Huatulco Excursions

[CarolandNate]

In the latter part of 2019, my wife and I will be doing the LA to FtL cruise through the Panama Canal.  I am using this time, over the next several months to gather up information about things to do at various ports. I would like to hear from fellow travelers as to their experiences.  Early on is a stop in Huatulco, Mexico.  On the surface, it looks like the big things to do there are cruising the bays, cultural visits in the city and/or countryside, nature tours.  As such I have broken my list down into those categories.  The ship is in port nine hours and with most of the excursions being two-four hours, piggybacking two seem to be feasible.  We do plan to do the excursions from the ship.  Since there are several in each category and there is not one that I picture as must see, I feel we can wait until we get on the ship.  In the meantime I want to narrow down my list, so hearing what people say will be very helpful.

 

Which of the bay cruises gives one the most bang for the buck?  Do we want to emphasize city or countryside or is there one that is a good mix of both.  Several bounce from one place to another over four hours, with short stays.  Is that a good thing?   Every port of call has something like this. Cartagena is really about the city.  Fuerte Amador gets out to the countryside.   Are the Huatulco city/countryside tours unique enough to separate themselves from other ports?  I put their nature tours at the bottom of the priority list.  Am I missing something?

 

Any help would be appreciated.

 

 

[CruiserBruce]

Huatulco is in Mexico, and is covered on the Mexican Rivera board, here:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/124-mexican-riviera/

[riffatsea]

Huatulco has a tour to some newly uncovered ruins that might be different and interesting for you.

As for me, it has the best beaches for snorkeling from shore so that is what I'll try to do after poking around in town for a while.

[CarolandNate]

Good thoughts.  Is this ruins tour one that comes from Princess or is it a private tour company.  We do not want to go private.  I did so in Alaska and that was fine, but we were always close to the ship and we had planned to not take it down to the last minute.  People have said that if you are going to stress out over getting back in time, then go with the ship.  I will stress out, so.....

 

That said, we are there for nine hours, although that won't be a full nine, I am guessing.  Almost everything I saw was three to four hours, so if there is a place where we may piggy back, this might be it.  Other ports have five, six and seven hour excursions, so that likely would be it on those days.

 

I see three basic categories, 1) trips around the bays, all 2 1/2 to 3 hours.  2) City and Countryside 3) Nature related.

 

In the first, Hualtulco by Land and Sea is 3 1/2 and $45.  Might be a bit of bouncing around in that short time frame, so I'm not sure.   The Five Bays is 2 1/2 for $70 and actually stays in one place for a while.  Any thoughts, people?

 

In the city and countryside, they are 3 1/2 and 4 all about $70-$80.  Is the pier right in the city, like walking distance.  Most of the ones I saw seem countryside oriented, since they were a half hour to an hour away from the pier.  I am guessing that if we wanted to see the city and it's right at the pier, we can walk around and do that on our own.  That works for a piggy back.

 

The nature ones have some intrigue.  They are longer.  There is a river float, which is interesting.  Not looking to do too much work, as we plan to kayak in another venue.  So key word is float.  The archaelogical exploration sounds good.  There is a crocodile sanctuary and seeing nature like that is interesting, just not sure for five hours.  When we saw alligators in the Everglades this year, we actually saw them off the side of the road in the National Park, so.... We plan to do nature in other spots, so I'm not sure how much nature we want, plus I have five acres of woods out my front door.  I get plenty of nature on a daily basis.  But I'm open minded.

 

Thoughts ????

 

[riffatsea]

Yes, there is a ship's tour to the ruins. You can also just get off the ship and take a taxi there as they are not far from the port or town.

You can get into the town easily by taxi if you don't want to take a tour.

We were originally going to do a back country tour from our ship with stops to see local areas but I decided that for us this was going to be a relaxed stop so we are just going into town and then I am going to snorkel from a local beach while DH relaxes in the shade.

We have been to many archeological sites in the past and DH doesn't want to do this one so I am not pushing it . I usually find them quite interesting.

[CarolandNate]

That is really helpful.  I assume that the Copalita Archaeological Exploration  is the ruins one that you are referring too.   Again different is what we are looking for.  Being 3 1/2 hours, it looks like it could piggy back well with just tooling around the city on our own for a while. That is why I was curious as to how far a it was to walk from the ship.  When we went to Alaska, in Ketchikan we were always in view of the ship and the same was true for the last three hours of our stop in Juneau.  We did the away stuff early in the day, then the close stuff.  . In Skagway we went pretty far, but were back with three hours to spare.  We were also pretty tapped out after a six hour excursion and we had a chef's table to get to.   Trying to work anything with say a bay tour might get tricky time wise and logistically. 

 

This is one of those, play it by ear stops where there  are many tours that are essentially the same, not the ones that I would call must see.  There are a couple of stops that have things we have already identified as ones we want to take and would be disappointed if we did not get them.  Those I will likely book when they become available to book, like 120 days before the trip. 

 

I think Huatulco is a port where we will wait until we get on the ship to decide.  Doesn't sound like there is much risk on missing out on something, since there lots of choices.

 

This way I can keep collecting info, like yours and decide what we really want.

 

Thanks again.  Look forward to your future comments.

[Alaskanb]

Hi: It's great that you are researching so far in advance but I have a suggestion. What I have discovered is that excursion opportunities and specifics can change over the year before you cruise. You are getting a great overview of the excursions that stay consistent but the specifics may change. Make sure to read reviews from cruisers this winter and keep in mind how hot and humid  it will be when you cruise. Siestas are good! 

 

[CarolandNate]

Thanks.  I check from time to time to see if things have changed as well as new reviews from those who have traveled.  If I could I would try to contact some directly, but that does not appear to be a capability of this platform.  I am stilling learning the best way to use Cruise Critic. 

 

Did not take advantage of it so much when we went to Alaska a couple of years ago, but given the foreign nature of the PC and the number of excursions, this has been very useful, thus far.

Edited November 17, 2018 by CarolandNate

[riffatsea]

Everyone has different interests. To me when on a cruise taking a "shore excursion" which is in itself another short cruise to see bayside scenery, is not of interest at all.

Forgive my tortured sentence!!

[saskacruiser]

I'm also cruising Panama Canal Nov 19 but with Holland America. I thought I'd reply to you because I have spent a number of vacations in Huatulco. 

 

Huatulco is the area. Within that are 2 towns - Bahia Santa Cruz is where the ship docks, and La Crucecitta. They are side by side and you can't tell when you're actually leaving one and entering the other. Santa Cruz is very small and not densely populated, and La Crucecitta is the bigger but still far from being a 'city'. The area includes 9 bays, some totally undeveloped as they are protected and within a national park area.  Others are developed but by north american standards they are more towards primitive. Bay tours will all have a number of these and probably stopping to snorkel at one of them. In November the jungle will still be green (its quite brown and dry by January) and it will be pretty to view from the water.  This shows all the bays and towns. The bay tours will encompass, for the most part, the bays from Oregano to San Agustin.

 

https://www.tomzap.com/map_east.html

 

Santa Cruz is very small. You will dock at a fairly short pier in an area that has an small expanse of beach which is very nice for swimming and lined with restaurants.  Behind that is a marina and some shopping. There is a nice square with a gazebo in the centre that serves great coffee in all forms (Cafe Huatulco). There will also be many taxis, all who will be willing to take you somewhere. Just a ride within the area is very cheap and I'd recommend having pesos. Taxi rates are posted and, in all my time spent vacationing there, I have never been ripped off by a taxi trying to charge more than the posted rate.  Taxis are more than plentiful everywhere and always looking for a fare so if you stay within the area, you needn't worry about not getting back to the ship on time. Within this area you will always be able to see the ship in the bay. If you're there on a Saturday morning there may be an organic farmer's market in the square surrounding Cafe Huatulco.

 

About 40 pesos (perhaps less) will get you to La Crucecitta to 'centro'.  It is also walkable although it is very hot, humid and sunny. There is a newly built walkway that leads out straight from the ship and up and over a hill. While on top of that hill you get a great view of the ship in the bay. La Crucecitta is a great area to walk around or sit in the square, have some ice cream and people watch. It's difficult to get lost and I'm sure you could download a map of the town before you go to help you along. The big Lady of Guadalupe church is right in front of the square. 

 

The Copalita Ruins are interesting but IMO not worth the price of a ship excursion. You can easily take a taxi there, pay admission, and go on your own although guides are available for rent once you get there. We did not get a guide but then, we didn't really want all the history explained to us, we just wanted to see it all. It is quiet and jungle like with wide, flat and well defined paths. The ruins themselves are not "WOW" but they are ruins. It's a great area for bird watching, too, because it is quiet. The walk eventually takes you up to a lookout that overlooks where the Copalita River enters the ocean. That view is stunning. That beach that you overlook is called La Bocana which is my favourite place of all in Huatulco. When you exit the ruins you can go (walk or cab) to La Bocana - there is a very small village with cobblestone streets just before the beach. We like to walk the beach to the river and watch the birdlife there as there is also a lagoon that has formed in this area. There is often a crude shade structure and some driftwood to sit on. Beautiful, beautiful place. Local fishermen are sometimes there net fishing from the beach, and there will probably be a few ladies who will offer a mud bath.  Maybe some surfers. If you go, and feel like a snack after that, Los Gueros in that little village has the best fries (among many other choices). The taxi driver will arrange a time to come back and get you. 

 

Any of the ship excursions that involve country will, no doubt, involve a drive up into the mountainous area to Santa Maria Huatulco, coffee farms (Pluma Hidalgo), waterfalls (in the Magdalena River), or a botanical garden (Hagia Sofia). These drives always leave me with motion sickness and a headache because they are so twisty.   Any bay tour will take in generally 3-5 bays with a stop for food and/or snorkeling. If you like snorkeling, I'd recommend simply a taxi from Santa Cruz to L'Entrega - cheap and close by and you can snorkel from the beach. Rental equipment is available there along with plenty of restaurants to sit at.  The botanical garden is interesting but it is not the term I would have used as it has a more of a wild feel to it.

 

Culture may involve going to the town of Santa Maria Huatulco which is enroute to the mountainous area. Again, very easy to take a taxi there and back without issue. Aside from wandering around, shopping and eating, I'm not sure what the draw there is. It is the home of residents displaced by the development of the Huatulco resort area. 

 

I hope this helps some. I'm going back there again for a couple of weeks in January - this time I'm hoping to go to the town of Pochutla on a Monday to take in the big market and to Yee Lo Bee Parque Mariposario, a butterfly sanctuary (mariposariohuatulco.com)  

[CarolandNate]

Thank you

[CarolandNate]

Helped a lot.  Based on what I read in the existing tours and the length of time on shore, this is one of the more likely stops to be able to piggy back a couple of things, woithout breaking the bank.  By the way you described the bay tours, this one Huatulco by Land and Sea, 3 1/2 hour   seems much like what you were talking about.  See  Santa Cruz Bay  La Crucecita  Tangolunda Bay after departing Santa Cruz Marina.  Then to Chahue Bay,  and Organo Bay via Blowhole and Stoneface to Maguey Bay then la Entrega and back to Santa Cruz Bay.  Short stays at each but given that its 3 1/2  hours, that makes sense.  There is also a Two Bay Snorkel by Boat for 3 hours, which would account for longer time to snorkel.  As well as a five bays catamaran and swim, but it is 2 1/2 hours. 

 

That would leave a decent amount of time for some more city/countryside of which there are quite a few from which to choose.  Others have mentioned the ruins.  There is one Princess tour to Copalita.  Looks like there are options and because there are, there is probably no need to plan in advance on one or another. 

 

The thing we need to think about is that if we piggy back each will need to be 3-4 hours apiece and the timing/logistics would need to work.  The other question, especially city/country is wheter we want to bounce around to many places in three or fours are just a couple and actually spend some time at those.

 

All in all, there a lot of great ideas in this post.  Thank you

[Maksim]

Did anyone booked a day pass at one of the resorts? If so, do you think it's worth it, as opposed to just go to the beach close to the pier and do some swimming there. I inquired about Secrets and Dreams, they only have either morning 7 to 12 with breakfast or 12 to 6 with lunch for about $40 per person. Considering that our ship is in port from 8 to 5, this timing doesn't make sense. I would like to go from 9 or 10 to about 3. There are other resorts, I am sure, that sell day passes. The question is: is it worth the price and then a ride in a taxi, which is probably cheap anyway. Any suggestions are appreciated.

[CruiserBruce]

46 minutes ago, Maksim said:

Did anyone booked a day pass at one of the resorts? If so, do you think it's worth it, as opposed to just go to the beach close to the pier and do some swimming there. I inquired about Secrets and Dreams, they only have either morning 7 to 12 with breakfast or 12 to 6 with lunch for about $40 per person. Considering that our ship is in port from 8 to 5, this timing doesn't make sense. I would like to go from 9 or 10 to about 3. There are other resorts, I am sure, that sell day passes. The question is: is it worth the price and then a ride in a taxi, which is probably cheap anyway. Any suggestions are appreciated.

 

Again, this is frequently discussed on the Mexican Rivera board, where Huatalco is discussed very regularly.