North or South Tender in Cabo?

[TrojanJulez]

Hello! Do the Disney tenders take you to the North or South tender drop-off location in Cabo? Thanks!

[cruiserbryce]

I have only been to Cabo once but I was under the impression that all the ships dropped in the same area...

[TrojanJulez]

I have only been to Cabo once but I was under the impression that all the ships dropped in the same area...

Oh, really? I just saw a wikimapia map of Cabo, and it showed 2 tender drop-offs, so I just assumed... one of them must be old. Do you happen to remember if you were dropped off within walking distance of the Medrano beach? (looks like a long swimming beach...). Thank you!

[dcintheam]

On our cruise, we were kind of out toward Los Arcos--I don't know if that helps. Later on we were joined by RCCL's Vision of the Seas. The tenders took us into the port and the town was all to the right. I'm not sure if this is what you are looking for or not.

[helenb]

I've only been to Cabo once before, but the tender dropped us off at the far end of the 'tourist strip'. (same side as the 'lands end')

 

We were on Princess and Crystal and RCCL ships were in port at the same time and dropping off at the same location.

 

We had to walk all around the tourist/nightlife strip to get to the beach, but it was only about 15 minutes (with a 3 yo and a 5 yo) and a nice walk with lots to see.

 

If you are at the beach and get tired, there are lots of water taxis/boats for hire that hang out there, and will offer to take you back to the tender point. I've even seen some of them take people back to the ships themselves!

[TrojanJulez]

Thank you for the info! I only know the area via looking at a map online, but I believe you were at the South drop-off. Maybe that's all there is now... How long would you say it takes to walk to the Medrano swimming beach, past the tourist strip? Thanks! :)

[helenb]

Thank you for the info! I only know the area via looking at a map online, but I believe you were at the South drop-off. Maybe that's all there is now... How long would you say it takes to walk to the Medrano swimming beach, past the tourist strip? Thanks! :)

 

I'm not sure where the other dropoff might be.

 

If you look at this map, we were dropped off at roughly where the little beige pier juts out, under 'Las Glorias' toward the bottom of the map.

 

http://www.cabosanlucas.ca/Graphics/maps/cabosanlucas-map.gif

 

It took up about 15 minutes to walk around the big circle of water and over to the edge of the beach directly across. Note that this is without stopping to 'sightsee/windowshop'.

 

From the very end of the beach we got a fabulous view of our ship on the water.

 

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b52/hbrubeck/IMG_4469.jpg

 

We didn't even go up into the resort area. There was plenty of sand and beach right on the edge, and that's all we wanted.

[TrojanJulez]

Perect - that is very helpful - thanks so much! A picture speaks 1000 words! :)

Did you happen to notice the Cabo Dolphin Center on your walk? I have heard that it is close to the tender drop-off...

Thanks again for the info! This has been very helpful! :)

[helenb]

You know, I didn't notice it (but then, I wasn't paying attention). However, we're doing that excursion on a Disney cruise in just over a week, and the excursion description says it is a 5 minute walk from the tender.

[TrojanJulez]

You know, I didn't notice it (but then, I wasn't paying attention). However, we're doing that excursion on a Disney cruise in just over a week, and the excursion description says it is a 5 minute walk from the tender.

Oh, good point! I know that the swimming excursion is full on our cruise, but I was considering booking it directly. The "Dolphin Encounter" is still available, so we might do that, too.

Hey, another question - during your 15 minute walk around the circle of water (and past the tourist strip), were vendors calling out to you, trying to get you to buy stuff, or did they leave you alone? Thanks!

[helenb]

We were pretty much left alone. There is a small area right next to the tender dropoff (you'll have to walk through it no matter what because it's right at the tender entrance/exit) where they had temporary stalls/tables set up, but this was monitored by the tender people so the vendors weren't overly aggressive. In the big tourist area around the walkway, I think the hotels and bars/restaurants chase away the smaller, more aggressive vendors. That tourist area was very resort-like, and not at all like what you're probably thinking.

 

Keep in mind that we were there in January, so it wasn't necessarily high season for them. Still, there were 3 cruise ships in port, so I'm guessing that they were out to sell what they could!

 

When is your cruise? We're leaving June 22. If you haven't left yet, when I get back I can give you an update.

[TrojanJulez]

Thanks so much, Helenb! DH and I don't have much international travel experience, and I am a little intimidated. Your info makes me feel a lot better! I think I'm feeling up to being "on our own" in Cabo, so thanks a bunch!

Our cruise leaves July 6. I would love to hear how it is for you! You get to leave in just a little over a week - lucky!

What excursions are you booking? We are doing the Hike to the Lighthouse in Mazatlan (I know we could do this for cheaper on our own, but the price wasn't too bad) and the Paradise Beach Adventure in Puerto Vallarta. I am still debating about switching to the Sea Safari in Puerto Vallarta... it was my first choice, but it is more expensive.

Happy sailing, and thanks again for all of the info! :)

[helenb]

LOL, I've seen you around the DisBoards too! I've been lurking there to get info since I booked this cruise last minute. (As in a week ago... nothing like booking the last minute special 2 weeks before the cruise!)

 

I'm going solo with my kids (who are now 5 and 7) so we're not doing tons of stuff. In Cabo we're doing Dolphin Kids and then walking to that same beach. In Mazatlan we're doing the El Rosario tour (when we were in Mazatlan 2.5 years ago we did a city tour on our own, so I'm not sure there's much more for us to do there). In PV we're planning on walking to the Krystal Resort that people have mentioned on the Mexican Riviera forum here.

 

As far as excursions go, in my cruising experience, it is almost always cheaper to do things on your own. However, that has to be weighed against convenience and comfort. For example, when we were in Monte Carlo, it was very easy for us to get off the tender and walk around the city and see everything we wanted to, and we felt safe and were comfortable enough with the language to do it on our own. We spent maybe $50 all day for admissions and such for 2 adults. The ship's excursion (that didn't see as much as we did) was $85 pp.

 

OTOH, when we were in Vietnam, we booked a tour through the cruise line to see Ho Chi Minh City/Saigon. We were uncomfortable being on our own in some parts of the city, and were at a complete loss with the language. Also, the city was some distance from the port, so just getting there would be a problem. This is where convenience and comfort came into play.

 

For these ports in Mexico, as long as you can make arrangements with a reputable agency (people on these boards can recommend good ones) you should be fine doing things on your own. But it all comes down to whatever you are personally comfortable with. If you're going to be worried the entire tour that you won't make it back to the ship, then it's not going to be worth it, no matter how much money you save, KWIM?

[TrojanJulez]

Wow, you have been to a lot of places! That is a good point about the money spent vs. the comfort level!

I have just started going to the DIS boards, although I stumbled upon them more than a year ago. It seems that their DCL cruise board is much more active than this one (this one is slow, even compared to other cruise lines on CruiseCritic, IMO.), but I am still a loyal cruisecritic fan!

Talk about last-minute booking - that's awesome!

Thank you for reminding me about the Krystal Resort. I had been thinking about it, then got wrapped up in the Sea Safari excursion, and then couldn't remember the name of the resort anymore! Will you please let me know what you think of it?

Thanks again - you are so knowledgeable!

[helenb]

Well, my knowledge comes from experience. We've done a lot of cruising! We pretty much don't vacation any other way, and since our kids got old enough to come with us we've been doing 2 a year. ;)

 

And I have to admit, this is experience I don't mind getting! :D

 

ITA, these boards generally have a ton of information, but the Disney forum doesn't have as many people as Disboards, which if you think about it, isn't surprising. There's better port info here, though.

 

Sure, I'll LYK about Krystal when I get back!