Good tour guides/places to see Mexican Riveria

[skiptomylou]

We are going to in port at Mazatlan, Puerta Vallerta and Cabo...I would love advice on reputable tour companies, places to see on foot, and must see's do's.

 

Thanks.

[merinski]

HI, Cabo is great. You c an just walk around the board walk, there is lots of shopping and restaurants. You could take a water taxi to see Lands end, but it is not far, so don't pay too much.

Puerto Vallarta we went with the ship whale watching tour, it was good. Or you can go to PV adventures dot com , same company, and they do other tours too.

Have fun.:)

[gocalfan]

Try Frank in Mazatlan. You will see him recommended by many on the board. Have used him a few times and loved him and his guides. He does Mazatlan and has a friend that does tours in PV. I think he was going to start doing tours in Cabo. Great prices and you won't be sorry!

[dstone]

We (a family of 9) just got back from a cruise to the Mex Riv.

Used rancho tours in cabo, van man/ricardo in mazatlan and tony sanchez in PV. Prices were great. Also took us to Ginger Horseback riding in Mazatlan - it was great.

They were so reasonable and so reliable I can't recommend them enough!

Before we left we customized the all day tours and did it our way, which was great.

[paradise4ever]

HI, your tour with Tony Sanchez, PV, how was it and where did you go and what did you do. We will be spending time in PV and saw his website and its impressive. I'd like to see how others enjoyed his tours. It sounds great, any info you can give would be appreciated. thanks

[Sunny AZ Girl]

Mazatlan - Mazatlan Frank! One of our best all time tours.:)

 

Cabo - We did a private van tour through Johann & Sandra that I can highly recommend. We will be going with Yael snorkel & sail in a couple of weeks and I will let you know how that was when we return if you wish.

 

PV - We enjoyed the City Tour & Mexican Fiesta through the ship in 2008. That was highly enjoyable & included a tequila tasting and tour. I will be able to review Frank's partner Fernando in a couple of weeks , also.:)

[lucybug22us]

We are going on the 7 day cruise in september very interested in how to get to web sites for these guys tours

[lovevacadays]

We are going on the 7 day cruise in september very interested in how to get to web sites for these guys tours

 

If you google them it will pull up websites for them.

[JYL]

http://www.mazatlan-frank.com/index.html

 

I don't have the other website, so as chloedmom suggested, just google it. :)

[cruisingcarrie]

I know you didn't specifically ask about Acapulco but we went on a cruise last month to P.V., Mazatlan, Cabo and Acapulco. We used Mazatlan Frank and liked that tour. In Cabo we did the EcoCat snorkling trip and can highly recommend that too. Our best tour was in Acapulco. We used Sebastian Hernandez (eskp_rsh at hotmail dot com). Here's the itinerary we did with him (from his e-mail):

 

The Chapel of peace...

Located in the Las Brisas residential area,It rises over 1847-feet above sea level.This ecumenical chapel it was open to public in 1971 and sent to built for the French family Trouyet, it has become one of the symbols of modern Acapulco and characterized by an enormous cross that can be seen from all over Acapulco.

The Cliff Divers Show...

Acapulco is famous for this show; many people know the city for its cliff divers. Since the mid-40’s this has been an Acapulco Trademark. The show starts with the divers’ free-climbing the natural clefts in the cliff walls to reach the highest point.Everyday 5 times a day 12:45 Pm (first show) 7:30PM-8:30PM-9:30PM-10:30 pm

The Diego Rivera’s Murals Mosaic

This is considered to be a treasure of Mexican contemporary history.The mural was created for Mrs Dolores Olmedo in 1956,is done with collared mosaics,volcanic stones and seashells. Regarded as one of the most important cultural works of art in Acapulco.In it are featured the prehispanic versions of Aztec God (Quetzalcóatl "Feathered Snake") and the Mayan God (Kukul- Kan "Feathered serpent").

The Flamingos Hotel...

A private Hollywood gang hideaway.(back to the 40´s) They entertained celebrities from Hollywood and around the world for over 40 years .Ownered this hotel by John Wayne and Johnny Weissmuller (Tarzan) like a bussiness partners. They were living here and they recieved people like Cary Grant, Fred Mc Murray, Tyron Power, Merle Oberon, Red Skelton, Rex Allen, Errol Flynn, Betty Davis, Roy Rogers, Sammy Davis and more...

Mexican Handycrafts (goverment store).

This is Located at the Gold Zone Acapulco...fine recompilation of our state of Guerrero,embroidered dresses, Clothes, big and the finest pottery "Talavera style", leather,blow glass, tequila brands and also a beautiful workmanship Jewelry unusual silver designs.Big silver selection from mexican designers joining the creativity for necklaces,rings,earrings and bracelets with the best quality since finest jewerly silver done 9.25 to great sculptures finished in silver .999.

 

The Tehuacalco Archaeological Zone (1 hour and 10 minutes away from ACApulco).

This belongs to the Yope`s culture, it was dicovered recently in 1999 and open to public in 2009, this prehispanic ruins is located at north of ACApulco and is surrounded by 4 hills, each hill toward exact to 4 cardinal points, also here is the evidence of the importance of the cycles and move of the constelations wich served this to the old settlers like axes to orient the construction of their cities and buildings and with this to assure their location in the time and the space.

The peculiar method of construccion that based not only with decorations but designed to give flexiblilty to the walls in case of earthquakes. You will see ruins what used to be the governor´s palace, areas for the low class people, a ceremonial center for meetings and sacrifices, foot ball soccer court, petroglyphs, human footprints in stone, etc...

 

The ruins were our favorite. Our tour took about 7 hours but he'll tailor it to whatever you want. Hope this helps. Have a great time!

[acaer]

Can´t believe you did Tehuacalco Ruins too. You must be a very good customer to remember all the exact information about the tour. Very good way to promote him!

[cruisingcarrie]

I just cut and pasted some of his e-mail to me about what we would be seeing. He was very prompt in returning my e-mails. I found out about him on TA and thought I would pass on info about my good experience.

[ws1965]

We just got off the Mariner OTS on sunday 5/2/2010. This is what we did in port.

 

Mazatlan: We took the City Tour Trolley Tour. They are in the marketplace when you get off the ship. It was $25.00/pp and well worth it. The tour was 3 hours and we went to alot of places....the cliff divers, the Gold Zone, cathedrals, historic monuments. There is also a $5.00 coupon on their website. www.toursinmazatlan.com.mx.

 

Puerto Vallarta: We took the sunset/BBQ dinner horseback riding tour. Code PV57. This tour was wonderful. We went to a ranch and rode the horse thru a rainforest and thru streams. It was relaxxing and a great ride. Then when we got back to the ranch, we had a BBQ dinner which was fantastic and a western show. This excursion was definetly a winner.

 

Cabo San Lucas: We took the water taxi, $3.00 pp, to Billygan's Island. Its a small resort and you can sit on the beach and drink and eat. The beach chairs and umbrellas are free. The waiters put on contests for the tourists and they are very funny. The water taxi ride is about 7-8 mins and you can actually see the ship from the beach.

[packup]

We just got off the Mariner OTS on sunday 5/2/2010.

 

Did the captain change the ship time? If he did, what time zone was the ship on? Is the itinerary's arrival time the ship time or local time?

[12B@C]

We are going to in port at Mazatlan, Puerta Vallerta and Cabo...I would love advice on reputable tour companies, places to see on foot, and must see's do's.

 

Thanks.

 

We were in Puerto Vallarta a couple years ago and somehow found a small outfit that was extremely accommodating and friendly. Their name is Superior Tours. We went to San Sebastian del Oeste, a beautiful town in the mountains, but the lady also told us that they can do any kind of private tour, short or long. You can probably find them on the internet. Google their name in Puerto Vallarta. They had a nice van and English was no problem.

[Gingee]

Is the Billygans Island more of a place for the young set? They all have the pretty teen/twenty something bodies.

[Sunny AZ Girl]

Did the captain change the ship time? If he did, what time zone was the ship on? Is the itinerary's arrival time the ship time or local time?

As of right now the Mariner is one hour behind Cabo & Mazatlan and 2 hours behind PV. This is from friends who were on last week. Also verified by Mazatlan Frank. He has been very good about helping me know what time to meet our tours in Mazatlan & PV!:eek:

[dstone]

We used Tony Sanchex for a private tour of PV and highly recommend him. His nephew was our tour guide.

[Correia_Cruiser]

Good to hear Frank's still making happy customers with tours! We used his tour on our 10th anniversary cruise 5 years ago, and he was FANTASTIC. Very inexpensive, highly knowledgeable and loved to give unique information about Mazatlan, as well as answer any questions. His english is flawless- I believe he had spend much of his school years in the US.

 

Now we're heading back to these ports in August for our 15th anniversary! Not sure what we'd like to do, so we're looking for good ideas... if Frank has a different tour or city, we'll definitely look into that!

[rmul]

I would also like to recommend Frank in Mazatlan. We did a tour with him last week and he and his guides are wonderful. We were very pleased with the tour.

 

Jan

[Durangler]

We just got back from a cruise to the Mex Riv.

Used rancho tours in cabo, van man/ricardo in mazatlan and tony sanchez in PV. Prices were great. They were so reasonable and so reliable I can't recommend them enough!

quote]

 

Googled "van man/ricardo in mazatlan" w/ no luck.

Any other ways to find them?

Very Interested!! :)

Thx

[Sunny AZ Girl]

We just got home from our MR cruise. We used Mazatlan Frank in Mazatlan and his partner Alfredo in PV. We had wonderful days with each. I would highly recommend them.:)

[Rocketdyne Retiree]

Hi - I need help! I'm considering doing either the San Sebastian tour out of PV ($80) or the Copala/Concordia tour out of Mazatlan ($50). Has anyone done both, who can give me some help? Both are long drives and have read some good things and some bad things about both. Thanks

[Sunny AZ Girl]

I was ill after arriving home and was not able to give a very good review at that time. However, let me expand on my previous post now.

 

Cabo - we went on the Yael sailboat snorkel excursion. We enjoyed that day, but I must give a warning, also. I am very heavy and have hip problems. When booking the tour I called the Yael office and asked specifically about the snorkel ladder and whether or not there was a dock to enter/exit the boat at the beginning and end of the tour. I was assured it was a good snorkel ladder providing easy access. I have no difficulty with the form of ladders that are like steps with handrails - like most of the larger snorkel boats and catamarans. I was concerned about the sailboat. However, after her reassurance we booked the tour. The access point was easy from a good dock. No problems there. I got into the water at the snorkel site and enjoyed my snorkel time. However, it was very busy there (Pelican Rock near Lover's Beach) so after a while I decided to go back on the boat. I was unable to manipulate their ladder under my own power as it had no handrails and the ladder itself did not extend far enough into the water for me to put my foot onto it and still grasp a rung. The very nice (and strong) skipper made a lasso and hauled me onboard. Very embarrassing! My mother was with us (80 years old) is in great condition and had no problem with the ladder. I was told that many people with hip and knee problems cannot do that ladder and he has to make his lasso often. The other concern was the amount of boat traffic at the snorkel site. Mom was so concerned that she just swam over to the beach and stayed there the majority of the time. Other than that the crew was vern nice and we had a great sail.

 

One more note - the Yael dock is quite a way from the ship. It was a 20 minute walk for us. Since the Mariner was an hour behind local time and the tendering process took awhile we were a bit worried. They waited for us even though we were about 15 minutes late. We had declined offers for a water taxi and that was a mistake. We did take a water taxi back and it was only a 5 minute, enjoyable ride back to the ship through the marina. Since it was quite hot by then I am glad we made that choice.

 

Here are my Cabo pictures: http://travel.webshots.com/album/577733790DizAOf

 

Mazatlan - We took a tour with Mazatlan Frank. I had taken that tour before and was anxious to take it again with my husband along. We did the City and Beach tour. Frank was there waiting for us when we disembarked. We toured both the old and new parts of the city. We saw the cathedral, the market and Old Town. We went to a wonderful studio belonging to friends of Frank's called Nid Art. I bought my obligatory hand crafted Christmas ornament there. We also saw the cliff divers. The vendors there are persistent and there are a lot of them! A simple "No, Gracias" works well, but I was saying it constantly. While at the cliffdivers we took many wonderful pictures as it was a great viewpoint and had some wonderful artwork. We then stopped at a nice store in the Golden Zone where my Mom bought a lovely necklace. Frank helped her get a good price. I also purchased my coumarin-free vanilla. From there we went to Tony's on the Beach for lunch. My husband and I split an Imperial Platter, which is the seafood platter. We could not even finish it all and gave away a lobster tail. The views there are wonderful. Even though it was outside eating and it was a hot day we felt as if we were in a/c due to the cool sea breeze we were able to enjoy. There were 8 of us from our Roll Call on the tour, including three teenage boys. I was afraid the boys would be bored, but they had a great time and were wonderful to have along. Frank also had two other groups from our Roll Call out with his partners that day. We all met at Tony's. Everyone enjoyed themselves. Here are the pictures from that day:

http://travel.webshots.com/album/577732123cwBVPc

 

Puerto Vallarta - I had arranged a day through Mazatlan Frank with his PV partner Fernando Alfredo Flores. Alfredo was also waiting as promised. We had a wonderful day in his nicely air conditioned van. We began the day along the Malecon where we saw the Papantla Flyers. The boys were with us again and went shopping with their Mom while we enjoyed the artwork and visited the cathedral. After an hour on the Malecon Alfredo met us and we continued on a scenic drive to areas south of the city. We went to scenic viewpoints and then stopped for a refreshment break at one of the prettiest restaurants I have ever been to. The view was wonderful sitting up high and overlooking the ocean and the city to the north. While Alfredo advertised it as a great place for a Margarita none of us drink so we all had ice cream! The ice cream was served in either coconut shells or mango skins, depending on what kind you ordered and was very fresh. Yummy. It was a bit pricey, but was a huge serving.

 

From there we continued on to a small privately owned tequila distillery where we had tequila samples. We did like the coffe/chocolate/vanilla flavored tequila (more like Keluha) so we bought some to take home to our daughter for watching our dogs while we were gone.:) After that interesting stop it was time for lunch. I was still not hungry from the ice cream, but managed to share a huge mixed grill platter with my husband and Mom at El Nogalita in the tropical forest. There we were at a higher elevation so it was pleasantly cool. It is also where they take people for zip lining. There was a refreshing looking pool created by damning up a clear stream that some boys were enjoying with a rope swing. It was very peaceful and I could have spent the whole day enjoying myself there. Just a warning - El Nogalita is an outdoor establishment. It has a very uneven walking surface and has steps. I did notice some tables at an upper level that may be more accessible and a ramp path to the bathroom areas, but may be difficult for people we mobility problems to navigate.

 

We then returned to the ship in time for the boys to go to the beach with their Mom for a couple of hours and for me to take a nap!

 

Here are the pictures from Puerto Vallarta:

http://travel.webshots.com/album/577733815uCocvG

 

I do not have the pictures labeled at this time so if you have any questions feel free to ask.

[sherin65]

In Puerto Vallarta we went to Aquadventures for the Dolphin Swim and after that we hired a driver at the port to take us somewhere for lunch. He took us to a restaurant called Margaritagrill. It was awesome! Salsa and guacamole made tableside, great atmosphere, etc. I will go back there for sure! :D