Chileno was my favorite(but they were both filled with marine life).

 

PS Sorry for posting 2 almost identical reviews, I thought it hadn't posted and I had lost it...rofl. Silly me forgot about every review having to be reviewed before posting. LOL