Panama Canal, Mexico ports, Costa Rica and L.A help

We're taking the 20 day Holiday Panama Canal cruise, FLL-LAX.

As ever, with good reason, I'm asking my fellow SB cruisers for help rather than posting on the Ports section of CC.

I'm looking for recommendations for excursions or things to do on our own in the following ports, and would like to hear any comments about any safety/ security issues in each :

Mexico

Puerto Chiapas

Huatulco

Manzanillo

Cabo San Lucas

Puntarenas, Costa Rica

We don't mind taking SB excursions, in fact we're both rather lazy so we usually don't do much homework for trips. If a port is walkable, we're happy to wander around on our own.

Also I'd like post-cruise hotel recommendations in LA please.

We haven't been to California before and only have just over 24 hours there.

I'm looking at The Peninsula in Beverly Hills but welcome other suggestions.

Not sure whether to consider Santa Monica? We're there in early January so it probably won't be beach weather.

Main requirement, aside from a top class hotel, is a great place for dinner within convenient distance by car.

I can only give you recommendations on the tours we took on Sojourn in 2013, but they were mostly of good quality

In Puntarenas we took the Jungle Eco-Cruise on the Tarcoles river. Quite a long drive there, but it was great. Good guide, and we saw many birds (including nesting macaws and pygmy kingfishers) and lots of crocodiles – some very big. Those who took the all day trip into the cloud forest enjoyed the scenery, but did not see many animals.

In Puerto Chiapas, we went on the Mayan Origins & The Tree Of Life trip. I know that Izapa is very early, and not as important a site as those built later on like Chichen-Itza, but it was very worthwhile, and I was surprised how few guests chose to do the trip. We went on to a good archaeological museum in Tapacula, but it looks as though they have dropped that part. Didn’t get much feedback on tours from other guests. A lot of people stayed in the port, as it has shops and a dance stage with regular performances of folkloric dances. And the beaches were good, and not too far from the pier.

We didn’t stop at Manzanillo.

In Huatulco, we took the Villages of the Sierra Madre Mountains tour. It wasn’t great at the time, but in retrospect I am very glad we did it. Right up into the coffee growing area in the mountains in a minivan, visit to a coffee museum (that was where it all fell apart as it was a Sunday, when the museum café is full of visitors, and was unable to cope with several minivans arriving at the same time), plus stops in a couple of small villages, and lovely mountain views. Lots of people chose to stay behind as there are good beaches either side. It felt a very safe little town. The crew had a wonderful day as every one of them seems to get off the ship and on to the beach at some point.

In Cabo San Lucas we signed up for the Whale watching and had some great encounters with enormous beasts from our tiny zodiac (and again a very knowledgeable guide/pilot). The more generic town tours were not thought highly of by others.

Hope this helps

I don't think you can do better than the Peninsula in LA. Since you'll only be there for 24 hours Beverly Hills in more centrally located than Santa Monica. The Pen is one of my favorite hotels in LA.

I've stayed there too albeit in 2006. Then they had a 24 hr check in check out set up, ie you had the room for 24 hours after you checked in and that could be from any time in the day. Handy for strange arrival times! I had the best room service burger there too!

Stay at The Shutters Hotel in Santa Monica

Don't get off the ship in Cabo San Lucas it's a dive.

I am doing that same itinerary but in March aboard Odyssey so responses here of interest.

Love the Pen, we like the villa jacuzzi suite. The other LA hotel of note is The Berverly Hills Hotel, utterly captivating grounds. I wouldn't bother with Santa Monica. If that experience appeals, I'd check out the resorts south of LA ( and closer to the org), Terranea, etc.

I wouldn't bother with Cabo, either; all gringo tourists all the time. Also, beaches not safely swim able.

We did a similar itinerary but on Regent and took organised tours for the most part.

Puerto Chiapas: nearby town of Tapachula is interesting. Nice church, small market and a little square. Lots of shops. Spanish look and feel to it. Felt pretty safe. We then went on the tour to the nearby Mayan ruins. Not very interesting and heavily armed police on the road were a little intimidating.

Huatulco: This is an 'invented' resort town. Not a lot there. We went rafting on a nearby river which was fun.

Cabo San Lucas: no tour. Resort town. We wandered around and checked out the mall. Lots of bars. Seemed very Americanized and felt safe.

Puntarenas, Costa Rica: The town feels very poor. We took the tour to the rain forest which was enjoyable. Also stopped to see crocodiles from the safety of a nearby bridge.

Shutters is very good if you want to be on the beach, there are several other hotels in the area not as well known that are also very good. Beverly Hills is not on the beach and a different vibe.

Personally I love Cabo, but you need to get away from the Marina which is everything bad about a gringo tourism place, everything from drugs to T-shirts can be had. But go rent a wave runner and cruise along the coast and see the whales, or head over to the Pacific side that is not a party all the time environment but you can't swim there. Hire a panga in the marina, but negotiate first, and have a tour on your terms.

We will be with you and probably head to Mendano beach to swim and people watch unless some friends are in town.

Rest of the Mexican ports are new us.

Manzanillo - really nothing to do there unless you take one of the ships' tours. We didn't and took the shuttle into town but were back in a couple of hours.

Cabo - we actually had some fun here. Found a shopping mall along the waterfront that sold some nice pottery articles for souvenirs. There was also a booth set up by a local wildlife park to raise funds to support their baby tiger. Probably a scam but we had a lot of fun playing with the little guy. I love cats and there is nothing better than a cuddle with a baby tiger; I was smiling for a week (actually I'm still smiling now just thinking about it).

Shutters is very good if you want to be on the beach, there are several other hotels in the area not as well known that are also very good. Beverly Hills is not on the beach and a different vibe.

[...]

We will be with you and probably head to Mendano beach to swim and people watch unless some friends are in town.

OP mentioned the Pen so I don't think LA environs beach is of interest. And, oh yes, very different vibe to be sure.

Please say more about Mendano beach regarding safe swimming.

We repair to Cabo for short respites and love it. But, truth to tell, we don't go anywhere unless we're staying at Casa Natalia in the old town (San Jose del Cabo). Otherwise we are ensconced at Esperanza and stay put.

http://casanatalia.com

https://esperanza.aubergeresorts.com

Assuming you are stopping off at Cartagena then I would thoroughly recommend Segway Cartagena. They picked us up from outside the port in a taxi and brought us back afterwards. A fantastic trip, totally effortless, English speaking guide, lots of information and great fun.

Beats sitting in a bus.

Popped into the Hard Rock bar in the middle of the trip where they bought us a drink.

Henry :)

Thank you everyone for your comments and advice here.

I did revisit the thread shortly after I initially posted but thought I'd already thanked each of you and printed it off.

Just went to look in my "Odyssey Dec '15" paper file and realised I hadn't printed it at all. Nor had I responded!

We're staying at the Peninsula in Beverly Hills. I can tell already that it's my kind of hotel, and the communication we've had with them already has been extremely positive.

I've done nothing so far about activities in the ports on this cruise so the posts here will be very helpful.

OctoberKat, if there's anything you'd like to know in preparation for your own cruise on this itinerary, do let me know and I'll try to help.

OctoberKat, if there's anything you'd like to know in preparation for your own cruise on this itinerary, do let me know and I'll try to help.

Nigella, would welcome any comments on excursions you choose to take, as well as other bits of ship lore of interest. Many thanks.

I would recommend reading David McCullough's Path Between the Seas. Understanding what had to be overcome to build that, and the people that conquered those challenges makes the canal transit so much more interesting.

I would recommend reading David McCullough's Path Between the Seas. Understanding what had to be overcome to build that, and the people that conquered those challenges makes the canal transit so much more interesting.

Excellent suggestion. McCullough is very good at recounting the engineering and managerial aspects of the U.S. in building the canal, and the book is a good read in and of itself.

The Path Between the Seas by David McCullough http://amzn.to/1NX9QNF

For insight into the labor situation, the continuous blasting, cultural and socio-political issues, these tomes fill those gaps:

The Canal Builders: Making America's Empire at the Panama Canal by Julie Greene

http://amzn.to/1F9Mkuq

Panama Fever: The Epic Story of the Greatest Human Achievement of All Time -- The Building of the Panama Canal [also the most modest title ever imagined] by Matthew Parker

http://amzn.to/1O7OJqU

The Panama Canal: The Crisis in Historical Perspective by Walter LaFeber

http://amzn.to/1i7dMP8

How Wall Street Created a Nation: J.P. Morgan, Teddy Roosevelt, and the Panama Canal by Ovidio Diaz Espino

http://amzn.to/1g4KzT0

Emperors in the Jungle: The Hidden History of the U.S. In Panama by John Lindsay-Poland

http://amzn.to/1ir7J7N

And, these tomes represent recommended fiction set in Panama:

God's Favorite, novel by Lawrence Wright

http://amzn.to/1g4I4zWq

The Tailor of Panama by John Le Carre

http://amzn.to/1RiYykU

Canal Dreams, a novel by Iain Banks

http://amzn.to/1OpObuH

Come Together, Fall Apart by Christina Henriquez

http://amzn.to/1UwmoQ8

The World in Half by Christina Henriquez

http://amzn.to/1JLBWoM

For more on three of the novels cited above: http://www.openlettersmonthly.com/likefire/short-shelf-tres-novelas-de-panama