Hi, we are going on the Carnival Pride wnd of March to Puerto Vajarta, Mazitlan and Cabos. Are there any MUST SEE & Do things in these ports. What beaches are the best? Are there any towns or ruins that are a must. Thanks for your suggestions

Ziplining in PV and the Niki Beach Club in Cabo are both good bets.

Thanks for those ideas...any suggestions for snoprkeling? Why the Niki Beach Club?

Ive have only been to Cabo, The beach is ok there, I would definitely suggest taking a short boat ride to lovers beach thats nice. It is beautiful and u get to see seals hanging out on rocks on the way over. Fish Taco are there specialty down there. U can also rent atv's that fun.

Niki Beach Club is at a resort hotel and the beach is decent, food very good and since you have to pay to visit, it is not packed.

I found the beaches in that part of Mexico to be very disappointing and the vendors a pain. Niki was the best of the lot.

Hi, any other thoughts? I am no sure where the best snorkeling is on our own or should we book through the curuise. In Puerto Vallerta what are the 2 things we must see & do. Not sure about Mazitlan at all--thanks for your help.

Go over to cruisecritic.com boards. It's more active and you'll find all the info you want.

We did this cruise on Princess and loved it.

Not my idea of fun but a lot of people on the Mexican cruises we have been on went horseback riding on the beach. There are several companies that do that and it was very popular.

For our upcoming Mexican Riviera cruise we're doing:

Cabo:
parasailing - http://www.caboreyparasailing.com/contactus.html
or zodiac boating -
http://www.oceanriders.com.mx/

Mazatlan:
horseback riding - http://www.randishappyhorses.com/
or a tour -
http://www.mazatlan-frank.com/

Puerto Vallarta:
ziplining - http://www.canopytours-vallarta.com/index.htm

All these companies have gotten very good reviews on cruisecritic.

We have spent a lot of time in PV (parents used to winter there). How long will you be in port? There are tons of operators near where the cruise ships dock that do day trips to see whales, snorkeling and "jungle" trips with horseback riding. You can also do riding that begins on the beach and winds around the Rio Cuale up into the mountains. PV is a shopper's dream with lots of silver jewelry and ceramics. The Malecon is in the downtown area for people watching.

As for beaches, Destiladeras and Mismaloya are a bit of a distance from the city proper, but are quite beautiful. Los Muertos Beach is closer to the action, sunset is the big beach viewing in PV, try Daiquiri Dicks.

For $20, you can get snorkeling equipment and a lovely boat ride to Lover's beach. We snorkeled and strolled the beach and really enjoyed it.

Cabo doesn't have much to do except shop and relax on the beach. There is a new dolphin swim arena. I have not been there but it looks nice. There is a catamaran company The Rissalena which we have chartered for a sunset cruise, they also do snorkeling trips. In Mazatlan we like to get a room at La Playa hotel (we usually have a big group so the cost of the room is not that much) With the room, we enjoy the beach and restaurant, and pool as well as shopping, sipping margaritas while sitting on the beach (my idea of multi-tasking) A few of us usually go parasailing here. We live in LA and the Mexico cruise is so easy. I have been on it 7 times. Always a blast except for one September when we hit a hurracaine.

Just got back from this same itinerary just a different order as we sailed HAL-Oosterdam. We found Cabo a bit of a disappointment but had a nice whale watching trip that filled our afternoon. Mazatlan is desperate to develop more tourism---we did a city tour coupled with a stop to see the Pantalpa Flyers. We've seen the same thing twice before but if you've never seen these folks from Veracruz this might be worth a stop. Not much more in Mazatlan than Cabo although we did not take advantage of any tours outside the city---there are a variety of other tours offered, just none caught our fancy. Puerto Vallarta was fun (again, we stayed in the city). Check out the sand castle area on the beach near downtown--guys were building massive figures, larger than life-sized of the Last Supper when we were there on Wednesday of last week. In PV we also did a stop at a local restaurant that offered "Mexican gourmet food cooking". While what we cooked was hardly gourmet, we made easy and delicious pico de gallo, guac and even made our own flour tortillas. Sorry I can't find the name of the restaurant but it was a regular tour offering of both Holland America and Carnival.

Just came back from those places on a Princess Cruise Jan. 08. Everyone is doing those activities mentioned above ... Zip line, Tequila tour, beach resorts, horseback riding ...
boring ... and you can do it almost anywhere else.

For a true Mexican adventure, go to the "rural" areas. Visit the small villages at the mountain and see the real Mexico. You can always squeeze in the tourist thing like their traditional "folk" dances etc. Almost everyone stop at the churches so spend a few minutes there if you want. If you are not from the west coast, try whale watching at Cabos. Try something you can't experience anywhere else. Snikerling is better at the Caribeean anyway.

If you don't like the "local" on the first stop, you can always change your mind and enjoy the other activities at the next stops. Experience the REAL Mexico at least once.