Mazatlan hop On Hop Off Bus Ship Your

[realnice46]

I am posting here because there is little or no activity on Mexican Riviera Board.

With the ships tour it list different starting and ending times, so is this not a true hop on hop off bus that I can use all day and spend as much time as I want at each stop. Counfused?

[Amy G]

The reviews on the Princess site say that you can get off anywhere, and the next bus comes every 30 minutes.  Some of the reviews mention you often have time at each site to take a quick photo and then hop back on.  We are thinking of doing it in April.

[Dee_Jay]

I think the times are there just because this is how the excursions page is set up.

You should be able  to hop on and off as much as you want.

[DUCHESSRN]

Thinking of booking that also .

[TheMichael]

We did the Hop On Hop Off in Mazatlan this past week, with the listed times of 9am-3pm.

 

Skipped getting off at the first stop (cliff/tower divers) since there wasn't much else of interest at the time and the bus stopped long enough to see a few divers. Hopped off in the Historic District and saw the Cathedral and arts area, and went into the Pino Suarez mercado to buy some gifts (the guide warned that we'd be swarmed by merchants, but it was just a normal mercado with no hustling at all).

 

Got back on maybe an hour later and hopped off at the Acuario - walked the couple of blocks to the beach and then down about a mile on the Malecón (with few other tourists around, just the way I like it!), stopped at a Starbucks (I know, I know) for cold coffee and free restroom, then headed back while taking time to get our feet in the surf, and got on the bus for the Golden Zone. Every store and restaurant had someone exhorting us to come in, and our guide even attempted to herd us all into a silver shop (no doubt received a kickback). Had a nice shrimp/cervezas late lunch there, but knowing what we know now, we'd have eaten at one of the beachfront spots near the Acuario stop.  

 

If you make even a rudimentary plan, 6 hours is plenty time to do a lot, just keep in mind that the loop does go in one direction and ends up back at the terminal, and don't miss the last bus of the day. The buses do pause at each stop (they seemed to take a break at the Golden Zone), but if you're planning to get right back on, it might be a good idea to ask the guide how long they'll be stopped.

[justafem]

Here's my opinion, take it as just that.

 

Hop on hop off bus is $50 per person.  If you have 2 or more people, you can hire a cab for the day for the same $100.  You stop when, where and as long as you want.  You keep the driver as long as you want.

 

More advice, tell them you DON'T want to go to the jewelry store.  Unless you want jewelry.  Just know the stones are manufactured and not natural stones or gems.  The fittings are good silver though.  You can get the same jewelry on ebay for 10-20, don't be a me and pay a couple hundred. 

[Mike45LC]

I agree with Just A Fan about the Hop On Hop Off.  For two of us, I can save money by grabbing a golf cart to take us to the various stops.  

 

I've done HOHO tours in various cities, and there is sometimes a long line of people waiting in line for the next bus to appear.  Once (Vancouver, I think), we were finally able to get on the third bus that stopped.  Wasting over an hour waiting for the "next" bus so we could resume the circuit was NOT a good use of our limited time!  Because of that incident, we did not get off the bus again, fearing getting stuck at a trolley stop.    We completed the tour circuit and just listened to the commentary.

 

As to the jewelry store, Just A Fan is right again.  One cab driver (this was P.V., not Mazatlan) told us that if he brought us into the store, he would get a gas card from the store, even if we didn't buy anything, so did we mind a quick stop?  Unfortunately, my wife fell in love with a bracelet.  Fortunately, she bargained hard and got a good price, less than 1/2 of what they asked.