Mexican Riviera Snorkeling?

[janmojo]

We are going on our first cruise to Mexican Riviera on the NCL Star in Jan/06. A couple of us have snorkeled before in Hawaii, others not. Which is the best port to sign up for the excursion to snorkel, Acapulco, Cabo, PV, Ixtapa? Any suggestions would be most appriciated. And anything about that ship and those destinations would be great.

[cruise pup]

I did the Santa Maria Cove snorkel excursion last January in Cabo. I have nothing but raves for this. We boarded the catamaran right at the tender pier. A prerecorded announcement about jellyfish being spotted in the area we were heading out to was played and an offer for a refund if you wished to get off the boat. No one left. We headed out to Land's End for a photo op. You see this from your ship anyway, but it was fun to view it up close. Then we sailed to Santa Maria cove. In January humpback whales abound in these waters and we saw a few on the way to the cove. Blankets were handed out to those who were getting chilly, by the way. Santa Maria cove is protected by the elements and is quite deserted. We were directed where to see the most fish and then eveyone headed into the water. The water was chilly but as I swam around I got used to it. When you first enter the water it is deep and not very clear but when I reached the area we were told to go for the best snorkeling the water was clear and man what a variety of fish and coral. There were even schools of silvery fish like minows doing circles. This turned out to be some of the best snorkeling I've done in terms of amount and variety of fish. And oh, guess what? No jellyfish after all! After snorkeling there were snacks and drinks and the party started. We saw more whales and one of the crew set up a fish line at the stern and caught a mahi mahi. At one point they were yelling "Whale! Fish! Whale! Fish!" You didn't know where to look first. I highly recommend this excursion.

 

I was on the NCL Star when it was new and sailed in Hawaii. I enjoyed it a lot. Make sure to try the Japanaese teppanyaki room for dinner. It's a lot of fun.

[simonv]

Water is quite cool, cold if you ask me, there in January. You'd appreciate wet suit if you have one.

[alwayscoldmom]

My kids and I took a snorkling shore excursion in PV. We had a great time. They especially liked the fact that when they were tired of snorkling they could take out the kayaks and paddle around for a while. Hope it helps.