Mazatlan - Randi's Happy Horses?

[Wanderlust26]

Up until now I have always booked excursions through the cruise line or have gone on a self-guided tour. After reading so many encouraging posts from cruisers who have successfully booked their own excursions I’m going to give it a shot too.

 

What I would really love to do is to go horseback riding in Mazatlan. I have seen a number of good reviews on another general travel site about ‘Randi’s Happy Horses.’

 

It’s my understanding that you are picked-up and returned to the pier, plus the horseback ride for $45. You can’t beat that, in my books.

 

Has anyone here tried Randi’s? If so, I would love to hear your view. Thank you!

[maxamuus]

Just did Randy's last week and had a blast. It is so so easy to do you should have no worries about doing it without going thru the cruiseline.

 

Get off the ship and you take a little trolley to the Cruise Terminal. Mazatlan is a active container port so its for your safety. When you get to the terminal so no thank you to all the timeshare sharks and walk thru the little terminal into the courtyard and there is a bar and Randy will be sitting right there with a sign.

 

This is us waiting at the Courtyard with Randy.

 

 

 

 

You wait for everyone else to get off the ship and once you are ready Randy walks you out the fence and to the Taxi "trucks".

 

Us sitting in the back of the Taxi truck.

 

 

The taxi trucks take you to the water taxi pier/fish market and you get on a Water taxi to take you to stone island.

 

Here is us boarding the water taxi.

 

 

They take you to Stone Island. It was very pretty.

 

[maxamuus]

Then you dock at Stone Island -

 

[maxamuus]

Then you board some more taxi trucks and they take you to the family that takes care of the horses. They were very kind people and the horse look well taken care of.

 

 

Then the father of the family matches you and your riding skills to certian horses. My partner had never been on a horse so his was content to just walk. Mine on the otherhand liked to be in the front.

 

They were very nice to show you how to "drive" the horses.

 

 

The ride was breath taking!

 

 

 

 

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[maxamuus]

The Beach views were amazing....

 

 

 

 

 

Then the family was nice to stop and take pictures of you and your family etc on the horses with YOUR cameras.

 

US -

 

 

Me -

 

[Wanderlust26]

Wow, thanks so much for the quick and detailed reply, and the wonderful pictures – looks like a lot of fun! Speaking of photos, the fact that you can take your own is a definite selling point. Well, I know what I’ll be doing in Mazatlan…

[maxamuus]

Then it is off to Victors for lunch. Randy buys the first round. Coke or Beer. Pacifico beer is quite good.

 

 

 

Fresh Coconuts too -

 

 

I didnt get pictures of lunch but it was SOOOOO Good. I had the Garlic shrimp and it was to die for. Partner had the coconut shimp.

 

Played on the beach for a while -

 

 

Singer

 

 

The beach vendors come thru but they werent too pushy just so no thank you and they moved along. Some people did buy something tho.

 

 

Then along about 2pm Randy collects the money for the tour. We tipped extra as it was a great time. You pay Victor for lunch and the drinks. We had lunch for each of us and like 8 beers and the bill was like 35 dollars. Very good deal i thought. Then Randy takes you back to the trucks and back to the water taxi and back to the pier with about 3 hours to spare where you can do a bit of shopping at the flea market by the pier and the shops in the cruise terminal and then back on the ship.

 

Great day, best day of our cruise. Randy is American but lives there now so we felt comfortable with her. She is very friendly and quite a charcter too boot. FYI she LOVES rye bread and you cant by it there so someone brought some and she was delighted.

 

That about sum it up? LOL talk about a through review. :eek: Hadnt planned to do that but i was on a roll so i went with it. If i missed anything feel free to ask.

[maxamuus]

One last tip. The saddles are quite hard. They do put down a little blanket of sorts but be sure the male of the household wears VERY loose fitting shorts. Like athletic shorts or running shorts. My partners shorts weren't and he chaffed pretty badly and was walking funny for the remainder of the week. :eek:

[Wanderlust26]

This is the best reply I’ve ever had on cc! So you even get a beer and a chance to go in the water? Perfect.

[maxamuus]

This is the best reply I’ve ever had on cc! So you even get a beer and a chance to go in the water? Perfect.

 

Thanks!

 

Nice thing is too Randy doesnt actually go on the ride so you can pack swim clothes and everything in a bag and leave those with Randy and she will take them to Victors for you. The bathrooms are a little "primative" as there is no electricity or running water on the island.

 

Some people on the tour just paid to go to Victors and back so if anyone wants to go but not do the horses part it was 15 bucks i think they said for the transportation to and from Victors.

[Wanderlust26]

Thanks for the additional information. I’ve traveled a fair amount so am not overly concerned about bathroom facilities. My one fear is being ‘hermetically sealed’ in a tour bus, if you know what I mean…

[Sangela]

I can't describe it any better than Maxamuus...:D

Good job!

 

That pretty much summed up our tour, too. It was the highlight of our cruise, seriously, we had that much fun, and the food at Victor's is not to be missed.

 

I ride almost every day, but it's very cool to ride on the beach and something I don't do alot. My horse was very responsive and well matched to me, and once he knew I knew what I was doing, was only too happy to comply. My hubby had a wonderful "baby sitter" type horse that took excellent care of him, as he's not a rider and went along to make me happy....:D But he ended up having a blast too, despite me barking commands to him to sit up and put his heels DOWN dammit....LOL!

 

Yeah, the tourbus thing....:eek: I hear ya...lol This is nothing like that, thank goodness!

[dizzlepop]

Hey Maxamuus -- are you on twitter? We have a great group of SL,UTs that like to chat and sometimes we have tweetups, too.

 

I'm dizzlepop.

 

~gigi

[morriscats]

Oh those picture and that review make me want to go back soon. We have taken Randi's tour 3 times and will go again in 2011. It is the best tour. Randi is a character and we have become email buddies - she is the best. She loves what she does and takes good care of her staff, horses and customers. Victor's food is to die for. And the beach is wonderful. We have done the bus tours and much prefer this type of excursion. Good fun and you will make a good friend. Enjoy.

[maxamuus]

Hey Maxamuus -- are you on twitter? We have a great group of SL,UTs that like to chat and sometimes we have tweetups, too.

 

I'm dizzlepop.

 

~gigi

 

naw im not. I hated myspace. I only got facebook as i was hounded to get it although i actually like it now. So i havent done the twitter thing yet. I just spend most of my time poking around cruise critic.

[espritkennels]

Thanks so very much for the pictures, that was great. I am heading to Mazatlan in Sept and had been thinking about doing Randi's Happy Horses and that helped me make up my mind. It looks like you all had a wonderful time.

 

I have a couple of questions, first of all did you pay with dollars or pesos? and second how long was the ride itself?

 

Thanks again for those great pictures and taking the time to post all of that

[maxamuus]

we paid in dollars for the tour as well as the meal at Victors.

 

Actual time on the horses was probably about a hour and half or so. I dont remember exactly. It was about the right amount of time it felt like.

 

Getting off the ship at 9. Waiting for all the other folks we probably left the port close to 10. Then getting to the island and what not it was 1030 or so and then it was around noonish when we got to victors and we were hungry and ready for lunch.

[espritkennels]

we paid in dollars for the tour as well as the meal at Victors.

 

Actual time on the horses was probably about a hour and half or so. I dont remember exactly. It was about the right amount of time it felt like.

 

Getting off the ship at 9. Waiting for all the other folks we probably left the port close to 10. Then getting to the island and what not it was 1030 or so and then it was around noonish when we got to victors and we were hungry and ready for lunch.

 

Thanks again for all your great info. That gives me some idea ot the time frame. Wow that sounds like so much fun. I rode horses on Catalina Island and it had been years since I had been horseback riding and I couldn't walk right for a week so I understand your partner's problem.

[morriscats]

You will pay in dollars. Make sure you have small bills as they have trouble making change.

[espritkennels]

You will pay in dollars. Make sure you have small bills as they have trouble making change.

 

Thanks so very much

[jjb415]

Great review Max !!! :)

[akcruz]

Thanks so much for the pics, we will be with Randi in about 3 weeks, very much looking forward to the day and this makes it even more so!

[flsunnymommy]

Thank you!! This is fantastic. We are taking some children with autism in this is perfect to help them prepare. Thanks!

[Eddiesmom]

Great review Max, thanks for being kind with posting of the pictures;) Keep in touch when you can. Both Tina and I had a nice time with you and Andreas!:)

[CCSauceda]

Hi All, I posted this on "Mazatlan Stone Island" but figured this was more appropriate. Sorry for the duplicate! BTW, Great review Maximus!! Thanks a bunch!!

 

 

I have read many reviews about Horseback Riding with Randi but wanted to know if anyone else ran horseback riding for cheaper? DBF and I only want to go out for about an hour, MAX. Don't care about a tour, just want to take horses out for a nice little stroll. Don't care too much about lunch either because we have tons to do in such a short amount of time. Does anyone have any suggestions?

 

Much Appreciated!