Mexican Riviera
 

Going on a cruise to Mexican Riviera in March.
What is there to do in Puerto Vallarta,
Mazatlan and Cabo San Lucas?
What are the best sights to see?
We are both senior citizens.
Lydel

Our family did a Holland America Christmas cruise and made those three stops....we had toyed with the idea of hiring a van accommodating six, we went with the ship's offerings. In Cabo, we did an hour and half carriage ride of the downtown area. I do wish we'd seen some of the nicer resorts and golf courses. There is also a pretty nice shopping place with various booths inside and it is within walking distance of the pier. In Mazatlan and Puerto Vallarta we did three plus hour tours of the city and found both excellent. I suppose we really did miss alot in both places, but we saw alot of the area, residential and commercial areas. Hiring your own van would give you alot more sights and they are parked at the dock. We were happily surprised how much we liked Mexico...all in all, we had no complaint about any part of the trip, superb!!

Desertduds,
Thanks so much for your help.
We are going to take your advice.
We would like to see as much of each of these ports as time will allow.

CAbo- Lands End Tour and snorkeling
Mazatlan-bannana boat and parasailing
OR-take the Stone Island or Jungle tour. check out Mazinfo.com
Puerto VAllarta-check out the awesome canopy tours if your adventurous! vallarta-adventures.com
We're going in April!

Daisee,
I was able to find canopy tours and it sounds exciting. But couldn't find anything on Stone Island or Jungle Tour.

Might try Randi`s happy horses in Mazatlan, on Stone Island. We had a great time, and afterwards, you can have garlic shrimp on the beach at Victor`s. The one thing I didn`t like about our cruise (or any cruise) was we didn`t get to hear the pounding surf, like on a land vacation. Well, got to horseback ride on the beach, and hear the pounding surf on Stone Island. Randi will pick you up right at the ship.

Take the bus in Puerto Vallarta to downtown to Chico's Dive shop (about $1.oo for 4 people). You can go on great snorkling trips or boat rides for less than half of the price of the Cruise Shore Excursions. At Cabo go straight to the row of boats. The glass bottom boat ride to the beach is a great, inexpensive tour and the beach is beautiful. They pick you up on the hour so you can stay as long as you want. In Cabo they are not as flexible in bargaining in the shops. We found better prices in Puerto Vallarta. In Mazaltan we took a mini taxi to the beaches and town.

Dear Lydel, We did a Carnival cruise to the Mexican Riviera which stopped in all three ports. In Puerto Vallarta we did a Dolphin swim which was wonderful. It is in a very large enclosed pool. You can swim with the dolphins, stroke them, and actually hold onto their fin as they pull you through the water. There were several seniors on our tour and they thoroughly enjoyed it. You wear life jackets and it is not strenuous at all. Very well run and friendly staff. After that we went into town and visited Elizabeth Taylor's and Richard Burton's former house (Casa Kimberley; tel. 322/222-1336), at 445 Calle Zaragoza. Tours of the two houses owned by Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton cost $8. Call ahead daily between 9am and 6pm, and if the manager is available, he will take you through the house. There is a pink bridge over the street connecting the two houses. It is old and quirky, but fun. Mazatlan was not one of our favorite stops. We did not find a lot to see there. Very touristy with people on every corner trying to drag you into their bars for a 2-for-1 drink special. Cabo is very built up around the harbor. We did a snorkel tour there which was enjoyable. I have an info packet on all three resorts I can e-mail you. Let me know where to send it.