Our first port for excursions on our Norwegian Mexican Riviera cruise was Puerto Vallarta. One of the advantages of a cruise is the ability to see multiple destinations, but this comes at the cost (especially with most sea cruises) of typically only being able to see each destination for a fraction of the time you could see it if you visited in a different manner. This was definitely the case for us in Puerto Vallarta, which offers far more than we were able to see in this single day.
We had purchased this Mexican Riviera cruise on Norwegian Cruise Lines through Costco Travel and we purchased our Puerto Vallarta shore excursion from a Costco partner called Shore Excursions Group. Our particular excursion was the Sea Kayaking and Snorkeling Combo with tour operator Eco Tours de Mexico.
For this particular excursion, we needed to arrange our own transportation from the docked Norwegian Star to the Eco Tours dive shop. This shop was a short drive away from the port and it took only 5-7 minutes to get there.
We were quite a bit early, so we walked around that Marina Vallarta area for a bit. There weren't a lot of customers or tourists yet and many of the restaurants and shops were just opening.
Ecotours de Mexico conducts the sea kayaking and snorkeling tour in conjunction with their hiking and snorkeling tour. Our party of three were the only ones kayaking, but the overall group was larger because more people were doing the hiking and snorkeling. We all (kayakers and hikers) rode together in a van to the small fishing village where the hikers would hike to the cove for snorkeling and the kayakers would kayak to that same cove for snorkeling.
This was my first time in Puerto Vallarta, so I enjoyed seeing Puerto Vallarta as we rode by van to the fishing village. From the van, we experienced a portion of old town Puerto Vallarta with its cobblestone streets, the Malecon Arches, and other aspects of downtown Puerto Vallarta.
The van stopped for us to enjoy the view of Los Arcos.
There were other great views from this same vantage point.
The final destination for the van ride was the village of Boca de Tomatlán. From here, the hiking group set off on a hike and we boarded kayaks.
The sea kayaking was great, but unfortunately, the water was too choppy that morning to kayak into the intended Colomitos Cove for the snorkel, so we spent our time kayaking around the harbor and enjoying the beach and Mexican food (especially the different flavors of shrimp) at the restaurants on the beach. It was disappointing to not be able to snorkel in the cove, but it was nice to relax on that picturesque beach.
One of the surprises for us was how many dogs were wandering around on the beach area. One dog, named Lazlo, was obviously there with his owner. Lazlo liked it when his owner or any other human willing to participate would throw a tennis ball into the water of the small harbor. Lazlo was adept at watching the waves and swimming out to the tennis ball when the waves were not at their highest and bringing the tennis ball back to shore to the human who threw it out. There were a few other dogs on the beach that did not seem to have obvious human counterparts, but they were comfortable around the people and would setting under our chairs and tables to get some shade while lying there lazily.
After our day in Boca de Tomatlán, the van took us back to our cruise ship.
Puerto Vallarta has been named #1 in U.S. News and World Report's Best Cheap Spring Break Destinations.
There is much more to do in Puerto Vallarta than we had time for, so I hope to some day return there for more than a cruise port excursion to experience some of those things.
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