Panama: Locks and Beach with Mario?

[JessH]

HI there

Has anyone done the locks and beach tour with Mario?

Is the beach nice? thanks!

[snorkelman]

I am signed up for this excursion in 2 weeks. I believe from past comments that someone said it was lobster beach (Playa Langosta), but I never verified with Mario.

[nybumpkin]

We did this excursion in February and had a great time. The beach is Playa Langosta; it's rustic - mostly picnic tables rather than loungers, and there aren't any extras like kayaks, trampolines, etc. There is a restaurant/bar area and a changing area. Mario's crew brought along beer, soda and water along with some snacks, and later brought out fixings for margaritas. My review of our cruise, including the stop in Panama, is on the member reviews section at http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=26216

[JessH]

Thank you Kathy for your reply and review.

You mentioned the beach being 'rustic' with picnic tables,

was it nice to go swimming though?

thanks!

[nybumpkin]

Thank you Kathy for your reply and review.

You mentioned the beach being 'rustic' with picnic tables,

was it nice to go swimming though?

thanks!

DH and my sons loved it (I just went wading). It's in a cove, so it's protected. There weren't many rocks along the beach or in the water.

[snorkelman]

I just returned from the Carnival Liberty yesterday. We did a tour with My Friend Mario and had no complaints. When we made the arrangements ahead of time via email he told us the price and also advised that in the event of bad weather, plan B would be to modify our tour from the locks and beach to the locks and the rainforest and San Lorenzo fort (which did cost slightly more). It was raining when we arrived in Panama and we were advised that there was also Red Tide, so the beach was not a good option for us that day. We chose to go with Plan B instead and we were happy. There was no problems with getting back to the ship late or close to departure. In fact, our tour guide "knew" that the ship would be leaving late because it is a 2 hour drive to and from Panama City and the Liberty had several excursions to Panama City and we could see when the buses left the port. Our guide was on the money and our ship stayed late because the buses that did the Panama City tour arrived back late. In fact, our guide told us that is why MyFriendMario does not do the panama City tours because they would also be back late and they don't want to take a chance.

 

By the way, the guide we had was very informative and spoke good English, and even gave away trinkets and souvenirs for free. Also there was no pressure to tip, although we did. I would not hesitate to recommend taking MFM over the ship excursion.

[billsrobb]

How do you get ahold of My Friend Mario? Does he have a web site?

Thanks,

Robb

[nybumpkin]

It's myfriendmario dot com.

[CountryFox]

You guys need to take this topic over to Ports of Call.

There is a whole bunch of information about mfm.

and other stuff regarding this port.:D